Projects Funded in 2018-2019

Developing a History of Science, Medicine, and Technology (HSMT) Track within the History Major 

Awarded Fall 2018 

Dr. Febe Armanios, Dr. Ian Barrow, and Dr. Rebecca Bennette received FFI funding to establish a new track within the history department’s curriculum to allow students, be they science-minded or humanities-based, to focus on the history of science, medicine and technology (HSMT). Across the country, HSMT is currently among the most popular and appealing fields of academic study among both humanities and STEM students. Their project will research best practices within this discipline; invite leading scholars to Middlebury; and develop a collection of new courses to launch this track.

Conference as Curriculum: A Model for Optimizing Conferences for Innovative Learning 

Awarded Fall 2018 

Led by Dr. Anne Campbell, Dr. David Wick, and Amy Marcus ‘18 MAIEM/MPA, “Conference as Curriculum” capitalizes on academic and professional conferences as sites for extending and individualizing the MIIS curriculum to deepen student learning and strengthen student expertise. With Conference as Curriculum, students will learn how to harness the cutting-edge research, trends, and practices presented by world-class researchers and scholar-practitioners to gain proficiency in topics that are not included in the MIIS curriculum.

MIDD-MIIS National Security Simulation Exercise 

Awarded Spring 2019 

MIDD-MIIS SIMEX is a simulated terrorism-themed role-playing national security exercise that entails MIDD and MIIS student participation. MIDD/MIIS participating students will form small teams and operate in the role they are assigned within a U.S. federal agency/department. Each team will be led by one active federal government employee who serves as a mentor. The teams will review and analyze, inter alia, open source intelligence, and mock intelligence with an eye towards providing assessments, briefings, and recommendations for consideration by individuals who are playing the role of policymakers. This project is led by Jason Blazakis, Director of the Center on Terrorism, Extremism, and Counterterrorism at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies.

Free Improvisation in the Liberal Arts 

Awarded Spring 2019 

Created by Dr. Kareem Khalifa and Dr. Matthew Evan Taylor, Free Improvisation in the Liberal Arts (FILAS) is performance and lecture series that will demonstrate how principles in improvised music can apply to other fields of study. The men and women we wish to invite are among the most accomplished performers in the world, and their backgrounds in improvisation make them among the most innovative thinkers in the country.

Not a Trivial Pursuit: Using Student-Produced Games to teach Feminist and Queer Theory 

Awarded Spring 2019 

Through this project, Dr. Carly Thomsen seeks to create resources and academic scholarship regarding best practices for using game production to advance students’ learning in Feminist and Queer Studies courses. Dr. Thomsen requested funding for: a four-day working meeting in 2019-2020, at which she and her colleagues will collaboratively develop these resources 2.) a website to house these resources 3.) a Game Night at which community members can play the student-created educational games and 4.) a Research Assistant to ensure that each part of these items is completed successfully.