The university is the first to host IU vice presidents in Mexico, according to an IU press release.
The first visits began when a doctoral student in anthropology embarked on a new exchange program to conduct field research with researchers from Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México for a year.
The trip is to be the start of many long-term collaborations between IU and Mexico, according to the press release.
“A very promising aspect of this new collaboration is building on longstanding connections between the Ostrom Workshop at IU and UNAM’s Institute of Social Research,” José said. “Lin Ostrom’s work and her students have been extremely influential, so much so that UNAM biannually awards an Elinor Ostrom International Award on Collective Governance of the Commons.”
The collaborations will also include student and faculty exchanges and research partnerships, José said in the press release.
Additionally, there is a proposed exploratory meeting among faculty at both universities, which will be hosted at UNAM’s Institute of Social Research, according to the release.
In April, both José and Zaret visited UNAM, as well as other Mexican scientific research organizations.
During the trip they signed an agreement to initiate an academic exchange program including students and faculty, according to the release.
Additionally, the vice presidents met with CONACYT, the Mexican equivalent to the National Science Foundation, according to the release. CONACYT sponsors agreements with U.S. universities to increase collaborations between U.S. and Mexican universities.
On their trip, Zaret and José met with the Undersecretary of State Sergio Alcocer the Bilateral Forum on Higher Education, Innovation and Research, which plays a large role in collaborations between the U.S. and Mexico, according to the release.
President Barack Obama and Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto began FOBESII in 2013. The goal of the program is to increase Mexican students in the U.S. by 100,000 each year and the number of U.S. students studying in Mexico by 10,000 each year.
José and Zaret made a final stop on their trip to the El Colegio de México. This university will be a key partner in exchanges with the IU College of Arts and Sciences, the School of Global and International Studies, the School of Public Health and the School of Public and Environmental Affairs, according to the release.
“To build and further develop robust connections to these institutions, there will be new meetings between IU-Bloomington school and campus administrators and their counterparts in Mexico during the 2015-16 academic year to explore new opportunities for IU students and faculty,” Zaret said.
Suzanne Grossman
