2017-18 Fellows

Michele Back (Fellow) is an Assistant Professor of World Languages Education at the University of Connecticut. She works as an advisor and professor to preservice Spanish and French teachers at the University’s Neag School of Education. Sharon Brennan (Mentor) is an Associate Professor and Director of Clinical Practices and School Partnerships at the University of Kentucky’s College of Education. These two scholars have been working on redesigning Back’s Seminar in World Languages to incorporate well-defined and measurable global learning outcomes and to make use of hybrid classroom tools such as VoiceThread and blog assignments including an Autobiography of an Intercultural Encounter with students from Spanish speaking countries.

Delane Bender-Slack (Fellow) is an Associate Professor of Literacy and the Reading/TESOL Program Director at Xavier University’s School of Education where she works in many arenas as a teacher educator. Through the Fellows Program, she has been partnered with Kathy Short (Mentor) who is a Professor at the University of Arizona in their Language, Reading, and Culture program. Together, they have been working on reworking Bender-Slack’s Content Area Literacy course to address global competencies through Reflections and a Virtual Collaborative Photo Essay assignments with Peruvian teacher candidates.

Erik Byker (Fellow) is an Assistant Professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte’s Department of Reading and Elementary Education. Together with James Shiveley (Mentor), who is the Condit Endowed Professor and the Director of International Programs for the College of Education, Health and Society at Miami University, Byker has been working on revamping his course in elementary social studies methods titled Social Studies Methods: Developing Globally Competent Citizens. Redesign has been focused on Big Idea Digital narratives, Global Competency Digital Library, and Global Module assignments.

Elizabeth Crawford (Fellow) is an Associate Professor at the University of North Carolina Wilmington in the College of Education who specializes in elementary-level global education. Her Mentor, Kenneth Cushner, is an Emeritus Professor of International and Intercultural Teacher Education at Kent State University. Together they have been working on Crawford’s course in Research-Based Instructional Design and Assessment which incorporates food systems and makes use of The Global Goals Food Project: Every Plate Tells a Story materials.

Erika Dotson (Fellow) is an Associate Professor of French and Education at Clayton State University and serves as the Coordinator of the ESOL Endorsement Program and the Program Director of the Maymester in France Study Abroad Program. She has been working together with Jocelyn Glazier (Mentor) who is an Associate Professor and Chair of Professional Leadership and Practice at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. The two have been working on Dotson’s course, Investigating Critical and Contemporary Issues in Education.

Nilufer Guler (Fellow) is an Assistant Professor of Education at Avila University who specializes in TESOL, English Language Learner (ELL) education, and teacher education. Her Mentor, Margo Glew, is the Coordinator of Global Initiatives and Global Educators Cohort Program at Michigan State University. Together, they have been working to redesign Guler’s course in Educational and Developmental Psychology to incorporate a Faces of Avila Project to find and learn from existing global connections on the Avila campus.

Glenna Gustafson (Fellow) is an Associate Professor at Radford University’s School of Teacher Education and Leadership who currently supervises pre-service elementary education teacher candidates. Together with Martha Lash (Mentor), who is an Associate Professor at Kent State University, Gustafson has been working on revising her course in Teaching and Learning Elementary Mathematics to incorporate global children’s literature in building global competencies.

Alison Schmidt (Fellow) is an Associate Professor of Education at the College of Wooster and specializes in elementary and early childhood education. Her Mentor, Mary Curran, is Associate Dean of Local-Global Partnerships and Coordinator of Language Education Programs at the Graduate School of Education at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. The two have been working on revising Schmidt’s Seminar on Preparing Youth to Engage in the World and incorporating global learning objectives through an Autobiography of an Intercultural Encounter assignment.