Award for Excellence in Education Abroad Curriculum Design

The Forum’s Award for Excellence in Curriculum Design honors faculty who develop and implement innovative and effective education abroad curricula. It is the education abroad field’s only award presented to an individual or group of individuals for excellence in the design of an education abroad course. By recognizing the outstanding efforts of faculty who are committed to the Standards of Good Practice for Education Abroad, The Forum hopes to inspire the field as a whole to continue to strive for enrichment of education abroad curricula, and to continually reflect on how we may best encourage student learning abroad.

The nomination deadline for the 2023 Award is ​September 15, 2023.

2022 Award Recipient

The Forum congratulates the 2022 award recipient, Jason Laine of Penn State University, for his course “Italian Language and Culture for Embedded Experiences Abroad.” A champion for global learning opportunities for undergraduate students, Laine is Director of the Italian Language program at Penn State University Park and author of Italian 001 for Penn State World Campus. He has led programs for more than 10 years and participated many global learning workshops.

Kate Manni, Director of Education Abroad at Penn State Global said, “His Italian Language and Culture for Embedded Experiences Abroad course is a tremendous example of an interdisciplinary approach to teaching and learning, and the co-requisite model with an upper-level Biology course is an innovative way to have STEM students engaging with language and culture and humanities students engaging with the sciences. The course curriculum helps students to leverage their short time abroad over spring break by 

preparing them to understand the history and basic language skills necessary to complement their Anatomy in Italy coursework and science-based site visits.  We applaud Jason for his efforts in
developing this course!”

​Laine studied at the University of Chicago and the University of Wisconsin – Madison. In addition to teaching language and culture courses, Jason is interested in online learning and technology implementation in the language classroom, translation, Italian cinema, and contemporary Italian poetry.
The award was virtually presented to Laine during the virtual Award Presentation of the 19th Annual Conference on March 15, 2023, and recognized at the in-person sessions in Seattle on Friday, March 24, 2023.

Award Information

REQUIREMENTS

• Candidates must be affiliated with a Forum member institution or organization in order to contribute to the Curriculum Toolbox and be considered for the award. Courses submitted must be administered by a Forum member institution/organization.
• Only those individuals responsible for designing and teaching the course submitted will be eligible for the award.
• Only submissions of individual education abroad courses will be considered for the award.
• Only courses which have run at least once are eligible.
• Submissions will also be considered for inclusion in The Forum's Curriculum Toolbox.

Criteria

Nominees for the Award will be judged according to how their course curriculum aligns with the Standards of Good Practice for Education Abroad by:

• Providing an academically rigorous program of study;
• Developing educational objectives that foster student learning and development, and assessing the degree to which it is accomplishing each;
• Enriching the classroom experience through the use of the location and/or its unique resources;
• Setting a precedent for exceptional approaches to fostering student learning.

Submit a Nomination

Browse past submissions here

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Learn About Past Recipients

Kate Kunzman and Emira Ibrahimpasic, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

In celebration of International Education Week, The Forum on Education Abroad is pleased to announce the 2021 recipient of the Award for Excellence in Education Abroad Curriculum Design: “Negotiating Peace: From Conflict to Coexistence,” a course developed by Kate Kunzman and Dr. Emira Ibrahimpasic of the University of Nebraska—Lincoln.
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Kunzman, the university’s Education Abroad Coordinator, and Dr. Ibrahimpasic, a cultural anthropologist, Assistant Professor of Practice, and Assistant Director of Global Studies, drew on their experiences developing faculty-led programs and resources and best practices from The Forum, NAFSA, and SIT to create a virtual summer course designed to keep students connected with the world while travel was paused due to COVID-19. The session began by grounding students in an understanding of colonialism, native lands, and historical conflicts in the United States before moving on to understanding modern-day conflicts in Syria and Ireland through guest lectures from individuals with real-world experience in conflict negotiation and individuals affected by the conflicts studied.

Uttiyo Raychaudhuri, Vice Provost for Internationalization at the University of Denver and Awards Selection Committee Chair explained that it was difficult to choose just one winner this year. “To me, they are all winners because they pushed forward with high-quality, engaging, innovative coursework through a difficult period for our field,” he said. “That is inspiring.”

The Forum’s Award for Excellence in Curriculum Design honors instructors who develop and implement innovative and effective education abroad curricula. It is the education abroad field’s only award presented to an individual or group of individuals for excellence in the design of an education abroad course. By recognizing the outstanding efforts of instructors who are committed to the Standards of Good Practice for Education Abroad, The Forum hopes to inspire the field to strive for enrichment of education abroad curricula, and to continually reflect on how to best encourage student learning abroad.

