The Africa Initiatives Group is a group of USF faculty and staff with interests in Africa, established in 2008, that is working toward creating and expanding collaborative efforts between African and US universities. Its membership straddles many disciplines, including geography, anthropology, business, education, health and information science.
Urban Researchers Group
The Patel Center facilitates meetings for urban researchers whose work addresses the intersection of global and urban phenomena. Faculty from Anthropology, Architecture, Center for Urban Transportation Research, Florida Center for Community Design and Research, History, Geography, Secondary Education and Sociology have attended meetings throughout the group's existence. This group will ultimately help shape the Patel Center’s strategic plan related to urbanization and migration. In addition, researchers have the opportunity to share ideas and get feedback from one another, to consider collaborative research and grant writing efforts and to develop public events on urban issues. In September 2008, the group hosted a panel discussion titled “Room to Breathe: Open
Space, Public Space, and Tampa Bay Regional Development,” focusing on how we can best preserve and use public spaces, be they in our downtown urban core or on the rural outskirts of our metropolitan area.
For more information, please contact Dr. Mark Amen.
India Studies Center Interest Group
The Patel Center, under direction from the USF Provost’s office, lead discussions with the faculty and community that resulted in the development of an Indian Studies Center at USF. More than 30 faculty and student leaders expressed substantial interest in participating in these exploratory meetings. The Patel Center developed a comprehensive inventory of USF programs and affiliated Indian institutions, which included a list of interested faculty, broader academic initiatives already underway (e.g., the Certificate in Asian Studies) and USF affiliations with universities or other institutions in India.
