About KU-IIGE
"The Institute for International and Global Engagement will allow us to better align the significant resources we have at KU Lawrence-Edwards as we engage with our partners across the state, region, nation and world to bridge language, cultural and geographic divides as we address global challenges."
A longtime leader in international scholarship and global engagement, the University of Kansas has launched a new institute to enhance and align KU’s rich institutional internationalization capacities and connect them with local, national, and global needs.
The KU Institute for International and Global Engagement (KU-IIGE) builds on existing strengths while coordinating the academic, research and service efforts of faculty and staff working in international and global areas. The institute will focus on creating collaboration and partnerships on campus, across the state and around the globe.
Creation of the KU-IIGE was informed by KU’s self-study for the American Council on Education’s Internationalization Lab, which identified the need for an inclusive institutional structure that spans academic schools and administrative units and is designed to support and connect all campus efforts toward strategic international community engagement. While KU’s five international centers and the International Affairs division have built a foundation for the university’s international expertise and capacities, the university has lacked the organizational structure at the institutional level to align and connect those capacities across stakeholders on-campus toward supporting the international needs of Kansas and the nation. The institute will help KU do that in four key areas: curriculum, research, international operations, and international engagement.
As the Provost noted, “The Institute for International and Global Engagement will allow us to better align the significant resources we have at KU Lawrence-Edwards as we engage with our partners across the state, region, nation and world to bridge language, cultural and geographic divides as we address global challenges,”
KU is among only 13 universities in the United States with four or more Title VI federally designated National Resource Centers. These area studies centers design, develop and deliver interdisciplinary curricula that focus on specific regions of the world. The four Title VI centers are the Center for East Asian Studies, Center for Latin American & Caribbean Studies, Center for Russian, East European & Eurasian Studies, and Kansas African Studies Center. A fifth center, Center for Global & International Studies, works to develop cross-regional and interdisciplinary academic, research and outreach programs.