IVEC is the largest and most prominent event in the field of Virtual Exchange (also known under Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL), Telecollaboration, and other names). The conference pulls together instructors, researchers, thought leaders, administrators, and funding agencies for three days of presentations, planning, and networking! If you are interested in attending, please let us know, as there are discounts available for groups coming from within a single institution. 

English will be the primary language of IVEC 2023 in the plenary, panels, and concurrent sessions, with Portuguese and Spanish translation provided in the concurrent sessions.

In February 2020, the Virtual Exchange Initiative opened a call for proposals for new exchanges that we could help bring forward for University of Michigan students with funding from the Office of the Vice Provost for Global and Engaged Education. One of those who responded, weeks before the University went fully virtual, was Timothy Cheek, Clinical Professor of Music in Vocal Music at the U-M School of Music, Theater, and Dance (SMTD). Tim’s proposal was to connect his U-M Italian Lyric Diction class with the English Diction class of his long-time friend Leonardo De Lisi, vice director of the Conservatorio Luigi Cherubini in Florence. 

Leonardo and Tim worked with the support of the Virtual Exchange Initiative to craft a course, first held in the Fall 2020 semester, that met their learning goals for their students with regard to expanding their knowledge of and skills in singing their respective target languages while at the same time seizing the opportunity to expand experience with the less-well-known repertoire of African-American art songs. In addition to crafting an effective syllabus and plan for this shared course, the exchange needed to effectively address technical hurdles stemming from pandemic restrictions on physical proximity and contact involved in capturing and sharing audio of sufficient quality to make the exchange pedagogically worthwhile.

By incorporating African-American art songs with classical Italian opera, both groups of students had an opportunity to explore an extensive repertoire of music by American composers that is not well-known.

Early sessions of the courses met alone prior to the exchange in order to receive grounding in the fundamentals of pronunciation of the partner language, the five participating students from each institution were paired with peers from the partner institution for an exchange of one-on-one coaching and practice in the target language with the chosen repertoire. These sessions were followed by group sessions in the format of master classes, where performances by the students were critiqued by the two lead faculty and also by SMTD’s Professor Louise Toppin, an expert in African-American art music and an experienced and renowned performer in both opera and concert settings.

As pandemic restrictions began to lift around the world, Professors Cheek and Toppin were able to travel with two of his students to Italy in November 2022 to meet their counterparts face-to-face where they performed in the Conservatorio Luigi Cherubini’s first African American Music Festival. During the visit, U-M students studied Italian lyric diction directly with Professor De Lisi as Conservatorio students enjoyed master classes in African-American Art song with Professors Toppin and Cheek.

Tim’s Virtual Exchanges with Florence have spawned an ongoing series of additional such courses including with Professor Suzanne Kelling at the Hochschule für Musik Nürnberg in Germany for German Diction courses, and with the Czech Republic through Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts in Brno, where U-M students of Czech Vocal Literature are partnering with the students of Dr. Ivana Mikesková for an exchange centered around the works of Antonin Dvořák and Harry T. Burleigh, composers who knew and influenced one another during their lifetimes.

Professor Cheek has published a book on his experience teaching these virtual exchange courses, now available from Routledge, entitled “Reimagining Lyric Diction Courses: Leading Change in the Classroom and Beyond”.

Read articles from SMTD on Tim’s initial Virtual Exchange course and the subsequent trip to Florence.

The conference web site is http://iveconference.org/ and members of the U-M community are encouraged to attend! These conferences are invariably interesting and stimulating and we highly recommend attendance, if you are able. Please contact us at virtual.exchange@umich.edu if you wish to register and are a U-M affiliate. We expect to have a discount code available, because of the anticipated volume of U-M registrants.

Two U-M Virtual Exchange courses will be presented during the conference. They are:

Developing Intercultural Competence in Music Educators Through Videoconferencing 

• Andreas Lehmann-Wermser, Faculty, Hannover University of Music, Drama, and Media, Germany
• Carlos Rodriguez, Faculty, School of Music, Theater, and Dance, University of Michigan, USA
• Philomena Meechan, Staff, College of Literature, Science, and the Arts, University of Michigan, USA
• Todd L. Austin, Staff, College of Literature, Science, and the Arts, University of Michigan, USA

Solving a water scarcity problem in Tunisia through an American-Tunisian virtual exchange

• Nadia Cheikhrouhou, Faculty, Higher Institute of Technological Studies (ISET) Béja, Tunisia
• Ken Ludwig, Faculty, College of Literature, Science, and the Arts, University of Michigan, USA
• Allison Westra, Teaching Assistant, University of Michigan, USA
• Philomena Meechan, Staff, College of Literature, Science, and the Arts, University of Michigan, USA
• Todd L. Austin, Staff, College of Literature, Science, and the Arts, University of Michigan, USA
• Bahaeddine Chouchène, Student, Higher Institute of Technological Studies (ISET) Béja, Tunisia
• Lorenzo Harris, Student, University of Michigan, USA
• Iheb Merai, Student, Higher Institute of Technological Studies (ISET) Béja, Tunisia
• Rahee Patel, Student, University of Michigan, USA
• Isabella Przybylska, Student, University of Michigan, USA

New Virtual Exchange Development Grants

This grant opportunity is to support International Virtual Exchange in U-M courses, connecting U-M students with partners in other countries. Projects to connect both credit-bearing courses and co-curricular projects are welcome to apply.

Ideas and projects at any stage of development are welcome. Our team of experienced instructional support staff will assist you in developing your ideas to the point where they are ready for funding and implementation. Through the Virtual Exchange Learning Community, faculty and staff can connect to exchange ideas, experiences, guidance, and resources.

For those who are new to Virtual Exchange, we will be holding training workshops in the coming months (times to be arranged by mutual agreement), in addition to providing one-on-one guidance and support for you as your idea comes to fruition. Attendance at at least one workshop is a requirement for disbursal of grant funds.

Grants are in the amount of $2500 per course or project, with funds disbursed when they are needed or when the course or project is approaching implementation. The grant funds may be used for project-related expenses, which include salary in support of your time developing the course.

Eligibility

The competition is open to members of the following groups at the Ann Arbor, Dearborn, and Flint campuses:  all tenured and tenure-track faculty, clinical instructional faculty, and lecturers who have continuing appointments and course development responsibilities (i.e., an assignment from the dean, chair, or designee to develop a new course or significantly revise an existing course). Faculty with various skill levels and experience with instructional technology, from novice to expert, are invited to apply. Eligibility to apply for funding does not ensure that funding will be granted.

Applications are due by the close of business on Friday February 28, 2020.

Applicants will be notified of decisions by March 16, 2020.

We are very happy to meet with you prior to the submission of your proposal to assist you in addressing the necessary proposal elements effectively. Send requests for consultation to virtual.exchange@umich.edu.