Press Release: lo-fi addresses media literacy education and community resilience with U.S. Department of State’s Citizen Diplomacy Action Fund 2020 Grant
SARASOTA, FL, April 23, 2021 – Department of State program alumni Miles Iton & Naimul Chowdhury received a grant from the U.S. Department of State’s Citizen Diplomacy Action Fund to launch Lo-Fi Language Learning’s free Arts ‘n EFL teacher training course. In September 2020, the Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs invited U.S. citizen alumni of all U.S. government-sponsored exchange programs, including the Fulbright Program, the Gilman Scholarship, and Cultural and Sports Envoys, to apply for small grants of up to $10,000 as part of the Citizen Diplomacy Action Fund Rapid Response funding opportunity. Exchange alumni from across the United States submitted proposals for public service projects that addressed the themes of media literacy education, building community resilience, and fostering alumni network development.
Lo-Fi Language Learning is a hip-hop arts education platform founded by Iton in 2019. Based on his previous hip-hop history and performance courses designed under the tutelage of New College of Florida’s Dr. Carl Shaw as an undergraduate, Lo-Fi comprises a unique workshop, school curricula and live event series for educational institutions in the United States and Taiwan. Their Arts ‘n EFL course, which received the Citizen Diplomacy Action Fund’s support, is a collaborative effort that includes New College and BridgeTEFL. Participants of this course attend a rigorous and co-creative virtual workshopping series on arts education leadership while completing Bridge’s 120 hour Master TEFL certification. The ongoing cohort is comprised of six New College students and four independent artists/educators thanks to BridgeTEFL’s course donations and New College’s additional support through Andrew J Mellon Foundation grant funding.
Iton and Chowdhury are both alumni of New College of Florida and U.S. Department of State programs. Iton embarked on a Fulbright U.S. Student grant to study Creative Industries Design in Taiwan from 2018 to 2020; Chowdhury completed extensive Chinese language study at Shaanxi Normal University thanks to the Critical Language Scholarship, and has continued to work and volunteered with the Department throughout the same period. Both students became heavily involved in research regarding international EFL practices as a result of their endeavors.
Upon returning from their missions, Chowdhury joined Iton’s startup efforts with Lo-Fi to offer this course as a response to the pandemic limiting arts education, professional development opportunities and workforce/curriculum diversity within the industry. Since initiating the course, they have been joined by fellow dual New College and Department of State alumni Donovan Brown and Eileen Calub. The fours organizers have since recruited and begun building the Arts ‘n EFL course’s community of arts educators from around the world, with international participants from Sarasota, Florida to Lagos, Nigeria attending.
The Arts ‘n EFL cohort marveling at a freestyle from special guest lecturer - and emcee - Sekajipo For the People!
Since the close of the competition in November, the U.S. Department of State has funded 38 projects that address issues faced by communities across the United States and around the world with international partners in countries such as Mongolia, Nepal, North Macedonia, and the Philippines. Exchange alumni are contributing to their communities in meaningful ways by sharing media literacy best practices that help mitigate the spread of disinformation, increasing access to virtual and at-home education for youth and their families, protecting the environment, bringing exchange alumni together to create stronger networks, and responding to other community needs. Winners this year include projects supporting mental health training in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, media literacy education in China, and food literacy in Indiana.
“Congratulations to our exchange alumni who have received awards from the Citizen Diplomacy Action Fund to lead public service projects in their communities,” said Matthew Lussenhop, Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State. “These alumni will serve diverse communities in the United States and abroad through programs adapted to the realities of COVID-19. We are proud of these citizen diplomats.”
The Citizen Diplomacy Action Fund is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and implemented in partnership with the Partners of the Americas. For more information visit https://alumni.state.gov. For questions on ECA exchange programs, contact ECA-Press@state.gov.
