Image: Teaching resources posted on AMICAL’s EcoJustice OER demo site This is the second in a series of posts about outcomes of the Project Incubator at AMICAL 2023 Environmental justice, and environmental sustainability more generally, have become urgent priorities for this generation of students and global citizens. But these are also topics whose interdisciplinarity and specific relevance for different global populations make them perfect challenges for the international liberal arts learning environments of AMICAL member institutions. AMICAL’s EcoJustice OER Initiative has been working on ways to help educators at our institutions to share, as Open Educational Resources, materials that can support teaching and learning in these areas. Inspired by Antonio Lopez’s ecomedialiteracy.org (“Ecomedia Literacy Resources for Teaching and Research”), EcoJustice OER aims to gather a broader range of educational and extra-curricular resources, from assignments to syllabi to ideas for campus-level initiatives, that relate in any way to environmental justice, or to environmental sustainability more broadly. EcoJustice OER’s cross-consortium faculty-staff team has been working together since our participation in the 2022 Triangle Scholarly Communication Institute, where we laid the groundwork for a project to curate pedagogical resources related to ecojustice and sustainability. Since then, we’ve been working on the editorial and technical frameworks and on outreach to potential project contributors. EcoJustice OER at the AMICAL 2023 Project Incubator Most recently, our participation in the Project Incubator at the AMICAL 2023 Conference helped us prepare to launch the project formally. During the first stage of the Project Incubator, a day-long “Collaboration Sprint”, we were able to clarify our initial models for organizing and hosting content:website for project presentation and hosting a collection of resource description pages granular resources (syllabi, assignment models, etc.) hosted elsewhere (Google Docs, slide sharing platforms, contributor’s repository, etc.) but linked from our resource description pages make decisions about adapting our resource collection’s metadata schema for our intended contributors and users – in particular, using relatively broad disciplinary categories like those used in OER Commons develop resource submission forms, according to the above decisions and adapted for different categories of resource (teaching/learning resource, syllabus, extra-curricular initiative, useful link) develop initial resource description pages for the small collection of resources we’d already gathered build out a demo website on WordPress.org for presenting the project and an initial curated collection of resources (see screenshot above) During the second stage of the Project Incubator, a “Feedback Session” integrated into the conference’s Community Idea Exchange (poster) session, we had a chance to demo the website and submission form for interested colleagues. The exchange with colleagues produced valuable observations that we’ll be implementing – notably: We need to better communicate the opportunity represented by the website: colleagues can contribute towards environmental justice by enabling others’ teaching and work in this area We found several AMICAL colleagues with ecojustice-related teaching materials already developed, or in the works, whom we’ll be reaching out to as potential contributors! What’s next? Summer is never an easy time for moving collaborative projects forward, but we’re hoping to do the following between now and Fall 2023: Rebuild the project’s website on AMICAL’s own web hosting platform Review long-term considerations for format and metadata decisions (e.g. anticipated linkages or portability of content to major repositories like OER Commons) Finalize our resource submission forms Reach out to targeted individuals for initial submissions during a pilot phase Revise and launch website, promoting consortium-wide submissions and use of the collection Seek funding to support development of the curated collection (editorial processes, content development, site development and maintenance, etc.) as well as professional development (training in using, creating and adapting OER) Help us reach potential contributors at AMICAL institutions In the meantime, we would appreciate hearing about any faculty or staff at AMICAL member institutions who might be interested in using or contributing to this collection of resources. Get in touch, or send us suggested contacts from your institution, by writing to contact@amicalnet.org. The EcoJustice OER team Colleagues currently working on the EcoJustice OER Initiative include: Alex Armstrong, Program & Technology Officer (AMICAL Consortium) Antonio Lopez, Chair & Associate Professor of Communications and Media Studies (John Cabot University) Elena Berg, Associate Professor of Environmental Science (American University of Paris) Jeff Gima, AMICAL Consortium Director (American University of Paris) Nadine Aboulmagd, Senior Instructional Designer at The Center for Learning and Teaching (American University in Cairo)