The award was presented to Kunzman and Dr. Ibrahimpasic during The Forum’s 18th Annual Conference, “Globally Interconnected: New Opportunities and the Challenge of Change”,  March 21-25, 2022 in Chicago and online.
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James Lucas, Michigan State University

​The Forum is pleased to announce the 2020 recipient of the Award for Excellence in Education Abroad Curriculum Design: “Great Ages Modern World,” a course developed and taught by Dr. James Lucas of Michigan State University as part of the program “Masculinity, Leadership, and Fraternities in Southern Europe. It integrates intercultural, leadership, and gender role theories and addresses current issues of masculinity and Greek Life on campus (sexual assault, homophobia, hazing, MAGA, BLM, etc.), while addressing education abroad’s challenge of low male participation rates.
The Selection Committee was particularly impressed with the intentionality and replicability of the course, its timeliness in addressing issues facing our world today, and its innovation in engaging more men in education abroad.
The Forum’s Award for Excellence in Curriculum Design honors instructors who develop and implement innovative and effective education abroad curricula. It is the education abroad field’s only award presented to an individual or group of individuals for excellence in the design of an education abroad course. By recognizing the outstanding efforts of instructors who are committed to the Standards of Good Practice for Education Abroad, The Forum hopes to inspire the field to strive for enrichment of education abroad curricula, and to continually reflect on how to best encourage student learning abroad.
The award will be presented at The Forum’s virtual 17th Annual Conference, Evolution and Revolution: Solutions in Action, March 1-5, 2020, where Dr. Lucas will participate in a panel presentation highlighting unique education abroad courses and programs from the Curriculum Toolbox.

Rodolfo Valdes-Vasquez, Colorado State University

In celebration of International Education Week, The Forum is pleased to announce the 2019 recipient of the Award for Excellence in Education Abroad Curriculum Design: “Sustainable Buildings,” a course co-developed and led by Professor Rodolfo Valdes-Vasquez of Colorado State University. The short-term Construction Management course is taught in Costa Rica in collaboration with EARTH University since 2014. Several co-leaders have assisted Dr. Valdes-Vasquez over the past five years, including Mehmet Ozbek, Svetlana Olbina, Jeff Wilkes, and Caroline Clevenger. All of them are also recognized for their contributions.
Laura Thornes, Colorado State’s Director of Education Abroad, stated:
CSU is very pleased that Dr. Rodolfo Valdes-Vasquez and his colleagues in Construction Management (CM) have been recognized with The Forum’s Award. The Sustainable Buildings program in Costa Rica exemplifies the thoughtful pedagogy we wish for all programs abroad. This short-term program uses traditional lecture, peer-to-peer instruction, community-engaged projects, homestays, guest lectures, reflective journaling, and project-based learning to enrich student learning outcomes. The faculty leaders in this program also invite students from EARTH University to be part of the program, which gives global perspectives to everything learned in and out of the classroom. Finally, the faculty leaders have collaborated with CSU’s Sociology department to map both Social and Learning Networks as well as High Impact Learning Practices in this program. We are fortunate to have Dr. Valdes-Vasquez leading this program with his collaborators and advancing best practices within the field of Education Abroad.
The Selection Committee was particularly impressed with the incorporation of multiple High Impact Practices, the diversity of majors represented, the inclusion of EARTH University students and faculty, and the exercise of creating personal definitions of sustainability and personal mission statements. As one committee member put it, “The innovation is in the many-layered benefits that are programmatically designed into the single syllabus on a variety of knowledge-based content and experiential learning levels.”
The Forum’s Award for Excellence in Curriculum Design honors instructors who develop and implement innovative and effective education abroad curricula. It is the education abroad field’s only award presented to an individual or group of individuals for excellence in the design of an education abroad course. By recognizing the outstanding efforts of instructors who are committed to the Standards of Good Practice for Education Abroad, The Forum hopes to inspire the field to strive for enrichment of education abroad curricula, and to continually reflect on how to best encourage student learning abroad.
The award was presented during The Forum’s virtual 16th Annual Conference, Education Abroad at a Crossroads: Actions for a Sustainable Future. Drs. Valdes-Vasquez and Ozbek also presented a session about the course.

Markus Crepaz, University of Georgia

In celebration of International Education Week, The Forum is pleased to announced the 2018 recipient of the Award for Excellence in Education Abroad Curriculum Design: Markus Crepaz of the University of Georgia, for his course “The Politics of Development,” which is part of UGA’s South Africa Study Abroad Program in Stellenbosch.
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Noel Fallows, Associate Provost for International Education at the University of Georgia, stated:
It is a great honor for the University of Georgia that Professor Markus Crepaz has been selected as this year’s recipient of The Forum’s Award for Excellence in Education Abroad Curriculum Design. The program in Stellenbosch, South Africa, integrates substantive core classes with a unique after-school program in the Kayamandi Township on the outskirts of Stellenbosch, thereby bridging the gap between theory and praxis, as our students become fully engaged in meaningful and impactful service learning projects. Markus’s work underscores the fact that the faculty-led programs at UGA are underpinned by our firm commitment to curriculum innovation and academic rigor.

