The Atlanta Global Research and Education Collaborative (AGREC) seeks to build and strengthen collaborative networks of multi-institutional scholars and practitioners to support global research and education initiatives in the Greater Atlanta region.
AGREC Members
Launched in 2020 and housed within the Atlanta Global Studies Center (AGSC), AGREC is comprised of six universities:
- AGSC, a partnership of Georgia Tech and Georgia State University
- Emory University’s Office of Global Strategy and Initiatives (GSI)
- Agnes Scott College’s SUMMIT Center for Global Learning and Leadership Development
- Spelman College’s Gordon-Zeto Center for Global Education
- Kennesaw State University's Division of Global Affairs
AGREC invites other universities to join this initiative. Please contact us to learn more.
AGREC's Mission
- connect the Greater Atlanta region's international assets through an emphasis on supporting "global at home" projects that serve students, faculty, and community partners
- enhance and broaden institutional partnerships amongst universities in Greater Atlanta
- create and strengthen global networks of scholars and practitioners in Greater Atlanta
- raise the profile of Atlanta region as a whole, making Greater Atlanta a hub for global education and research through innovative collaborative educational and research projects from various disciplines
Logos of AGREC Partner Institutions
Delta Passport Initiative
Delta Air Lines has selected the AGREC partnership for a $51,000 sponsorship award to fund a free passport program which will help increase access to global education experiences and foster international perspectives among students.
The development of the Delta Passport Initiative was led by Emory University’s Atlanta Global Partnerships on behalf of AGREC. Delta’s sponsorship will fund 50 passports at each partner institution, totaling 300 passports during the 2023-2024 academic year. Each university will oversee its own outreach program or dedicated passport day to tailor impact for its unique academic environment and student body.
Publications
Cultural and Linguistic Adaptations of Stop the Bleed in Multi-Ethnic Refugee Communities
Abdullahi D, Zeidan A, Koganti D, et al. Cultural and Linguistic Adaptations of Stop the Bleed in Multi-Ethnic Refugee Communities. The American Surgeon. 2023; 0(0). doi:10.1177/00031348231162708
Read about the collaborative work of the AGREC “Stop the Bleed” project team, whose members are conducting life-saving research and trainings with refugee and immigrant communities in Clarkston, GA.
Stop the Bleed (STB), and other trainings that promote health education in basic trauma management techniques, is offered mostly in English and Spanish in the United States. Limited access to injury prevention training may contribute to inequities in health outcomes for individuals with limited English proficiency (LEP). This study aims to determine the feasibility and effectiveness of STB training in 4 languages spoken in a super diverse refugee settlement community, Clarkston, GA.
Welcoming immigrant integration beyond the local level: Atlanta’s One Region Initiative
Hyde A, Liu C, et al. Welcoming immigrant integration beyond the local level: Atlanta’s One Region Initiative. Journal of Race, Ethnicity and the City. 2023. DOI: 10.1080/26884674.2023.2168219
Welcoming America, a nonprofit organization based in metropolitan Atlanta, has grown a membership network throughout the U.S. of nonprofit organizations and municipalities that present their communities as “welcoming cities” for immigrants. In 2018, Welcoming America launched the “One Region Initiative” to cultivate a concept of a “welcoming region” to transcend municipal boundaries. The purpose of the paper is to examine One Region member municipalities’ implementation of the plans and recommendations set forth in 2018. They specifically examined Phase I of the pilot program, which took place between 2019 and 2021 amid the broader multiscalar context of changing geographies of immigrant settlement and immigration policy. They do so through participant observation as One Region steering committee members, and applied researchers who have been engaged in immigrant integration work in the Atlanta metro area and throughout the country for over a decade. Overall, they find unevenly completed recommendations across locales (often more tied to resources than actual immigrant population share) and core areas (often tied to business friendliness and government).
