Indiana University President Michael A. McRobbie presided over groundbreaking ceremonies today for the new home of the School of Global and International Studies, which was approved by the IU Board of Trustees in August 2012. Construction of the $53 million Global and International Studies Building is expected to take two years. The four-story, 165,000-square-foot structure, near the Herman B Wells Library and the Arboretum, will be ready for the 2015-16 academic school year.
The proposed Global and International Studies Building will house approximately 10 academic departments and 19 research centers or programs focused on the study of global cultural processes and foreign languages. These units will be drawn from the College of Arts and Sciences and the School of Education. In addition, the GISB will become home to the dean of the School of Global and International Studies along with his staff. IU offers instruction in more foreign languages than at any other university, and its longstanding regional/area studies programs are world-renowned. At present, these international-focused academic programs are scattered throughout the Bloomington campus. For the first time, all of this global research and teaching will be housed in a single building, offering exciting possibilities for new collaborations and cross-national projects