History of the Center for the Study of Global Change

The precursor for the Center for the Study of Global Change was the Indiana Center on Global Change and World Peace, founded in 1989 by John P. Lovell. Lovell, a professor emeritus of Political Science, secured funding for the initial center through a generous five-year MacArthur Grant through The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. Centered on creating a community of young scholars, the Indiana Center on Global Change and World Peace maintained a position to identify and support ten graduate students per year through annual $10,000 stipends. These graduate students took part in a variety of programs, workshops, and classes to help cultivate them into scholars. An unexpected change in leadership led to the close of this initial program, and the Indiana Center on Global Change and World Peace had not renewed any funds to continue its work.

In 1995, there was an open competition for the directorship of a new center. Brian Winchester, the current director, submitted a Title VI proposal from the US Department of Education and expanded its focus pre-collegiate, undergraduate, graduate, and post graduate students. He also suggested a different name, the Center for the Study of Global Change, which had a broad global focus rooted in deeper internationalization of Indiana University and beyond. The Title VI funding was approved in the spring of 1996, and the Center for the Study of Global Change has since been a Title VI National Resource Center.

There are many unique and noteworthy accomplishments of the Center for the Study of Global Change. The Center is distinctive in that it offers many opportunities related to study of international global security. Furthermore, one of the hallmark programs started by the Center is the International Studies Summer Institute, a program focused on incorporating internationalization into a pre-collegiate curriculum through participation of high school teachers. The undergraduate International Studies minor was created and ran by the Center before it was absorbed into the International Studies department in the College of Arts and Sciences. The Center also created a graduate level Global Studies minor and is currently developing a graduate minor in human rights.

A most noteworthy accomplishment of the Center for the Study of Global Change is the use of interactive video to link students from all over the country and world in an educational exchange. The Center has collaborated with over 36 different countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, and elsewhere. Some universities that have collaborated with the Center include the University of Umeaa in Sweden, the University of Southern Denmark, and the University of Humboldt in Berlin.