One of the goals of AMICAL’s current grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation is the development of “Community and Infrastructure for Collaboration”. We’ve been pursuing this through a broad range of efforts supporting connections across consortium membership – connections between institutions and connections across campus roles in libraries, technology and teaching. This post marks the first of a series focused on just one of those initiatives: the AMICAL 2023 Project Incubator. Goals Drawing inspiration from the Triangle Scholarly Communication Institute, in which a group of AMICAL members participated last year, we created a similar opportunity specifically for AMICAL members to work face-to-face on collaborative projects. Members were invited to apply for the AMICAL 2023 Project Incubator program with cross-institutional teams working on projects related to libraries, technology and/or pedagogy. The AMICAL Conference is one of the rare opportunities for our members to meet in person, so we integrated the Project Incubator into the larger program of AMICAL 2023, allowing the teams to: have an extended period of focused time for working in-person as teams get feedback on their projects from over a hundred peers from AMICAL’s 30 member institutions present at the conference Structure Following our pre-conference encouragement for teams to work on initial project development, we organized at the conference two sessions for the teams: Collaboration sprint: 6 hours of focused time on the pre-conference day, for each team to work on their own project. Most of this time was unstructured, and each team was allowed to organize the time in the way they found most useful. Plenary opening and debriefing sessions allowed us to build a sense of shared experience and collaborative spirit. Feedback session: teams presented informally their projects and solicited feedback from interested conference attendees as part of a larger, 75-minute Community Idea Exchange session (similar to a poster session) Details about our organization of this program can be found on the AMICAL 2023 Project Incubator page. Project teams Here are the project teams that were accepted for the AMICAL 2023 Project Incubator: IFLA-AMICAL Book Project ("Changing Information Services and User Experiences")Meredith Saba, Instruction and Reference Librarian (American University in Cairo) Michael Stoepel, User Services Librarian (American University of Paris) Christine Furno, Engagement and Outreach Librarian (American University of Sharjah) Rethinking CLTs (strategizing CLT development across AMICAL institutions)Angie Popova, Director of the Center for Teaching, Learning, and Technology (American University of Central Asia) Rukhsana Zia, Head of the Center for Learning and Teaching (Forman Christian College) Adoption of Open Educational Resources (OERs) at FCCU (collaboration with AUB)Mehreen Tahir, Liaison/OER Librarian for Sciences & Humanities (Forman Christian College) Madiha Asghar, Liaison/ OER Librarian for Social Sciences & Humanities (Forman Christian College) Anish Arif, Faculty Development Coordinator, Center for Learning and Teaching (Forman Christian College) Adeel Khalid, Lecturer (Forman Christian College) Dalal Rahme, Data Services Librarian (American University of Beirut) EcoJustice OER initiative (curating pedagogical resources that support environmental justice)Elena Berg, Associate Professor of Environmental Science (American University of Paris) Nadine Aboulmagd, Senior Instructional Designer at The Center for Learning and Teaching (American University in Cairo) Alex Armstrong, Program & Technology Officer (AMICAL Consortium) Jeff Gima, AMICAL Consortium Director (American University of Paris) Watch for other posts in the coming weeks with updates from the Project Incubator teams!