“Tesla in Grünheide”: Growing Intercultural Competence Through Role-Play Simulation
Joo, H.-A. and Tuschling, L. (2022), “Tesla in Grünheide”: Growing Intercultural Competence Through Role-Play Simulation. Die Unterrichtspraxis/Teaching German, 55: 222-236. https://doi.org/10.1111/tger.12211
The development of intercultural communicative competence (ICC) becomes increasingly important in the world language curriculum and a crucial goal to prepare students for real-life communicative situations outside of the classroom. This article discusses how a simulation exercise based on the contentious construction of the Tesla Gigafactory in Grünheide, Germany, facilitated the growth of students' ability to take perspectives other than their own – a crucial step toward ICC. Using the controversies about the Tesla Gigafactory as a real-world case study, students participated in a role-play simulation, set up as a town hall meeting, where they had to develop arguments whether Tesla should be given the official construction permit or not. This project-based and student-led exercise was designed to develop critical awareness of the cultural intricacy of the Tesla case by considering authentic dilemmas and conflicting perspectives. The activity was implemented in a virtual study abroad, advanced-level German course. Comparing responses from a student feedback survey with Byram's ICC model (2021) suggests that the exercise helped students increase their factual knowledge, skills of interpreting, relating, discovering, and interacting, and develop differentiated understanding of other perspectives – important 21st-century ICC skills for a global life and work environment.
AGREC Collaborative Projects
AGREC Addresses Global Issues at the Local Level by Awarding over $100K to 11 Collaborative Projects in AY 2022-23
AGREC is proud to support the following collaborative projects in Academic Year 2022-23:
Learn more about the faculty and community partners who make these award-winning projects possible.
AGREC Collaborative Projects AY 2022-23
Blurb / Gallery Set
Clarkston Small Business Support: Community Ambassadors Program
—
Emory University, Georgia Institute of Technology, Amani Women Center
This project meets the unique needs of refugee and immigrant women in navigating the fragmented ecosystem required for entrepreneurs to start and formalize small businesses in and around the Clarkston, Georgia community.
Coalition Building towards Undocumented Student Support in GA
—
Emory University, Georgia State University, Oglethorpe University, Latino Community Fund, Center for Pan Asian Community Services, Inc. (CPACS)
Project partners share resources and expertise related to undocumented student access, inclusion, and equitable support in Georgia from high school to graduate school.
Enhancing Global and STEM Knowledge through Virtual Exchanges: Partnership between a Korean Dual Language Program in Georgia and an Elementary School in South Korea
—
Kennesaw State University, Georgia State University, Parsons Elementary School (Gwinnett County), and YoungHwa Elementary School, South Korea
This project supports the development and use of learning and teaching materials in science and math to be used during virtual exchange to enhance students’ global citizenship.
Global Learning for a Lifetime: Supporting Black Students at Home and Abroad Phase II
—
Agnes Scott College, Kennesaw State University, Morehouse College, Atlanta Metropolitan State College, Delta Airline’s Global Office of Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion
This project assesses study abroad practices to engage Black students' identities holistically, to remove barriers for Black students, and to enable global education professionals to make study abroad more accessible.
Launching the Vision: Building the Greater Atlanta Community Science Collaboratory for the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals
—
Georgia Institute of Technology, Kennesaw State University, Emory University, WAWA (West Atlanta Watershed Alliance), Truly Living Well Center for Natural Urban Agriculture, and Eco-Action
This project supports the region’s first Community Science Collaboratory, comprised of 6 Community-Based Organizations (CBOs) and 6 Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), fostering meaningful partnerships that address local-to-global challenges through knowledge-sharing, problem identification, scientific collaboration, and public engagement.
PROJECT SIMU-VACTION on "Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Health Disparities on a Global Stage"
—
Emory University, Georgia Institute of Technology, The American Red Cross in Atlanta, The American Cancer Society
The simulation replicates an international meeting of the Global Partnership on AI, an international forum created by the French and the Canadian Governments. Playing the roles of national delegates, journalists, and lobbyists, students write, debate, and vote on one of the most challenging AI quandaries: How can we ensure that AI designed to help address health inequities does not, in fact, increase such disparities?
