The Center for Slavic, East European and Eurasian Studies, in partnership with the Ohio State Area Studies Centers, recently concluded its eighth year of organizing the K-14 Global Fellowship Program. The Global Fellowship Program first started during the 2017-18 academic year with the goal of connecting teachers from across the United States in a series of discussion group sessions that focus on contemporary issues from a global perspective. Since 2020, this program has been held virtually which has allowed the centers to reach a larger number of educators across the United States as well as those teaching at international schools in other countries.

The 2024-25 program concentrated on the theme of “Indigenous Peoples Across the Globe" and included regional sessions led by guest experts that focused on multi-disciplinary approaches to this year's theme. In particular, the program aimed to highlight Indigenous peoples outside of North America, their histories and cultures, their interactions with others, and the issues they face in their respective regions. Case studies focused on the Ainu, Buntu/Sande and Poro, P’urépecha, and Socotra, and another session gave an overview of the history of Indigenous groups and rights in Siberia. To finish off the year, the Fellowship concluded with a pedagogy session during which participants brainstormed how to integrate the program topic into their own curriculum, and incorporate practical teaching activities and strategies to teach and discuss complex topics in the classroom.

The centers welcomed thirty-two participants who teach at the K-14 level from fifteen different states into this year's cohort. Collectively, these educators impact over 3,200 students each year. Their teaching also covers a wide range of grade levels and disciplines including agriculture, Chinese, ESL, English language arts, French, geography, German, history, mathematics, Spanish, social studies, and many more. For successfully completing the program, the participating teachers were given access to texts, videos, and other resources and 2 Continuing Education Units (CEUs). The centers would also like to thank our guest experts Drs. Dima Arzyutov (Ohio State U.), Jacien Carr (Ohio State U.), Kinko Ito (U. of Arkansas at Little Rock), Mintzi Martinez-Rivera (Ohio State U.), Nathalie Peutz (New York U. Abu Dhabi), and Daniel Redman (Ohio State U.) for leading this year's sessions and discussions.

For more information about CSEEES' professional development programs, please visit our K-14 educator page or email CSEEES' outreach coordinator, Alicia Baca (baca.31@osu.edu).