The course, which has run for ten years, has strong ties to Stellenbosch University and to local NGO, Vision Afrika, enabling the students to form connections to the local community in an intentional way, with an emphasis on best practices service learning.

The Forum’s Award for Excellence in Curriculum Design honors instructors who develop and implement innovative and effective education abroad curricula. It is the education abroad field’s only award presented to an individual or group of individuals for excellence in the design of an education abroad course. By recognizing the outstanding efforts of instructors who are committed to the Standards of Good Practice for Education Abroad, The Forum hopes to inspire the field to strive for enrichment of education abroad curricula, and to continually reflect on how to best encourage student learning abroad.

The award was presented at The Forum’s 15th Annual Conference, Broadening the Circle of Education Abroad, in Denver on March 29, 2019, where Professor Crepaz will present a session about the course.

Jim Kelly, Indiana University

In celebration of International Education Week, The Forum is pleased to announce the 2017 recipient of the Award for Excellence in Education Abroad Curriculum Design: James Kelly of Indiana University, for his course “Reporting HIV/AIDS in Africa.” As reporting interns at Uganda’s Daily Monitor, students in Professor Kelly’s embedded program acquire the skills to report complicated stories in a cross-cultural setting through a mix of academic work and interaction with local reporters and editors. In addition to their classroom study and internship, students benefit from a two-day seminar at the African Centre for Media Excellence and a visit to Makerere University’s journalism program to meet Ugandan students.
Kathleen Sideli, Associate Vice President for Overseas Study at Indiana University, responded with enthusiasm upon learning that Professor Kelly’s course had been selected:
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I have always been amazed at the confluence of learning levels embedded in Jim Kelly’s reporting program on HIV-AIDS. Although he is ostensibly teaching students how to write journalistic articles, he opens them up to the sobering health epidemic in many ways. They develop their own compassion and understanding for the human face behind this disease which has many social and economic reverberations for those living with HIV-AIDS and their families. And working out a system by which the IU students work side-by-side with Ugandan reporters, learning from them in a real newsroom, is a significant dimension of this program. Each year I follow the student articles and photos online and am always moved by the depth of their experience. Every university should have a Jim Kelly of their own!

The award was presented at The Forum’s 14th Annual Conference, Building on Strong Foundations: Best Practices for an Evolving Field, in Boston on March 23, 2018, where Professor Kelly presented a session about the course.

Hana Cervinkova and Juliet Golden, Syracuse University

In celebration of International Education Week, The Forum is pleased to announce the 2016 recipients of the Award for Excellence in Education Abroad Curriculum Design: Hana Cervinkova and Juliet Golden of Syracuse University, for their course “Negotiating Identities Across Europe’s Borders,” offered as part of the Culture and Politics of Reconciliation in Central Europe program, based in Wroclaw, Poland.
Through visits to cities and villages in Poland, the Czech Republic, Germany, and Lithuania over the course of a semester, “Negotiating Identities Across Europe’s Borders” analyzes conflict and reconciliation in European history, to better understand the reasons that the European Union was awarded the 2012 Nobel Peace Prize for its work in “the advancement of peace and reconciliation, democracy and human rights.”
Forum President and CEO Brian Whalen stated, “Professors Cervinkova and Golden’s important and timely course is a wonderful example of faculty innovation and creativity in education abroad.”
When informed, Professors Cervinkova and Golden responded, “We are honoured by your recognition. We have put so much heart into the development and delivery of ‘Negotiating Identities across Europe’s Borders,’ which makes this honour all that much more meaningful.”

