Funding-Internationalizing Agriculture Education: Faculty Participants Sought; September 20, 2010

Dear Colleagues:

With a grant from the USDA International Science Education, we are starting a 3-year integrated research, instruction, and outreach project entitled, “Globalizing Agricultural Education: Sustainable Agriculture, Food, and Rural Development.” This project aims to enhance the curricula of agricultural education at the secondary and post-secondary levels and agricultural education programs conducted by community organizations (e.g., 4H, FFA).

In Year 1, this project will fund up to five (5) faculty members, who teach agriculture- and food-related courses in the College of Agriculture, to participate in the 12-month curriculum development program. To increase the number of undergraduate courses with an international content, these participants will meet monthly to develop 5 on-line learning modules of global agriculture and food on: (a) Regulations and Certifications in International Trade, (b) Food Safety and Health, (c) Sustainable Agriculture Resource Management, (d) Local Community Development, and (e) World Hunger and Food Justice. The modules will be incorporated into UK-COA undergraduate courses, and also the training program in Year 2 of this project, titled “KyAg: Growing Global Ideas,” for agricultural educators.

The curriculum development program will begin in October, 2010 and end in August, 2011. This is a tentative plan of the program:

1. Review of COA Curriculum Maps (Between October – December 2010): Three project members -- Keiko Tanaka (CLD), Mike Reed (AgEcon), and Mark Williams (Horticulture) -- and five faculty participants in the program will identify potential courses in which international content can be effectively incorporated.

2. Collection of Case Studies (December – January, 2010): The five program participants will identify, collect, and/or modify at least 10 case studies concerning global agriculture and food issues, including a minimum of five commodity-based cases and five country-based cases.

3. Development of Learning Modules (February – May, 2011): Using a $1,000 grant from this project, each participant will develop one of the five learning modules. Each module will contain at least one commodity-based and one country-based case. In the process of developing these learning modules, the participants and the project team members will learn techniques for curriculum development, student assessment and evaluation, and experiential learning exercises.

4. Study Tour to Indonesia (May or June 2011): The participants will take a 10-day study tour to Indonesia and will participate in an experiential short course developed by faculty members of the University of Lampung. This short summer course aims to help participants understand the interaction of agriculture, markets, society, and environment by engaging in action research in rural areas.

5. Incorporation into COA Courses/”KyAg: Growing Global Idea” Training Program (July – September, 2011): In this phase, the 5 participants will develop a strategy to incorporate the 5 modules into existing courses (e.g., GEN 200: Issues in Agriculture: Contemporary Problems in Agriculture and Natural Resources) and help the project team design a training program for agricultural educators in schools and a professional development program for community-based organizations, titled “KyAg: Growing Global Ideas,” to be offered in Year 2.

During the project’s two additional years, the five faculty members will be asked to participate in the research component of this project. This research study focuses on examining how educators develop global awareness and global competency. As research subjects, faculty members will be asked to complete: a standardized survey test, called the Intercultural Development Inventory®, twice – prior and after the training program; several in-depth interviews with one of the researchers on this project; and focus group interviews with other participants in this project. Research staff will also observe your classes to assess the effectiveness of the learning modules. Your consent to be a research subject of this project is not a prerequisite for being selected to participate in the faculty curriculum development program.

Eligibility:

· COA faculty, including lecturers under the newly approved definition, involved in instruction in the COA for at least 12 months prior to October, 2010.

Resource Support:

· $1,000 grant to support the development of a learning module

· $3,000 scholarship to participate in the study tour to Indonesia.

Application Materials (Due: September 20, 2010):

· 2-page CV (in the COA performance review format)

· A letter of intent within 2 single-spaced pages which describes your work and your interest in this project.

· Both documents must be sent to ktanaka@uky.edu as pdf files by September 20, 2010.

For further information, please do not hesitate to contact me at ktanaka@uky.edu

Dr. Keiko Tanaka (田中敬子)

Associate Professor of Sociology,

Dr. & Mrs. C. Milton Coughenour Sociology Professor in Agriculture & Natural Resources,

Director of Graduate Studies in Sociology, and Co-director of Asia Center

Department of Community & Leadership Development

University of Kentucky

500 Garrigus Bldg.

Lexington, KY 405046-0215