Libraries award inaugural Global Partnerships International Travel Grants

Penn State University Libraries’ Global Initiatives is thrilled to announce the inaugural Global Partnerships International Travel Grant recipients for the 2019-2020 academic year. Two travel awards have been granted for this year:

Christina Riehman-Murphy, Reference and Instruction Librarian at Abington, will be traveling to Monash University in Melbourne, Australia to explore themes of internationalization of library pedagogy and curriculum, information literacy, and diversity and inclusion.

Ally Laird, Open Publishing Program Specialist, and Amanda Larson, Open Education Librarian, will be travelling to the University of Cape Town, South Africa, to build on the connections that have already been established between the library publishing programs of the University of Cape Town and Penn State, and explore the possibility of expanding these connections into the open educational resources area. In addition to this goal, Ally and Amanda will also be attending the SPARC Africa conference that will be hosted by our colleagues at the University of Cape Town.

The purpose of the Global Partnerships International Travel Grants is to foster meaningful working relationships between Penn State Libraries employees and our colleagues at our partner institutions within Penn State’s Global Engagement Network. Each year, Libraries employees who are currently involved in the Libraries’ international partnerships initiative with our partner institutions are eligible to apply for one of two awards of up to $4000 each. The funds can be used for travel to any of our partner institutions or to bringing a colleague from a partner institution to PSU. The Libraries official sister-libraries currently include:

  • Monash University (Melbourne, Australia)
  • Pontifical Catholic University of Peru (Lima, Peru)
  • Sungkyunkwan University (Seoul, South Korea)
  • University of Cape Town (Cape Town, South Africa)
  • Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg (Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany)
  • University of Split (Split, Croatia)

For more information about PSU Libraries’ international partnerships or the Global Partnerships International Travel Grants, please contact Mark Mattson, Global Partnerships and Outreach Librarian.