US-UK Fulbright Global Challenges Teaching Awards

Launched in 2022 by the US-UK Fulbright Commission, the Global Challenges Teaching Awards (GCTA) are managed and delivered in a unique partnership between the Commission and AAC&U’s VE/COIL Initiative. Their aim is to foster international collaboration and innovation in higher education that will provide invaluable cross-cultural learning experiences for students on both sides of the Atlantic.

GCTA supports teaching faculty from the United States and the United Kingdom in co-delivering interdisciplinary virtual exchange and collaborative online international learning (VE/COIL) courses that address pressing global challenges.

As part of the GCTA for 2024-25, each faculty instructor grantee will collaborate with a counterpart across the Atlantic to co-create an undergraduate VE/COIL course that addresses one of four key global challenges: climate change, inequality, polarization and division, or racial justice. In addition, each instructor will be supported by a team of colleagues from their institution who will collaborate to expand the US-UK institutional partnership while also exploring how to advance VE/COIL within their shared institution.

Faculty instructors and their support teams embark on a yearlong journey of professional development, online collaboration, and in-person faculty/staff exchanges with their partner institutions, as part of their participation in AAC&U's Institute on Virtual Exchange/COIL., culminating in the implementation of shared VE/COIL courses in the fall of 2025.

AAC&U and the US-UK Fulbright Commission provide awardees and their teams with ongoing support, including specialized clinics focused on advancing VE/COIL initiatives, open educational resources, and networking events to help foster successful partnerships and enhance their course and institutional-level project development.

Learn more about the Global Challenges Teaching Award and AAC&U's Institute on Virtual Exchange/COIL.