Global Intersections is a Center for Global Studies (CGS) initiative designed to encourage multicultural, international, transnational, and global perspectives in student research. This initiative invites collaborative proposals from faculty and students across multiple disciplines that promote understanding and aid in solving global problems. These projects provide opportunities for students to engage directly in the process of developing new research directions in areas of global import. In spring 2023, CGS ran its annual Global Intersections competition and received multiple excellent proposals. To maximize the number of proposals awarded, CGS partnered with several fellow Illinois Global Institute centers to help fund these innovative initiatives. The awarded projects include the following:
- “Heterogeneity of Coloniality: A Transnational Investigation of Chineseness” by students David Tsoi and Reanne Zheng
- “Virtual Exchange for the Post-pandemic Era: A Global Symposium” by students Aigul Rakisheva and Lu Xu and co-sponsored by the European Union Center
- “Maintaining Borders Research and Reading Group” by students Ivan Cherniakov and Sharayah Cochran
- “Mesoamerican Indigenous Language Revitalization: A Workshop and Panel on Experiences, Strategies, and Community” by students Brian Acosta and Citlalli Garcia and co-sponsored by the Center for Latin American Studies (CLACS)
- “Craft Research in the Wake of Ecological Urgencies: Locating Political Imagination in the Americas” by students Manuel Perez-Troncoso and Maria Serrano-Abreu and co-sponsored by CLACS
- “A ‘Decoupling’ of Ukrainian Culture from Russian Influences in the Wake of the Russian Invasion” by students Nataliia Naumozska and Sophia Florek Carlson and co-sponsored by the Russian, East European, and Eurasian Center.
As an example of initiative excellence, the project focused on Ukraine evolved into a 3-day symposium on Ukrainian Cultural and Linguistic Shift, titled “Away from the Empire: The Linguistic and Cultural Shift in Ukraine in the Wake of the Russian Invasion”. Facilitated by UIUC professors Monika Stodolska and Valeria Sobol, the symposium featured prominent scholars on Russian and Ukrainian language and culture. This well-attended successful symposium exemplifies the academic and programming excellence represented by Global Intersections projects.