RCE Greater Atlanta SDG Futures Fellowship
—
Georgia Institute of Technology, Kennesaw State University, Sustainable Georgia Futures, Historic District Development Corporation
This project serves as the primary youth (ages 17-29) engagement program for RCE Greater Atlanta, providing eight-month leadership experiences to 15-20 students enrolled in higher education institutions to promote the UN SDGs in their local and campus communities.
Saving Lives: Expanding Cultural and Linguistic Access to Stop the Bleed
—
Georgia State University, Emory University, Afghan Alliance of Georgia, Indian Creek Elementary School
This project increases both knowledge and efficacy of bleeding emergency self-care for multi-ethnic community residents in Clarkston by developing culturally and linguistically appropriate materials and training, which will be delivered by community residents through partnerships with community-based organizations and local schools.
Supporting Clarkston Youth in College Readiness
—
Georgia Institute of Technology, Kennesaw State University, Re'Generation Movement, Step Ahead Scholars
This project prepares refugee and New American high-school-aged students in Clarkston for Georgia Tech's 2023 First Generation College Institute and supports them in using what they learn to advance their college preparedness and matriculation at any college or university.
The Praise House Project
—
Spelman College, Emory University, Culture Centers International
This project expands education about Praise Houses for students and the public through temporary public art installations in communities where African-American history and presence is being or has been erased. Praise Houses recall encoded messages of freedom and resistance within our cultural identity and trace these messages within trade-skills and customs found in both the American South and the diaspora, back to their origins in Africa.
Traveling Exhibit: Enhancing the GA Standards of Excellence Social Studies Curriculum
—
Kennesaw State University, Georgia State University, Alif Institute
This project creates an exhibit to provide more accurate and comprehensive information about Arabs and the Middle East to augment social studies curriculum in Georgia's public schools.
AGREC Supports 8 "Global at Home" Projects in AY 2021-22
AGREC has continued to grow this year and is proud to support 8 projects engaging faculty and students from 10 universities/colleges as well as 10 community partners during AY 2021-22. We look forward to featuring their work next academic year!
New projects supported in AY 2021-22:
- Global Learning for a Lifetime: Supporting Black Students at Home and Abroad
- Realizing the Vision: Designing a Community Science Collaboratory for the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
- Writers Without Borders: A Human Rights Writing Project for Atlanta’s Migrant Youth
- The Global Communities Internship Program
- Supporting Holocaust Education for Atlanta Area Preservice Teachers through Collaborative Research, Resources, and Partnerships
- Connecting global and local: Curricular development and global partnership in a Korean specials class at a public elementary school
- Bringing Native Science into Atlanta’s K-12 dual language immersion: Digital curriculum development and adaptation in an APS classroom
- Cultural Sensitivity Workshop: Building Bridges
View funded projects during AY 2021-22 cycle here.
AGREC Projects AY 2020-21: Presentations | Fall 2021
Schedule [PDF]
*The featured projects were funded through AGREC during AY 2020-21.
