Middle Eastern Grant Reminder

From Rene Mueller

This is just a reminder to submit your proposal for the Middle East and its Periphery (MENAP) grant funds.  The application suggests that you have to present a paper and, while that is preferable, that is not necessary.  If you just attend a conference, you should plan on doing something else eg give a lecture at a university, start a new research project with MENAP faculty members, etc.

Please also remember that the grant can support a faculty member to go to Turkey with the MBA group.  Because of its strategic location, Turkey plays an outsized role in all things international.  It is also a wonderful place to visit full of ancient historical sites, good food, and lovely scenery.

Opportunity 1: I still have significant grant funds available for travel to the Middle East and its Periphery.  The primary goal of the grant is to increase understanding  and teaching of the Middle East, North Africa and its Periphery (MENAAP).  All grant activities must be completed by December, 2024.  Faculty members can apply for multiple awards.  Proposals due Feb 15^th.

The following are considered Middle East and North Africa (MENA):  Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen. Note the CofC has strong partnerships in several of these countries but especially in Israel and Egypt.

Periphery includes Cyprus, Malta, and Bulgaria, the Caucasus (Georgia (the CofC has a partnership in Georgia), Armenia, and Azerbaijan) , and bordering African countries of Djibouti, Sudan, Eritrea, Tunisia, and Mauritius. At a stretch, I might be able to add Albania and Montenegro as well as the countries bordering the Black Sea (Bulgaria and Romania-Moldova and Ukraine might be too dangerous).

Opportunity 2: The MBA is going to Turkey and I’d like to fund an additional faculty member’s travel with the group April 22-30, 2023.   It should be a good trip and we will cover a lot of ground in Turkey in one week. We will spend several days in touring and learning about the Turkish economy, its history and culture and on how to do business with Turkey.  The faculty member will also accompany one student group’s consulting presentation to a Turkish firm.  As part of the program, we will also travel by air to the Göreme valley to see one of the most unique sites in the world—the underground cities of Cappadocia.  This trip would be especially good for someone who wants to develop research partnerships in Turkey. Simply email me by Jan 30^th if you are interested.

Opportunity 1: To achieve the goal of the grant, the following activities are eligible for support:

• Development of Middle East, North Africa and its Periphery (MENAAP) expertise by supporting travel to MENAAP countries for the acquisition of new MENAAP materials/knowledge that can be integrated into current or new courses (this also requires the completion of a 4 hour online program on Doing Business with the Middle East)
• Travel to MENAAP countries to participate in faculty exchange/lectures
• Travel for joint research/projects with scholars in MENAAP countries (includes domestic or international conference presentations)
• Acquisition of the Certified Global Business Professional credential

Other Important Information

The Business and International Education program is a federal ‘match’ program which means that participants must ‘match’ any requested funds with time and effort and/or professional development funds.  Competitive proposals will have approximately 5 percent of your time and effort as ‘match’  (you simply sign a document that says you spent 5% of your time on the grant project).

Faculty receiving awards are expected to have concrete outcomes within the timeframe described in their proposals.

The most competitive proposals will have faculty participating in multiple activities eg faculty exchange/lecture and work on a research project, collecting teaching materials and conference attendance, etc.

In general, the travel grants will be in the range of $3500-$4000 (less for domestic conference attendance). All international travel must comply with the Fly America Act (which means you must use a US air carrier).

Application deadline is  Feb 15
Application: Spring 2023 MENAAP studies proposal application

Send all proposals to me with MENAAP proposal in the subject heading.