CAORC-AIFIS Overseas FACULTY DEVELOPMENT SEMINAR
Cultural Currents: Education and Society in the Indo-Pacific Region
Indonesia
Seminar Overview
The Overseas Faculty Development Seminar in Indonesia offers an immersive and transformative experience for educators seeking to broaden their understanding of Indonesian culture, history, and contemporary issues. Organized by the Council of American Overseas Research Centers (CAORC) in collaboration with the American Institute for Indonesian Studies (AIFIS), this seminar aims to provide faculty members with insights and firsthand experiences that can enrich their teaching and research, enhancing participants' knowledge of Indonesia's diverse society.
Indonesia’s national motto, Bhinneka Tunggal Ika (“Unity in Diversity”), exemplifies how cultural and ecological diversity contribute to social and cultural cohesion globally. As an archipelagic society spanning over 17,000 islands across the Indo-Pacific, Indonesia connects communities through shared traditions and innovations. The AIFIS OFDS program offers participants the opportunity to experience Indonesia’s rich cultural paradigms firsthand. Through visits to key cities like Jakarta and Yogyakarta on the island of Java, along with an excursion to the Eastern Islands, participants will explore how the world's largest Islamic society integrates both public and religious education, while gaining insights into global English and modern technical fields.
Faculty from all disciplines are encouraged to use this experience to enrich their curriculum by observing how Indonesians teach similar subjects in fields such as community college tech programs, hospitality, education, humanities, social sciences, and medical fields. This immersive program fosters cross-cultural exchange, connecting U.S. students and faculty with Indonesia’s international educational network. By the program’s end, participants will have gained a deeper appreciation for Indonesia’s educational landscape and cultural diversity, practical insights for enhancing their teaching, and a strengthened global network of educators working across diverse landscapes.
Seminar dates: July 11 - 25, 2025*
*Dates listed are tentative program dates, and are not inclusive of travel. Dates may be adjusted slightly due to flight availability.
Meet the AIFIS Seminar Leader
Megan Hewitt, Director of the American Institute for Indonesian Studies, Megan completed her doctoral degree from the Department of South & Southeast Asian Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. Her research and fieldwork in Indonesia include projects on Indonesian literature, performance arts, community-based education, and social movements. In conjunction with her graduate degree, she has eight years teaching experience in comparative Southeast Asian literatures and Indonesian Studies. She is a two-time Fulbright award recipient for research and teaching in Indonesia and has organized several conferences and workshops in collaboration with partners in the US and Indonesia. Megan has also worked as a professional Indonesian translator and consultant for the last six years. Additionally, she created a documentary filmmaking group called AmongOthers Productions with ongoing projects that highlight Indonesian cross-culturalism. She is currently producing a 20-minute documentary about a group of Indonesian and San Francisco based mural artists (Bangkit/Arise). Megan is also the lead singer of the Indie duo Antaralain, and performs with two Balinese ensembles in the SF Bay Area: Gamelan Sekar Jaya and Purnamasari.
Eligibility
The program is open to full-time or part-time faculty and administrators at U.S. community colleges or minority-serving institutions. A directory of MSIs can be found at the Rutgers Center for Minority Serving Institutions. The program is open to faculty in all fields, at all academic ranks, and from any academic or administrative department.
CAORC and the U.S. Department of State do not require any vaccinations to participate in the Overseas Faculty Development Seminar program, however the host countries, overseas research centers, individual sites, and communities that are part of the OFDS program schedule may have their own requirements for vaccination. These requirements may change from the time of application to the time of travel.
Applicants must be U.S. citizens at the time of application and must hold a valid, current U.S. passport that does not expire within six months of the last date of the program.
Applicants may apply to more than one seminar. Each application will be reviewed individually.
Previous Overseas Faculty Development Seminar awardees are requested to observe a one-year waiting period before applying for another program. For example, a January 2025 participant would next be eligible to apply in January 2026, and participate in Summer 2026.
Program Expectations
As an outcome of the Overseas Faculty Development Seminar program, participants are required to develop and implement a project to increase internationalization on their campus. Details and examples of these projects will be shared with awardees during pre-departure orientation. Projects should be implemented within one year of the conclusion of the program, at which time participants will be asked to submit a project report and share curriculum and/or documentation of the project for inclusion on CAORC's Open Educational Resources site.
Application Process
Applications can be accessed via CAORC's SM Apply application portal. You must sign up for an account to access the seminar application. This will allow you to save and return to your application before submitting. Please save your login/password information for future applications.
In addition to providing basic personal and professional information, applicants are required to respond to the following essay questions (up to 500 words each):
-
Discuss your background and experience, elucidating your personal interest in joining this Overseas Faculty Development Seminar, with a focus on the region and/or seminar theme. Provide details about your current engagement with these subjects in your teaching, research, campus activities, or community initiatives. (500 words)
-
Articulate how your participation in the seminar will contribute to your professional growth, particularly in enhancing your teaching, research methods, and/or contribution to global education on your campus. (500 words)
-
Outline a proposal for your post-seminar project, describing how participation in this seminar will directly impact your teaching, curriculum, and/or research. Specify the projects, courses, or activities you envision resulting from the seminar. Furthermore, discuss how your OFDS experience might be multiplied for the benefit of your students, colleagues, institution, and/or community.
-
Share a specific occasion when you encountered attitudes, perspectives, values, or behaviors different from your own. Explain your response and reflect on what you learned about yourself and your attitudes from the experience.
In addition, applicants are required to:
-
Upload a current cv/resume (maximum of 2 pages)
-
Request a letter of support from a department chair, academic division head, or academic dean at your college or institution. You will be able to send a link to your recommender via the online grant portal, SM Apply, by entering their contact details, which will trigger the system into sending an automated email. Your recommender will then be able to upload their letter. Recommendation letters will be confidential in the system.In their letter, the recommender should address the following questions/points:
-
Please tell us why you support the applicant’s participation in the CAORC faculty development seminar. From your perspective, how will they benefit professionally from the program?
-
Please describe the applicant’s engagement with your institution’s internationalization efforts and how their participation in the seminar might benefit students, colleagues, and the broader campus community.
-
Please discuss the applicant’s collegiality, teamwork, and professionalism. How have they demonstrated the ability to cooperate, work, and share with others to achieve goals and positive outcomes?
-
-
It is advisable to enter your recommender's contact details into the recommendation letter section of the application as soon as possible (and click 'mark as complete') so that they have sufficient time to complete and upload their letter. The applicant is responsible for checking in with their recommender to ensure the letter is submitted by the recommender deadline. CAORC is not able to reach out to recommenders on behalf of the applicant.
Opening date for applications: July 10, 2024
Application deadline: December 2, 2024 at 5:00pm ET
Recommendation letter deadline: December 6, 2024 at 5:00pm ET
Notification of award decisions: January 31, 2025
If you have questions, please email: fellowships@caorc.org.
Funding for this program is provided to CAORC through a grant from the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.
