MSU’s Center for Global Learning and Innovation, Alliance for African Partnership (AAP), and African Studies Center (ASC) are pleased to announce the selected teams for the third cohort of the COIL Faculty Fellows Program-Africa.

This program is an opportunity for higher-ed teaching faculty (i.e., faculty or academic staff with teaching appointments) from any discipline to explore the theory and practice of Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL).

We are thrilled with the excitement and interest around COIL as we received a record number of applications this cycle. Over 100 highly esteemed teaching faculty expressed interest in partaking in our fellowship program, and thirteen teams have been selected representing a mix of bilateral and trilateral COIL projects. We welcome these teams who will be joining our program as our third cohort of fellows, and we look forward to collaborating with them in 2025-2026!

We also wish to extend sincere thanks to each one of the applicants and those who helped share this opportunity within their networks; we applaud your willingness and efforts in helping advance COIL and engaging students in global learning. Please stay tuned for future events or new Calls for Fellows.

Below you can learn more about the selected teams (ordered alphabetically):

Bilateral Projects

1. Aboubacar Niambélé (Department of English and American Studies, Université Yambo Ouologuem de Bamako, Mali) and Stephen Esquith (Department of Philosophy, College of Arts and Letters, Michigan State University, USA).
   
   
2. Amita Chudgar (Office of International Studies in Education and Department of Educational Administration, College of Education, Michigan State University, USA) and Janeth Kalinga (Department of Educational Psychology and Curriculum Studies, College of Education, University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania).
   
   
3. Connie Currier (Charles Stewart Mott Dept of Public Health, College of Human Medicine, Michigan State University, USA) and Sitsofe Gbogbo (Fred N. Binka School of Public Health, University of Health and Allied Sciences, Ghana).
   
   
4. Felix Amuji (Dept. of Crop Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Nigeria Nsukka, Nigeria) and Ryan Walker (Dept. of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Michigan State University, USA).
   
   
5. Jonathan Choti (Dept. of Linguistics,  Languages, and Cultures, Michigan State University, USA) and Quin Elizabeth Awuor Orwa (Department of Languages and Literature, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, United States International University-Africa, Kenya).
   
   
6. Mercy Okezue (School of Packaging, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Michigan State University, USA) and Mpho Keetile (Dept. of Population Studies, University of Botswana, Botswana).
   
   
7. Peter Glendinning (Dept. of Art, Art History, & Design, Michigan State University, USA) and Precious Hove (Dept. of Management and Entrepreneurial Sciences, Women’s University in Africa, Zimbabwe).
   
   
8. Priscilla Mataure (Department of Family and Health Sciences, Women’s University in Africa, Zimbabwe) and Raquel Ritchie (Dept. of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, College of Osteopathic Medicine, Michigan State University, USA).

Trilateral Projects

1. Aklilu Zeleke (Lyman  Briggs College and the Department of Statistics and Probability, Michigan State University, USA), Gladys G. Njoroge (School of Pharmacy & Health Sciences, United States International University-Africa, Kenya), and Shenna M. Shearin (Dept. of STEM, Bennett College in North Carolina, USA).
   
   
2. Christina Dokter (Dept. of Pharmacology & Toxicology, Michigan State University, USA), Oluchukwu Margaret Mary Nwadi (Dept. of Food Science & Technology, University of Nigeria Nsukka, Nigeria), and Peter Ampim (College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources, Prairie View A&M University in Texas, USA).
   
   
3. Ezinne Ezepue (Dept. of Theatre & Film Studies, University of Nigeria Nsukka, Nigeria), Philip Effiong (Dept. of Theater & Integrative Humanities, Michigan State University, USA), and Stephane Dunn (Dept. of Cinema, Television & Emerging Media Studies and Dept. of English, Morehouse College in Georgia, USA).
   
   
4. Marco Robinson (Dept. of History, Division of Social Sciences, Prairie View A&M University in Texas, USA), Miriam Charimbu (Dept. of Crops, Horticulture, and Soils, Faculty of Agriculture, Egerton University, Kenya), and Susan Wyche (Dept. of Media & Information, College of Communication, Arts and Science, Michigan State University, USA).
   
   
5. Monyai Chavers (Dept. of History and Political Science, College of Arts and Science, Tuskegee University in Alabama, USA), Pulane Koosaletse-Mswela  (Dept. of Environmental Science, University of Botswana, Botswana), and Stephen Spates (Dept. of Communication, Michigan State University, USA).

Speaking closely to sustainability efforts of our fellowship program, we are pleased to welcome three new COIL Campus Coordinators (appointed by their respective institutions). As part of serving in this role, they will have the opportunity to learn more about COIL and how to best support faculty at their institutions who may want to implement COIL projects in the future. We look forward to working with them throughout this fellowship program and beyond!

• André Koné, Deputy Vice-Chancellor at the Yambo Ouologuem University of Bamako (Mali)
• Fatuma Simba Ikuja, Head of the Centre for Virtual Learning at the University of Dar es Salaam (Tanzania)
• Gosaitse Ezekiel Solomon from the Languages and Social Sciences Education Department at the University of Botswana (Botswana)