The William P. Hobby Center for Public Service was notified of its selection for a grant from the Texas International Education Consortium (TIEC) on July 24. This Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) grant intends to support a partnership between Texas State University and the University of Rwanda, Rwanda, Africa. Texas State University Professor Dr. Sheriff Folarin submitted the COIL grant, which links the two schools and allows for various cultural and societal perspectives to be shared between them. In addition to regular course objectives, technology will be utilized as the schools examine two or more of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
This grant will fund the Classroom Without Borders project, which is scheduled for Fall 2025. Dr. Folarin will be joined by his TXST colleague Dr. Helen Lowman and by Dr. Peter John Mugume of the University of Rwanda. Classes will examine African and global politics, history, public governance, administration, and economics.
The boundary-pushing CWB project will “foster globalized knowledge and create a corridor to get students across the Atlantic engaged virtually in active and profitable classroom discussions,” noted Dr. Folarin. “This initiative,” he continued, “is particularly designed to take TXST to Africa, a continent about which not much is taught… to expose students to new knowledge and be a springboard for a new partnership with African universities.”
Dr. Howard Balanoff, TXST Professor and Director of the Hobby Center, believes the project will positively represent the Hobby Center’s public service mission at home and abroad.