The recordings for AMICAL 2023 are now available on YouTube! The conference, which took place from May 24-26, 2023 at Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane, Morocco, brought together staff and faculty from the consortium's 30 international liberal arts institutions to share their challenges, solutions, and inspiration for improving libraries, technology, and pedagogy. Due to the highly interactive nature of most sessions, we were only able to record the plenary sessions (the opening session and the two keynotes). Opening session Remarks by: Paul Love, Library Director, Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane Christopher Taylor, Vice President For Academic Affairs, Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane Jeff Gima, AMICAL Consortium Director, AMICAL Consortium / American University of Paris Sharing knowledge, transforming higher ed Cathy Davidson, Senior Advisor on Transformation to the Chancellor and Distinguished Professor of English, Digital Humanities, and Data Analysis and Visualization at the Graduate Center, City University of New York (CUNY) The academic library and the relational turn Lorcan Dempsey, International independent librarian, writer, adviser (formerly OCLC's Vice President for Research and Membership, and Chief Strategist) Highlights reel As a little bonus, we are also sharing the highlights reel that was played during the closing session:

This year’s final deadline for our Small Grants program is coming up on the 3rd of April 2023. It is earlier than usual due to the conclusion of our grant funding on 31 July 2023. This program funds training, staff exchanges and projects that support AMICAL’s mission in the priority areas of library or technology leadership, information or digital literacies, and digital liberal arts. Program guidelines and how to apply are available on our website. Note that applications for grants of €500 or less (“micro-grants”) are reviewed on a rolling basis outside of the normal application cycles. These will continue to be reviewed through June 2023 (as long as the conclusion of the grant-funded activity is completed by 31 July). To help you submit successful applications, AMICAL staff will be available to discuss your application at an informal, half-hour Q&A session. If this day or time is not workable for you, we can schedule additional dates, or setup individual meetings. Recent successful grants In previous cycles of this academic year, the Small Grant Review committee received and reviewed 7 applications, all of which were awarded either full or partial funding: Title Applicant Institution Category AUSACE 2022: Journalism In A Time Of Fake News Kim Fox American University in Cairo Professional development AUP-St Louis University MFA Brainstorming Session Biswamit Dwibedy American University of Paris Staff exchange & peer training MENAWCA 2023 Biennial Conference - Writing Centers: Multidisciplinary and Multimodal Spaces for Engagement Maya Akiki Lebanese American University Professional development Digital Humanities Summer Institute (DHSI) Hicham Zahnan American University of Beirut Professional development Level 1 "Systematic Review Services Specialization" SRSS April 12&19 Joyce Draiby Lebanese American University Professional development The MELCom International 44th annual conference Roula Sfeir Lebanese American University Professional development Presentation at the 43rd Annual IATUL Conference - March 2023 Meredith Saba American University in Cairo Professional development Responses have already been sent out to all the applicants.

We’re excited to announce that registration is now open for AMICAL 2023, the consortium’s 20th annual conference! The deadline is March 2. We have updated the conference website to include information about registration, financial support, accommodation, visa information, and the venue, as well as a tentative schedule. To help orient you, we have summarized the most important content from those pages in this email: 🎯 Program overview Each year the AMICAL Conference brings together staff and faculty from the consortium’s 30 international liberal arts institutions. AMICAL members and invited experts will share their challenges, solutions and visions for the future of libraries, technology and pedagogy in our uniquely international and intercultural environments. Three invited guests will inspire and guide us: Keynote: “Sharing knowledge, transforming higher ed”Cathy N. Davidson Senior Advisor on Transformation to the Chancellor and Distinguished Professor of English, Digital Humanities, and Data Analysis and Visualization at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York (CUNY) Keynote: “The academic library and the relational turn”Lorcan Dempsey International independent librarian, writer, adviser and formerly Chief Strategist at OCLC Workshops: “Institutionalizing the digital liberal arts” and “Managing the end(?) of digital projects”Jeffrey W. McClurken Professor of History & American Studies, Chief of Staff and Clerk of the Board of Visitors at the University