Maja Sbahi Biehl, DIS: Study Abroad in Scandinavia

The Forum on Education Abroad is pleased to announce the 2015 recipient of the Award for Excellence in Education Abroad Curriculum Design: Maja Sbahi Biehl of DIS – Study Abroad in Scandinavia for her course “Children in a Multicultural Context: Theory and Practice.”
Taking Nordic childhood as its entry point, “Children in a Multicultural Context” examines the following questions: “Are the long-standing childcare traditions in Denmark being challenged? How are Danish childcare institutions, schools and programs influenced by Danish integration policies? How is multicultural discourse examined in a Danish context? And how are children in Denmark influenced by these processes?”
The course profile describes how the course incorporates theory on culture and cross-cultural competence, fieldwork, writings, activities and public debates. It “stresses the connection between the class and the practicum sites by asking students to reflect on what the field experience can add to theory.” Students “acquire knowledge about intercultural learning, critical pedagogy, child development discourse and educational sociology.”
Selection committee chair, Wendy Lombardo of Arcadia University’s College of Global Studies, remarked, “What stood out in the course was the fact that while it has been taught many times over several years, the faculty has been able to keep the content current by including events happening in our world today (e.g. the Syrian Refugee Crisis). Between the topics covered in Denmark and during the study tour in Turkey, students are able to study this topic from a truly multicultural approach.”
Forum President and CEO Brian Whalen stated, “this course reflects both the distinctive learning opportunities offered by overseas study and the creative ways that faculty design and teach education abroad courses. Kudos to DIS – Study Abroad in Scandinavia and to Professor Sbahi Biehl!”
When informed, Professor Sbahi Biehl responded, “As a global citizen and multicultural individual, I am honored to receive this award, and be recognized for my passion for developing curriculum that strives to enhance cultural awareness and critical pedagogy, foster student learning through connecting theory to practice by engagement with local community, and inspire students to explore new cultural contexts and take independent steps towards global citizenship.”

Shawn Bender, John Henson, Dave Sarcone and Shalom Staub, Dickinson College, & Yoshitaka Kumagai, Akita International University

The Forum is pleased to announce that this year’s Award for Excellence in Education Abroad Curriculum Design goes to a group of faculty members from Dickinson College and Akita International University for their interdisciplinary course, “Living Well in Later Life,” offered as part of Dickinson’s U.S.-Japan Global Scholars Program. Please join us in congratulating Professors Shawn Bender, John Henson, Dave Sarcone and Shalom Staub, all of Dickinson College, and Professor Yoshitaka Kumagai of Akita International University.
“Living Well in Later Life” examines the community health of two structurally similar but geographically distant regions: Yurihonjo, Akita Prefecture, Japan; and Carlisle, Pennsylvania, United States. Organized jointly by Akita International University and Dickinson College, the program seeks to measure the health of these communities based on an investigation of resident “Quality of Life.” Students interact with policy makers and program specialists at multiple levels in order to understand the social, cultural, and economic factors affecting the quality of life for elderly Japanese and Americans, working in a multicultural group comprised of students from Akita International University and Dickinson College. They gather data on Quality of Life in each community using quantitative and qualitative research methods, and present their findings to community members in each location.

Alice Layton, Lesley University/Rupununi Learners Foundation

Please join us in congratulating Alice Layton of Lesley University’s Guyana Lesley Abroad Service Semester (GLASS) program, whose “Indigenous Natural Resource Ecology” course was selected to receive the Forum’s first Award for Excellence in Education Abroad Curriculum Design. “Indigenous Natural Resource Ecology” is an eight-week fieldwork course designed to provide an immersion in the social environment of an indigenous Guyanese community. Its innovation lies in the participation of Macushi villagers, who join Ms. Layton as instructors to introduce students to key resource-based survival skills conserved by their indigenous knowledge. The students, in turn, contribute to the host village by facilitating community conversations through the use of participatory video in natural resource management planning. The result is a powerful encounter that initiates experiential learning for both students and villagers while facilitating the preservation of traditional land use practices.
Members of the selection committee, composed of colleagues from Forum member institutions, noted that “the breadth of the potential cultural impact this course has for students and the host community is impressive,” and “the combination of indigenous learning and technology is an innovative approach and very much off the beaten tracks.”Forum President and CEO Brian Whalen commented that “this new Award will help to inspire innovative approaches to education abroad curriculum design.” He added that “Professor Layton’s thoughtful and creative course is an excellent example of how education abroad can make a positive difference in the lives of both our students and the communities that host them.”
Ms. Layton is a social entrepreneur and Director of the Rupununi Learners Foundation, the U.S. nonprofit partner of the indigenous Guyanese NGO, Rupununi Learners Incorporated. These sister organizations developed the plan for a Yupukari-based study abroad semester that with the partnership of the Science division at Lesley University became the GLASS program. This program is the first semester-long study abroad program in the country of Guyana. The aim of the GLASS program is to support a local initiative to increase capacity-building for natural resource management among the Macushi people of Yupukari village and satellite villages while providing a mutually rigorous education in environmental studies and profound cultural exchange for Lesley students and villagers alike.
The award was presented at The Forum’s Standards Institute on “Curriculum, Teaching and Education Abroad” at the University of Minnesota on November 19, 2013, where Ms. Layton spoke about her approach to education abroad curriculum design.
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