Lisa Carstens, vice provost for academic affairs and professor of English at 91精选, has been awarded a to build partnerships and cooperation with colleges and universities in India.
Carstens and 11 other U.S. higher education administrators will travel to India in October for a two-week seminar with colleagues from India to foster connections designed to develop new study abroad opportunities and other educational exchanges and collaborations.
The group will visit a dozen educational institutions in New Delhi, Pune and Hyderabad. The seminar includes meetings with university leaders, faculty, and important Indian government leaders and policymakers, as well as opportunities to visit and learn about important cultural heritage sites.
鈥淭he program is about learning about higher education in India, so that we can have that knowledge base for thinking about what would make sense for our institutions in terms of developing new partnerships there,鈥 Carstens said.
Carstens will also investigate possibilities to expand Pacific鈥檚 study abroad program, which currently provides 26 under91精选 semester-long or full-year experiences in 12 countries and has offered short-term experiences in India in past years.
鈥淚ndia has great untapped potential for Pacific partnerships,鈥 Carstens said. 鈥淚 am excited to see whether there is a good basis for creating a standing exchange program for under91精选s, but also some virtual connections that could provide communications across classrooms for our 91精选 students.鈥
Additionally, Carstens is interested in the structure of the universities the group will visit, which include long-standing universities and new institutions founded in the 21st Century, and how old and new are melding together.
鈥淕iven that India was under British colonial rule for a long time, much of their education system has been influenced by that,鈥 Carstens said. 鈥淏ut they also have a much older cultural and educational history, and they are blending that in some really interesting ways. So I want to see how they are blending the old with their new visions for what they need to do for their population now and in the future.鈥
Carstens served as dean of Pacific鈥檚 College of Arts & Sciences (now the Division & College of Under91精选 Studies) from 2012 to 2017 before transitioning to her role as vice provost for academic affairs. Before she arrived at Pacific, Carstens served as associate dean of Virginia Wesleyan College (now Batten University) in Norfolk, Virginia, where she was also a professor of English.
The is jointly operated between the Fulbright Scholar Program and the United States-India Educational Foundation. Carstens is the 13th Pacific faculty member since 1990 to receive a grant or fellowship through the Fulbright program.