GenCen awarded 4 Strategic Partnership Grants (SPGs) to MSU faculty-led research teams across 5 colleges (College of Education; College of Osteopathic Medicine; James Madison College; College of Agriculture and Natural Resource; College of Communications Arts and Science) and 8 departments (HALE; Media and Information; Fisheries and Wildlife; Comparative Cultures and Politics; Plant Soil and Microbial Science; Institute of Global Health; Food Science and Human Nutrition; Biosystem and Agricultural Engineering) on campus who are leading research collaborations with institutions and partners in Mexico and India. The projects fall under the priority areas of: Agriculture and Development; Health and nutrition; Environmental Justice and Social Change; and LGBTQ+ scholarship.

Professor Megh Marathe (Media & Information; Bioethics & Social Justice) is leading a project in Mumbai, India with Professor Kristen Renn (Higher Adult and Lifelong Education) titled “Critically Examining the Inclusion of Gender Diverse People in Identity Systems.” This project was developed in collaboration with Professor K.P. Ranade at Tata Institute of Social Sciences (Mumbai), and will establish a transnational, multidisciplinary, and long-term research collaboration to critically examine the inclusion of transgender, nonbinary, intersex, and other gender non-conforming people (that is, gender diverse people) in formal mechanisms such as identity documentation systems. The team’s goal is to characterize the challenges faced by gender diverse Indians in obtaining and using documentation concordant with their gender identity, and conduct a comparative analysis of how systems, policies, and practices in India and the US result in divergent constructions of trans identity. The research team will strategically explore networks of LGBTQ+ organizations in India and design pilot projects to step towards this goal. 

Dr. Krista Isaacs (Plant Soil and Microbial Science) and Dr. Sejuti Das Gupta (James Madison) are leading a project in Sundarbans region in West Bengal, India, to understand how the geography of West Bengal, changes in weather intensity, and access to institutional support shape women fish and paddy farmers’ livelihood strategies, which may diversify to agricultural and non-agricultural livelihoods. Titled, “Home is where rice and fish are: A changing agriculture-culture in West Bengal,” the MSU team is collaborating with a local team of researchers in West Bengal led by Dr. Chandrani Dutta, a West Bengal-based geographer. 

Professor Mark Axelrod (James Madison; Fisheries and Wildlife), Professor Maria del Mar Mancha-Cisneros (Fisheries and Wildlife), Professor Abigail Bennet (Fisheries and Wildlife), along with graduate student Meghan Vona, are leading a project entitled “Comparing Intersectional Power Relations and Resistance in Fishing Communities: Connecting with COBI in Mexico.” This project, in collaboration with Neyra Solano from COBI (Communidad y Biodiversidad), explores how hierarchies interact consistently with gender dynamics in small-scale fishing communities around the world, and which are specific to particular cultural contexts.

Led by Dr. Qing Xia (Institute of Global Health), “A Pilot Study of Kidney Stone Disease (KSD) among Female Patients: The Long-Term Implications and Health Challenges in Yucatan, Mexico,” aims to provide a comprehensive information about women patients in the districts with higher incidence of KSD in Yucatan, including their lived experience with KSD and the challenges they face. Other researchers involved in the project are Dr. Kenny Briceno (Institute of Global Health), Dr. Rene Hinojosa (Institute for Global Health) and Professor Ilce Medina (Biosystem and Agricultural Engineering), along with Juan Pablo Flores Tapia from the Regional Specialty Hospital in Yucatan Peninsula.  

The Provost and Dean of International Studies and Programs offer SPGs for MSU faculty to develop strategic, long-term partnerships with global higher education institutions (HEIs) and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). These partnerships should be centered on collaborative research between at least two departments and/or colleges at MSU and one or more global partner institutions. GenCen accepts proposals that are guided by the core principles of gender, intersectionality, and inclusion, and address at least one of seven priority subject areas. You can learn more about GenCen’s SPGs and see past awardees on our website.