of Mary Washington Member-contributed sessions will include dynamic presentations, interactive sessions and workshops that address topics such as: The future of Libraries and Centers of Learning and Teaching AI in higher education Collaborations across units (libraries, writing centers, CLTs) Cross-institutional projects Information and digital literacies Innovative pedagogy and student engagement Digital tools and methods in teaching and research Academic integrity Open education and open educational resources (OERs) The event is divided into three distinct components: Pre-conference day (24 May) – 4 parallel tracks for specific roles and accepted workshop applicantsTrack 1: for library directors and AMICAL representatives Track 2: for coordinators of faculty development and/or CLTs Track 3: for colleagues who have been working on digital liberal arts projects Track 4: for Project Incubator teams Main conference program (25–26 May) – open to all attendeesKeynotes Community Idea Exchange presentations Workshops Interactive sessions All-conference dinner & social events Sightseeing tour (27 May) – option for any attendees wishing to see more of Morocco The tentative schedule of sessions will give you an idea of topics that will be addressed and some of the colleagues you’ll be able to interact with at this year’s conference. (We will be updating this page to include the full abstracts soon!) 👩‍🏫 Who should attend This year’s conference will give particular focus to colleagues who see themselves as change agents, intending to have a broad impact on their institution or the consortium in the areas of libraries, academic technology and pedagogy. These colleagues may include: library directors faculty development coordinators writing center coordinators instruction librarians faculty instructional technologists and designers coordinators of First Year Experience programs IT directors academic leadership leaders of AMICAL committees, projects, and initiatives The program will be of special interest to colleagues interested in collaborating with their peers across AMICAL, or who can inform that collaborative work in some way. If you’re not an AMICAL member, note that a limited number of guest attendees can be accommodated, by invitation. Contact us before registering, indicating how AMICAL and its mission relate to you and your institution. 🧑🏽‍💻 Apply for the pre-conference workshop on digital projects As part of the pre-conference “Digital liberal arts track”, we are offering a workshop entitled “Digital methods and tools across disciplines: Sharing, connecting and collaborating”, led by Najla Jarkas, AMICAL’s Digital Liberal Arts Mellon Fellow.. During this workshop attendees will have the opportunity to share their experiences of integrating digital methods and applications in their teaching and scholarship, and find opportunities to network and collaborate in developing their work with AMICAL members in the field. The workshop is designed for AMICAL members who have integrated digital methods and tools in their teaching, or supported colleagues who have done so. It is not a training event to learn about digital tools. Find out more details and apply → (Deadline to apply: Thursday 23 Feb 2023) 👍 Register for AMICAL 2023 A warning about "travel agency" scams We have had reports of "travel agencies" contacting expected conference attendees, offering to help book their travel. These are not affiliated with either AMICAL or Al Akhawayn University and seem to be some form of scam or phishing attempt. For any information related to the conference, always refer to our website, which will be kept up-to-date, and email contact@amicalnet.org if you're in doubt about anything you are sent. Some important guidelines: Make sure to check if you need a visa and what the process of acquiring one is for your nationality. Most participants will not require one, but those who do should get started right away on the process. The Financial support page explains the support being offered at various levels to help enable conference attendance for AMICAL members. Due to limited space, registration will use a priority system.Those with the following roles, whose presence is needed for the conference program, have registration slots reserved for them:Program Committee members Speakers in the conference program Project Incubator team members Participants in AMICAL’s 2022-2023 Digital Liberal Arts Cohort programs (Digital Collaborations or Digital Oral History) AMICAL Coordinating Committee officers AMICAL Representatives Library directors Additional attendees will be accepted by order of registration, giving priority to directors/coordinators of areas targeted by the event:Faculty development / centers for learning & teaching Writing centers/programs Information literacy (library instruction) programs First-Year Experience programs Academic technology Instructional design For more information about the conference, you may also visit the AMICAL 2023 website, which includes extensive information about the program and attending the event.

