Global Teaching Scholars: Global Learning Design Institutes

May 31–June 6, 2026

Program Overview: The College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences (CLAHS), Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL), and Global Education Office (GEO) are coordinating a cohort-based workshop for CLAHS faculty. A partnership with DIS Study Abroad in Scandinavia (Copenhagen, Denmark), this workshop will provide strategies for integrating global themes and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into teaching and learning as well as research. Participants must be willing to commit to attending the workshop in Copenhagen, participating in pre-workshop and post-workshop activities, and producing a deliverable as an outcome of the experience. Workshop facilitators will include DIS staff/faculty as well as Dr. Farida Jalalzai (CLAHS OOD, Global Initiatives and Engagement), Dr. Tiffany Shoop (CETL), and Rachel Fitzgerald (GEO).

Program Outcomes: By engaging in this faculty development experience, which will model effective practices for global learning abroad, participants will:

• Discuss key topics in global education, including intercultural learning, global teaching, study abroad, and connections to research, in workshops and lectures with DIS and Virginia Tech facilitators.
• Recognize opportunities for connecting to place in global education by learning about and engaging in Scandinavian culture and society.
• Apply global education knowledge within the Scandinavian context during facilitated site visits and debriefings, reflection, and other experiences that are integral to intercultural learning and study abroad and related to the program theme.
• Examine opportunities for collaboration within the global education context.
• Design a Global Teaching/Research Project that integrates knowledge of and effective practices for global education in one of the following ways: 1) a study abroad pre-program proposal, 2) a revision to an existing course or course-embedded student learning experience, 3) an SDGs LAB for students in collaboration with fellow participants, 4) a collaborative research project ideally that can inform student global learning, or 5) a university global learning event with CLAHS, CETL, and GEO.
• Reflect on the experience and share outcomes of program participation with fellow cohort members and facilitators from Virginia Tech and DIS at the close of the workshop and identify opportunities to amplify Global Teaching/Research Projects upon return to campus.

Call for Faculty Applications is now closed.

July 7-11, 2025

Program Overview: The Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, the Global Education Office, and the Steger Center for International Scholarship are coordinating and co-facilitating a cohort-based workshop for early and mid-career faculty members across the university to learn more about planning, recruiting for, and leading a short-term or semester-long study abroad experience. Beginning with a series of preparatory sessions in Blacksburg during the spring semester of 2025, the training culminates in a week-long workshop at the Steger Center for International Scholarship in Riva San Vitale, Switzerland in July 2025. With an emphasis on engaging local communities and opportunities abroad, this workshop will offer strategies and best practices for faculty planning a course at the Steger Center or at another Virginia Tech partner site. Participants will have the opportunity to visit sites locally, plan mock travel with students, and hear from faculty mentors running successful programs.

Program Outcomes: By engaging in this faculty development experience, which will model effective practices for global learning abroad, participants will:

• Discuss key topics in study abroad, including intercultural learning, place-based education, course/project design for learning abroad, and strategies for teaching abroad, in workshops at the Steger Center for International Scholarship
• Recognize opportunities for connecting to place in global education by learning about and engaging in the local/regional culture and society of Riva San Vitale, Switzerland
• Apply global education knowledge within the local/regional context during facilitated site visits and debriefings, reflection, and other experiences that are integral to intercultural learning and study abroad
• Examine opportunities for collaboration within the global education context
• Design and draft a study abroad pre-program proposal that integrates knowledge of and effective practices for teaching and learning abroad to be shared with participants and facilitators during an end-of-program symposium

Call for Faculty Applications is now closed.