Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis
Give Now

ICIC awarded Signature Center Initiative Grant

Marta Anton Beth Goering
IUPUI Research Fellows in Residence Marta Anton (left) and
Elizabeth Goering are collaborating on research efforts with
ICIC, thanks to an IUPUI Signature Center Initiative Grant. 

The Indiana Center for Intercultural Communication has been awarded a three-year IUPUI Signature Center Initiative Grant. The $300,000 grant will allow ICIC to capitalize on its recognized advances in health literacy and communication research with corresponding TRIP initiatives. It will support formal collaborations with IUPUI Research Fellows in Residence Marta Anton and Elizabeth Goering, both from the IU School of Liberal Arts at IUPUI.

The Signature Center Initiative Program was launched in 2006 to create nationally and internationally recognized centers that are uniquely identifiable with IUPUI, drawing on the strengths of the urban university campus.  Executive Vice Chancellor and Dean of Faculties Uday Sukhatme envisioned a program that would "take IUPUI’s research effort to a much higher level by helping to create a significant number of Signature Centers which will stand out like skyscrapers over the surrounding landscape."

The program initially awards three years of funding. Upon completion of the program, the recipients of Initiative Grants are eligible to become officially-designated Signature Centers of the university. The success of ICIC reflects the foresight of IU and the School of Liberal Arts to support the creation of a center focused on both research and practice in intercultural communication across many disciplines, notes ICIC Director Ulla Connor. 

"ICIC has a prestigious history of addressing the community’s needs through the translation of its research into the development and delivery of model workshops in English for Specific Purposes language training and intercultural communication," she said. "ICIC’s model of two-way negotiation and accommodation in intercultural communication has influenced researchers world-wide when addressing issues of immigrant and native English speaker interactions. ICIC continues to apply this model in international business and fund-raising discourse and now brings it into health literacy and communication research among linguistically and culturally diverse populations."

The ICIC Signature Center Initiative will be led by Ulla Connor, Director, ICIC, and Kathryn Lauten, Associate Director, ICIC.