We are pleased to announce that the Call for Proposals for AMICAL 2023 is now live. We are also accepting applications for the Project Incubator, a new session that will run at the conference. Staff and faculty members from all AMICAL member institutions are eligible to propose conference sessions and/or to apply to the Project Incubator. Propose a conference session The Conference aims to bring together AMICAL colleagues to share their knowledge, cultivate connections, and plan a collaborative future. The majority of the program will consist of sessions proposed by members: dynamic presentations, interactive sessions, and workshops. We invite colleagues to propose sessions on issues pertinent to libraries, technology and/or pedagogy at AMICAL member institutions, addressing in particular the goals and topics identified in the call. View the Call for Proposals & submit a proposal → Submission deadline: 23 January 2023 Work on a collaborative project We are offering a new session this year: The Project Incubator will support teams of librarians, faculty and technologists to work on collaborative projects at AMICAL 2023. The Incubator is not a traditional conference session, but rather an opportunity for teams to devote concentrated time to the development and growth of collaborative projects. Teams will clarify their goals, explore divergent ideas, strengthen collaborations, and gather feedback from peers. View Project Incubator guidelines & apply → Application deadline: 23 January 2023 Assistance with proposals & applications To help you submit strong conference proposals and/or applications to the Incubator, we'll be holding brief online Q&A sessions to answer questions and offer advice. Sign up for one or both of the sessions: Q&A #1 – Dec 19 10:00, Paris time (see local time) Q&A #2 – Jan 17 11:00, Paris time (see local time) You can also send us questions by email – just reply to this message. We look forward to reading your submissions!

AMICAL recently gathered a team to work on a cross-consortium project idea for supporting the development of Open Educational Resources and Open Access scholarship related to environmental issues, in particular environmental justice, with the intercultural lens inherent to AMICAL’s member institutions. I’m proud to share the news that AMICAL’s team is one of 5 that were accepted for participation in next week’s Triangle Scholarly Communications Institute, a week-long project-incubation workshop funded by the Mellon Foundation and hosted at Duke University. According to the TriangleSCI website, the Institute is “not a traditional conference, but rather a forum for teams of individuals from diverse backgrounds to devote concentrated time to defining shared challenges, exploring creative strategies, and forging new collaborations, in a spirit of bold and open experimentation….” AMICAL’s project idea, tentatively called “Intercultural Open Resources for Environmental Justice”, is described in detail here. The team members currently helping to develop the idea include: Antonio Lopez (Associate Professor of Communications and Media Studies, John Cabot University) Elena Berg (Associate Professor of Environmental Science, American University of Paris) Dalal Rahme (Data Services Librarian, American University of Beirut) Nadine Aboulmagd (Senior Instructional Designer, Center for Learning and Teaching, American University in Cairo) Fiona Glasgow (Scholarly Communications Librarian, American University of Sharjah) Alex Armstrong (Program & Technology Officer, AMICAL Consortium) Jeff Gima (AMICAL Consortium Director, American University of Paris) Aside from the obvious climate change circumstances, requiring urgent efforts by all sectors of society, the project has been motivated in part by: Antonio Lopez’s project, ecomedialiteracy.org, a growing collection of OER for teaching about intersections of media literacy and environment-related communications. This has been supported by several AMICAL Small Grants, and it’s been both an inspiration and an exemplar of projects that could be supported by an AMICAL initiative for “Intercultural Open Resources for Environmental Justice”. Earlier AMICAL strategic planning work that indicated consortial interest in Open Access scholarship, Open Educational Resources, and sustainability. AMICAL’s balance of member institutions and colleagues from the global north and south, giving us a strong basis for working on intercultural & interdisciplinary open resources supporting global environmental justice The project is in an early planning phase, but we expect to make much progress at TriangleSCI next week and have more news about the project soon. We’ll be reaching out to AMICAL members soon as we gather information about interest and existing resources across the consortium, but if you or colleagues at your member institution are interested in contributing to the project or hearing more about it, you can let us know at contact@amicalnet.org. Jeff Gima AMICAL Consortium Director

