Science Internationalization Projects | CALS International Programs Office

The Madison Initiative for Undergraduates supports the internationalization of science curriculum at UW-Madison.

Click here to read the full descriptions, including project-specific global learning outcomes

AGRICULTURAL AND APPLIED ECONOMICS

Redesign of AAE319: The International Agricultural Economy
Course(s) impacted: 3-credit AAE319: The International Agricultural Economy
Project head(s): Kyle W. Stiegert
Project: To update and revise a course on international trade and investment as it pertains to international agribusiness. New curriculum will include four new case studies. Course topics will include: international policies regarding food safety and regulations; issues around biotechnology industries (such as international trade in genetically modified organisms), patterns and trends in foreign direct investments by agribusiness multinationals; the role of the World Trade Organization in agricultural trade; the impacts of regional trade organizations; the influence of risk management in commodity price and exchange rates; and the practice of food retailing by large multinationals.

Integrating Learn@UW into AAE373: Globalization, Development, and Poverty
Course(s) impacted: AAAE373: Globalization, Development, and Poverty
Project head(s): Brad Barham; John Hoffmire
Project: To produce and implement a blended learning component (specifically a Learn@UW site) for a UW-Madison course on globalization, development, and poverty offered at Oxford University during the summer of 2012. The online component will provide the nearly 40 UW-Madison students (mostly freshmen) who have enrolled in this course with an individualized, student-driven means of identifying and processing the cultural aspects of their experience.

Strengthening the International Component of the Course Cooperatives
Course(s) impacted: Agricultural and Applied Economics 323: Cooperatives
Project head(s): Anne Reynolds
Project: To research and develop a two-week classroom module on cooperatives in Costa Rica to be integrated into a course on the management and development of cooperatives.

ANIMAL SCIENCES

Integration of International Scientific Research and Exchange of Multiple Cultural Perspectives to Meet the Challenges of Avian Conservation
Course(s) impacted: Animal Sciences/Zoology 520: Ornithology; Animal Sciences/Zoology 521: Birds of Southern Wisconsin; and a new course, Animal Sciences 375: Advanced Topics in Ornithology
Project head(s): Mark E. Berres
Project: To develop a new undergraduate course in ornithology and to create and integrate a case study of the critically endangered Montserrat Oriole.

Integration of Global Issues in the Animal Sciences Classroom: Reproductive Physiology
Course(s) impacted: Animal Sciences 434: Reproductive Physiology
Project head(s): John Parrish
Project: To develop and integrate a series (between six and 12) of case studies that focus on agricultural and wildlife management in Mexico for Animal Sciences 434: Reproductive Physiology.

BIOLOGY

Engage Children in Science: International Experience
Course(s) impacted: Biology 375: Engage Children in Science
Project head(s): Catherine Woodward, Dolly Ledin
Project: To research and develop a new section of the “Engage Children in Science” course that will provide students with a four-week summer service-learning experience in Ecuador.

BOTANY

International Food Security and Environmental Conservation in Botany and Plant Pathology
Course(s) impacted: Plant Pathology/Botany 123: Plants, Parasites, and People; a new 3-cr., 500-level course cross listed between the departments of Botany and Plant Pathology
Project head(s): Caitilyn Allen, Don Waller
Project: To develop a new three-credit, 500-level course that will be cross listed between the departments of Botany and Plant Pathology. The course will examine the tension between agriculture and the conservation of environmental resources by using case studies from the American Midwest and Guatemala.

Strengthening Undergraduate Environmental Studies with International Ecology and Biodiversity Conservation
Course(s) impacted: Environmental Studies 600: Large Carnivore Conservation in Wisconsin and around the World; Environmental Studies 651: Conservation Biology; Botany/Zoology/Environmental Studies 260: Introduction to Ecology
Project head(s): Adrian Treves
Project: To develop and integrate international, comparative case studies into three undergraduate courses that focus on ecology and the conservation of biodiversity.

DAIRY SCIENCE

Helping Students Discover Trans-National Issues in Sustainable Rural Development, Food Systems, and Poverty Alleviation with an Emphasis on Interdependencies
Course(s) impacted: Dairy Science 375: Agriculture in Emerging Economies: Dairying in Mexico; Inter-Ag 155: Issues in Agriculture, Environment, and Life Sciences; Inter-Ag 165: Introduction to International Issues in Agricultural & Life Sciences
Project head(s): Michel Wattiaux
Project: To research and develop comparative case studies of Mexican and Wisconsin dairy farming that will be developed as online, multi-media rich, interactive learning materials.

ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES

FOOD SCIENCE

The Internationalization of Food Sciences at UW-Madison
Course(s) impacted: Food Science 201: Careers in Food Science; Food Science 321: Food Law and Regulations; and development of a new course, Food Science 375: Food and Culture: An Exploration of the Social Implications of a Global Food Supply
Project head(s): Monica Theis
Project: To execute course revisions that integrate concepts of global awareness into two entry-level Food Science courses and to develop a new course that provides food science undergraduates with an international travel experience.

FOREST AND WILDLIFE ECOLOGY

European Approaches to the Conservation of Roe Deer, the Ecological Correlate of North America’s White-Tailed Deer
Course(s) impacted: 3-credit FW ECOL 375 : Special Topics/Complexity and Conservation of White-tailed Deer (requesting new course status to FW ECOL 577)
Project head(s): Tim Van Deelan
Project: To produce and integrate three week-long teaching modules that address European approaches to deer impacts on forests, agriculture, and urban and rural areas into a senior capstone course in Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology. By offering a global perspective to a local issue (deer management in Wisconsin), the teaching modules will provide interdisciplinary problem-solving opportunities and structured debate regarding the feasibility of using European approaches to manage similar conservation issues with deer in Wisconsin.

HORTICULTURE

Integrating International Practices into Horticulture 120: Survey of Horticulture
Project head(s): Sara E. Patterson
Course(s) impacted: Hort 120 Survey of Horticulture; Hort 334 & 335; Hort 263; Hort 372; Hort 345
Project: To establish an Italian Garden section in the Eagle Heights demonstration gardens during the summer of 2012 for integration into lectures and lab modules in the Department of Horticulture. In addition to providing students with a hands-on opportunity to learn about the usage of herbs and spices from a cultural perspective, including members of the compositaceae and labiaceae families, the Italian Garden section will also demonstrate diverse methods in mulching, composting, and other sustainable gardening practices. This module will later be developed into a capstone opportunity.

INTEGRATED LIBERAL STUDIES

Science for a World Lived in Common
Course(s) impacted: Integrated Liberal Studies 251, 252, and 253: Science Illuminated
Project head(s): Basil Tikoff, Cathy Middlecamp
Project: To execute a syllabi redesign and develop new teaching materials that internationalize the three-course integrated science sequence entitled “Science Illuminated,” with concentration on the final course “Predicting the Future.”

LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE

Developing the Costa Rica Cloud Forest Studio
Course(s) impacted: 1-cr Landscape Architecture 375: Costa Rica Cloud Forest Studio/ 2-cr. Winter break service learning course
Project head(s): John A. Harrington; Sam Dennis
Project: To establish the Costa Rica Cloud Forest Studio as a long-term site for an international service learning experience in Monteverde, Costa Rica. The studio will help the Cloud Forest School (cloudforestschool.org) by providing guidance for reforestation of disturbed areas, mapping onsite resources, and by making the school grounds available to students and local citizens for environmental education.

MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Integrating International Experiences into ME 363, Fluid Dynamics Course
Course(s) impacted: Mechanical Engineering 363: Fluid Dynamics
Project head(s): John Pfotenhauer, R.L. Engelstad
Project: To establish a summer session course in fluid dynamics for UW–Madison engineering undergraduates at the University of Agder in Grimstad, Norway.

NUTRITIONAL SCIENCES

Internationalizing Nutrition Education Counseling
Course(s) impacted: Nutritional Sciences 522: Nutrition Education and Counseling
Project head(s): Lynette Karls
Project: To research and develop an entirely new one-credit course that will be required for all Dietetics majors. The course on education and counseling will integrate cultural competencies in regards to racial, ethnic, and international communities.

International Careers in Community Nutrition
Course(s) impacted: Nutritional Sciences 200/Food Science 200: Professions of Dietetics and Nutrition
Project head(s): Betsy Kelly
Project: To produce a video on the international experiences that three nutritional scientists have had in Cambodia, Guatemala, and Ecuador.

PLANT PATHOLOGY

FIGS: Global Food Security
Course(s) impacted: Plant Pathology 375: Global Food Security (First-year Interest Group)
Project head(s): Jeri Barak, Suzanne Dove
Project: To host two visiting international experts to speak about international the aspects of global food security.

SOIL SCIENCE

Internationalization of Soil Science 325: Pedology
Project head(s): Alfred Hartemink and Anatassia Tapsieva
Course(s) impacted: Soil Science 325: Pedology
Project: To revise the course on soil formation, morphology, and mapping to give students an appreciation of the different perspectives and methodologies of international soil classification systems (beyond the USDA Soil Taxonomy) and illustrate the complex decision-making process involved in soil classification and mapping. A familiarity with differing classification systems can better prepare scientists to work in international projects and in global consortia developing worldwide digital soil databases. During the fall of 2012, visiting professor Pavel Krasilnikov of Moscow State University will deliver lectures and case studies on the subject which will be captured by video and incorporated into successive courses.

ZOOLOGY