Special Initiatives

About our Special Initiatives

The International Institute supports a range of innovative collaborations and sponsored projects in international studies that cross traditional intellectual boundaries of inquiry and that address diversity within nation-states and the movement of peoples and practices across the world. In addition, the Institute also supports outreach to K-16 educators.


Current initiatives and projects of the International Institute include:

  • U.S. Department of Education Title VI Grants for National Resource Centers (NRC) and Foreign Languages and Area Studies (FLAS)

    Over $10 million in funding was granted from 2006-10 by the U.S. Department of Education to the International Institute's Centers and Programs to serve as National Resource Centers for research, training, and outreach related to specific world regions, and to provide grants for graduate-level academic year and summer fellowships to support foreign language and area studies training. Both programs serve as anchors for extended and enduring regional studies across disciplines at the University of Michigan and other selected U.S. Universities.

  • International Perspectives on Human Rights Organized by the International Institute and the Institute for the Humanities,

    International Perspectives on Human Rights brings together the resources of the University to promote reflection, debate, scholarship, and teaching in the vast and controversial field of human rights. The mission is to address human rights globally and comparatively, to forge connections between existing research projects, to promote dialogue between scholars and human rights practitioners, to encourage curricular development, and create alliances between students, faculty, and non-governmental organizations. In these ways, the program shares University expertise and resources with the broader intellectual community at both local and international levels.

  • Islamic Studies Initiative

    U-M has extraordinary depth in scholarship and instruction dealing with Islam as a world religion and the study of Muslim peoples and societies. Over 50 faculty members from across a wide range of departments and professional schools are working on these topics. The Islamic Studies Initiative (ISI) mobilizes this outstanding faculty to contribute to instruction, research, and public affairs programming.  The initiative is designed to establish the University of Michigan as a national leader in the field of Islamic Studies, benefiting undergraduate and graduate students and faculty. For more information, please contact Sylvia Meloche    .

Click here for information on recent projects of the International Institute

Outreach for Educators

The International Institute and its constituent and affiliated centers and programs offer a variety of programs and information resources for K-12 and postsecondary educators and their students. These include teachers' workshops, resource libraries, website directories, grants to support area-focused curriculum development, as well as a wide range of public events open to educators and their students.

For information about other resources, consult the websites below or contact individual centers and program:

Center for Afroamerican and African Studies

Center for Chinese Studies

Center for European Studies
European Union Center

Center for Japanese Studies

Latin American and Caribbean Studies Program

Center for Middle Eastern and North African Studies

Center for Russian and East European Studies

Center for South Asian Studies

Center for Southeast Asian Studies

Visit our resources section for more information on K-14 resources.

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