AGREC Projects AY 2020-21 Presentations
Blurb / Gallery Set
Water quality monitoring network for highly impacted urban headwaters in metro Atlanta (GA)
—
Fri, October 22 | 12 - 1 pm EST
Download flyer including abstract [PDF]
- Richard Milligan, Assistant Professor of Geosciences, Georgia State University
- Na'Taki Osborne Jelks, Assistant Professor of Environmental and Health Sciences, Spelman College
Growing Intercultural Competence for Peace and Mediation: The Case Study Method in the Foreign Language Classroom
—
Wed, October 27 | 12 - 1 pm EST
Download flyer including abstract [PDF]
- Hyoun-A Joo, Assistant Professor of German, Georgia Tech
- Barbara Drescher, Acting Director of German Studies, Agnes Scott College
- Lina Tuschling, TRENDS Global
Advancing a Community-Based Participatory Research Model for Metropolitan Regional Immigrant Integration and Receptivity through the One Region Initiative
—
Wed, November 3 | 11 am - 12pm EST
Download flyer including abstract [PDF]
- Allen Hyde, Assistant Professor, Georgia Tech
- Cathy Liu, Professor and Department Chair, Georgia State University
- Paul N. McDaniel, Associate Professor, Kennesaw State University
- Darlene Xiomara Rodriguez, Associate Professor, Kennesaw State University
- Britton Holmes, MA/PhD Student, Georgia State University
The Global Communities Internship Program
—
Fri, November 5 | 11 am - 12 pm EST
Download flyer including abstract [PDF]
- Philip Ojo, Professor of French, Agnes Scott College
- Amber McCorkle, Education and Programs Director, Clarkston Community Center
- Jongdae Kim, Co-Founder and ED, Re'Generation Movement
- Monty Whitney, Director, Bonner Office of Community Service, Morehouse College
- Johannes Kleiner, Associate Director, Civic Engagement, Emory University
- Ruthie Yow, Service Learning & Partnerships Specialist, Serve-Learn-Sustain, Georgia Tech
Atlanta-area migrant communities and climate change: characterizing drivers of migration, exposure risks, and health vulnerabilities
—
Wed, November 10 | 12 - 1 pm EST
Download flyer including abstract [PDF]
- Cassandra White, Associate Professor of Anthropology, Georgia State University
- Rebecca P. Philipsborn, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Emory University
- Alexis Nkusi, MD, MPH, CPACS/Cosmo Health Center
Savings Lives in the Refugee Community: A Cultural and Linguistic Adaptation of Stop the Bleed
—
Thu, December 2 | 10 - 11 am EST
Download flyer including abstract [PDF]
- Mary Helen O'Connor, Courtesy Faculty, School of Public Health, Georgia State University; Director, Center for Community Engagement, Perimeter College
- Randi Nicole Smith, Assistant Professor of Surgery, Assistant Professor of Public Health, Emory University; Trauma Surgeon at Grady Memorial Hospital
- Deepika Koganti, MD, Assistant Professor of Surgery, Emory School of Medicine
- Amy Zeidan, MD, Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine, Emory School of Medicine
- Iris Feinberg, PhD, Georgia State University
Past News Releases
Past Funding Opportunities
2023-24 "Global at Home" Call for Proposals (CFP)
AY 2022-23 Call for Proposals: Connecting globally while grounded at home (2021-2022) | CLOSED
Deadline: June 28, 2022
The Atlanta Global Research and Education Collaborative (AGREC) invites scholars to submit collaborative projects across disciplines, institutions, and universities that address a need in our global and local communities. This call aims to address topics with a global connection while being grounded locally. Scholars and practitioners may examine a local and global problem in the form of research, workshop, forum, training program or suggest another approach by collaborating with an organization in Atlanta or a population group that has a global dimension. AGREC seeks to build and strengthen collaborative networks of multi-institutional scholars and practitioners to support global research and education initiatives in the Greater Atlanta region.
Questions? Contact Diana Wrenn Rapp, AGSC Associate Director
AY 2021-22 Call for proposals: Connecting globally while grounded at home | CLOSED
AGREC invites scholars to submit collaborative projects across disciplines, institutions, and universities that address a need in our global and local communities. This call aims to address topics with a global connection while being grounded locally. Scholars and practitioners may examine a local and global problem in the form of research, workshop, forum, or suggest another approach by collaborating with an organization in Atlanta or a population group that has a global dimension.
Preference will be given to innovative, transformative collaborative research and education projects in global engagement with significant emphasis on their potential to develop new and strategic sustainable relationships among partners (e.g. universities, companies, NGOs, community organizations) and their impact on Atlanta communities.
Please also consider adding your name to the interest & partnership list at the link below to find and connect to potential collaborators for your projects.
View funded projects during AY 2020-21 cycle here.
View Georgia Tech press release about funded projects during AY 2020-21 here.
Contact:
Diana Wrenn Rapp, AGSC Associate Director: dwrenn1@gsu.edu
AGREC received generous support from Georgia Tech Office of the Provost for International Initiatives through the Steven A. Denning Faculty Award for Global Engagement.