In June 2020, Universitas 21 (U21) named UC Davis among the winners of its inaugural Global Education Enhancement Fund. Through this grant, UC Davis partnered with Tecnológico de Monterrey in Mexico and Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China to create a framework for teaching the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through Global Classroom modules. Thanks to this pioneering pilot project, over the past year more than 170 UC Davis students were able to work on real-world projects with students and faculty at UC Davis and at Tecnológico de Monterrey in Mexico and Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China, directly as a part of their coursework. Students learned to navigate time zones, virtual platform differences, and language barriers while gaining awareness and contributing to several SDGs, such as SDG 3 for Good Health and Well-Being, SDG 10 for Reduced Inequalities, and SDG 11 for Sustainable Cities and Communities.
On behalf of Global Affairs, we would like to congratulate Lovell “Tu” Jarvis, professor emeritus in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, who is retiring from his role as the executive director of our UC Davis Chile Life Sciences Innovation Center (UC Davis Chile), and welcome Dario Cantù, professor of systems biology and Louis P. Martini Endowed chair in viticulture, as the center’s new executive director, effective July 1, 2021.
Tiven Buggy, a 2020 graduate of the UC Davis College of Engineering's civil and environmental engineering master’s program, now serves as director of water and sanitation for the nonprofit Puente, based in Constanza, La Vega, Dominican Republic. In this role, Buggy relies on data collection and analysis technology to help solve water crises in remote parts of the region. His passion for improving access to clean water ignited during his time in the Peace Corps and continued to be fueled by his global experiences while at UC Davis.
The Peru Project is an ongoing endeavor of UC Davis’ Engineers Without Borders chapter, a student-run, non-profit organization focused on providing engineering expertise and help to developing areas in need. The project, which began in 2016, seeks to provide a reliable source of potable water to a community in La Huaylla, Cajamarca, Peru.
The sixth annual UC Davis International Connections Reception, hosted by Global Affairs on March 4, brought together the UC Davis community in an online forum to celebrate several award and grants programs, including the 2021 Chancellor’s Awards for International Engagement presented by Chancellor Gary S. May. The awards recognize faculty and staff members for their outstanding international engagement in advancing the university’s teaching, research, and service missions, whether through leading global research projects, collaborating with colleagues around the world, promoting global learning or innovative pedagogy, or facilitating these activities to create positive change.
The sixth annual International Connections Reception, hosted by Global Affairs on March 4, brought together the UC Davis community in an online forum to celebrate several award and grant programs, including the 2021 recipients of Global Affairs Seed Grants for International Activities. These grants are offered in partnership with the Office of Research and the individual colleges and schools to faculty taking on innovative research, service, and engagement projects around the world.
The sixth annual International Connections Reception, hosted by Global Affairs on March 4, brought together the UC Davis community in an online forum to celebrate several award and grant programs. The event included the announcement of the 2021 recipients of Grants for Advancing Sustainable Development Goals. One grant was reserved for a project that is clearly focused on SDG 10.3: “Ensure equal opportunity and reduce inequalities of outcome, including by eliminating discriminatory laws, policies, and practices and promoting appropriate legislation, policies, and action in this regard.” Two grants were reserved for CAMPOS and CAMPSSAH Scholars, who have as their mission to encompass the multicultural perspectives of academic faculty in STEM as well as in the social sciences, arts, and humanities—while focusing on expanding the presence of women and underrepresented faculty in those disciplines.
On March 4, the sixth annual International Connections Reception, hosted by Global Affairs, brought together the UC Davis community in an online forum to celebrate globally engaged faculty, staff, and scholars. The event included the announcement of this year’s Academic Federation and Academic Senate honorees for the Excellence in Teaching in Study Abroad Awards, conferred jointly between the Academic Senate and Global Affairs.
UC Davis Professor Beth Rose Middleton, chair of the Native American Studies Department in the College of Letters and Science, has long had an interest in the Caribbean. A 2020 Global Affairs Seed Grant has allowed Professor Middleton to develop courses on the Indigenous Caribbean and to develop exchanges and collaborations with Garifuna leaders.
When COVID-19 dashed plans for international research, six UC Davis students who focus on Latin America, North America, and the Caribbean immersed themselves in language training. Funded by the Hemispheric Institute on the Americas and the College of Letters and Science, two students studied Haitian Creole and four students studied Indigenous languages, Embera (Colombia), Nahuatl (Mexico), Quechua (Peru and Ecuador), and Unangam Tunuu (Unangax language, Alaska).