AMICAL 2023 will take place 24–26 May 2023 at Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane, Morocco. This will mark the consortium’s 20th annual conference! The AMICAL Conference brings together staff and faculty from the consortium’s 29 international liberal arts institutions. AMICAL members and invited experts share their challenges, solutions and inspiration for improving libraries, technology and pedagogy in our uniquely international and intercultural environments. The Call for Proposals will be announced later in the fall, and registration will open early in 2023. We’ll be posting additional details about the program, financial support opportunities, accommodation, and the venue over the coming months. Target audience This year’s conference will give particular focus to AMICAL members in positions of leadership on their campuses, and especially those interested in collaborating with their peers across AMICAL. These might include: Leaders (formal or informal) in areas relevant to AMICAL’s mission and strategic priorities, such as libraries, faculty development, instructional design, academic and instructional technology, writing centers and First Year Experience programs. Leaders of AMICAL committees, projects, and initiatives. Other members whose contributions can inform the collaborative work of the above groups. Program Several invited international speakers, combined with a majority of sessions led by AMICAL members themselves, will create an event mixing global perspectives with local relevance. Sessions will include interactive presentations, workshops and discussions to address collaborative approaches to topics such as: Leadership Digital pedagogy and scholarship Information, digital & other literacies Open education & scholarship Cost reduction for library and information resources Other other topics that AMICAL’s committees, interest groups and members have identified as being of importance Drawing on feedback from key stakeholders across the consortium, the program will include a strong component of networking, helping to cultivate collaborative relationships among the target audience. AMICAL members may share their own “Suggestions for the AMICAL 2023 program” via AMICAL Connect for consideration by the Program Committee. Exhibition & sponsorship opportunities Our sponsorship program will invite vendors of products related to libraries, learning and technology. Vendors interested in connecting with Conference attendees can let us know by sending an email to contact@amicalnet.org and we’ll follow up with you once we finalize the details of the sponsorship program. What to expect If you’ve never attended an AMICAL Conference, have a look at the websites of our previous conferences to get a feel for what our events are about.

The Small Grant Review committee received and reviewed 10 applications in the spring and summer of 2022. The following 8 applications were granted either full or partial funding: Title Applicant Institution Category Library Instruction Certificate Joyce Draiby Lebanese American University Professional development British Library International Leaders Programme Jyldyz Bekbalaeva American University of Central Asia Professional development Incorporating Interactive Fiction in the Humanities and Liberal Arts Classroom through Digital “Choose Your Own Path” Gamebooks Kaitlin Lucas Central European University Project Panel and Poster Presentation at IFLA World Library and Information Congress (WLIC) 2022 Meredith Saba American University in Cairo Professional development Participating in the Leading Change Institute 2022 Anguelina Popova American University of Central Asia Professional development Panel and poster presentation at IFLA World Library and Information Congress (WLIC) 2022 Michael Stoepel American University of Paris Professional development Attendance at Digital Humanities Summer School at Oxford University, UK David Tresilian American University of Paris Professional development AMICAL Panel and Poster Co-Presenter at IFLA WLIC Conference (July 25-29, 2022) Christine Furno American University of Sharjah Professional development Responses have already been sent out to all the applicants. How to apply in the next cycle During the summer period (June – August), only applications up to €500 (micro-grants) will be reviewed. Micro-grants will be reviewed on a rolling basis but, due to summer holidays, responses may be delayed. Applications for regular grants will re-open in the fall. The Small Grant guidelines provide information about how to apply, including the scope of the program and the criteria used in reviewing applications.

The Small Grant Review committee received and reviewed 3 applications in the most recent cycle (February 2022). 2 applications were accepted with either full or partial funding: Title Applicant Institution Category Introduction to Design Thinking Online Course (January 2022) Radina Damyanova American University in Bulgaria Professional development Digital Humanities at Oxford Summer School Mai Zaki American University of Sharjah Professional development Responses have already been sent out to all the applicants. How to apply in the next cycle The deadline for the next round of applications is midnight on 30 May. The Small Grant guidelines provide information about how to apply, including the scope of the program and the criteria used in reviewing applications. To help folks better understand the program, and how to apply successfully, we’ll be holding informal, half-hour Q&A sessions. AMICAL administration will be on hand to answer questions and provide advice. The next Q&A session is on 12 April at 11:00 (see local time).