The University Record, April 19, 1999

CRLT announces interdisciplinary team teaching grant recipients

By Joel Seguine
News and Information Services

The Center for Research in Learning and Teaching (CRLT) recently announced recipients of Interdisciplinary Faculty Associates (IFA) grants for the academic year 1999-2000. This program provides stipends of $10,000 for an undergraduate interdisciplinary course involving team teaching across departmental boundaries.

The courses and collaborators selected from the grant competition are:

  • "The Art and Science of Health and Aging," Donna Algase, associate professor and director, Nursing; Kathleen Colling, assistant research scientist and lecturer, School of Nursing; and Joseph Trumpey, assistant professor of medical and scientific illustration, art and design.

  • "Coming to Terms with Germany," Frederick Amrine, associate professor and chair, Department of Germanic Languages, LS&A; Geoff Eley, professor of history.

  • "Nature and Society," Catherine Badgley, associate research scientist, museum and geological sciences, lecturer; Barbara Smuts, professor of psychology and of anthropology.

  • "Introduction to Lesbian-Gay Studies: Representations of Lesbianism in Early Modern Western Europe," Pat Simons, associate professor of history of art and of women's studies, and Valerie Traub, associate professor of English and of women's studies.

  • "Situation and City," Carina Yervasi, assistant professor of French, and Jason Young, assistant professor of architecture.

    "This program is designed to help U-M faculty who are eager to bring emerging fields of knowledge into the undergraduate learning experience," says Constance Cook, associate professor of education and director of CRLT. "Exciting new terrains often straddle disciplines and invite new intellectual collaborations, yet faculty face important challenges in the planning and development of collaborative, border-crossing teaching. Interdisciplinary teaching requires fresh thinking and new approaches. This program provides a supportive structure for meeting the challenges and allows participating faculty the opportunity to exchange ideas and learn from one another," Cook says.

    Requests for proposals for the next round of IFA grants will go out in September for courses to be offered in the 2000-01 academic year.