Pitt Global Studies Program Announces 3 Global Academic Partnership Grants

Three $20,000 Global Academic Partnership (GAP) grants have been awarded to fund three international conferences/workshops. The grants are intended to strengthen interdisciplinary research and curriculum development on critical global issues while enhancing international scholarly ties and raising the international profile of the University of Pittsburgh. The titles and a brief synopsis of the grants follow.

“The Arts, Human Development, and Human Rights: 21st Century Intersections and Ramifications”

Awarded to Kathleen DeWalt (professor of anthropology in Pitt’s School of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Anthropology and director of the Center for Latin American Studies in the University Center of International Studies); David Barnard (professor of medicine and director of palliative care education in Pitt’s School of Medicine and Center for Bioethics and Health Law); the Andy Warhol Museum; and foreign partners from the University of Fluminese, Brazil.

The grant will support a March 2009 international conference bringing together artists, scholars, educators, and activists from the United States and Brazil. The event will facilitate intellectual exchange and planning for future collaboration in the fields of art history and art in society, law, medicine, public health, education, political science, and Latin American studies. The conference is sponsored by the Office of the Provost, Global Studies Program, and the University Center for International Studies (UCIS).

“Islam and Popular Culture in Indonesia and Malaysia”

Awarded to Andrew Weintraub (a professor in the Pitt School of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Music); Bambang Parmanto (a professor of health information management and biomedical informatics in the Pitt School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences’ Department of Health Information Management); and foreign partners from the University of Melbourne, Australia, and the University of Malaya, Malaysia.

The grant will support an international conference in October 2008. The conference will explore the relationship between Islam and popular culture in the Malay world—analyzing the forms and practices of production, circulation, marketing, and consumption of Islam. The conference is sponsored by the Office of the Provost, Global Studies Program, and UCIS.

“A New Rational Approach to Resolving Conflicts; the Case of the Middle East”

Awarded to Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business faculty members Thomas Saaty (University Professor of Business Administration) and H.J. Zoffer (Dean Emeritus and professor of business administration); Kevin Kearns (professor of public and urban affairs in Pitt’s Graduate School of Public and International Affairs); and foreign partners from King Abdulaziz University, Saudi Arabia, and Osmangazi University, Turkey.

The grant will support an October 2009 international workshop on conflict resolution, analyzing conflict in Israel through the framework of the Analytic Network Process. The workshop is sponsored by the International Business Center within the Katz Business School and the Global Studies Program.

GAP, first launched in the fall of 2001, is an initiative of Pitt’s Global Studies Program within UCIS and the Office of the Provost. The Global Studies Program is jointly sponsored by UCIS and the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs.

The GAP grants support international research conferences and workshops that result in publications and curricular enhancement. Projects must be related to one of the six global issues targeted by Pitt’s Global Studies Program: sustainable development; global economy and global governance; changing identities in a global world; conflict and conflict resolution; communication, technology, and society; and global health.