Martin F. Farrell

Professor of Politics and Government, Ripon College, Cuba, 2012 Alumni Scholarship Recipient

“The high-quality academic sessions, including both lectures and shared meals with the Cuban professors; visits to various museums and NGO headquarters; insightful and informative walking and driving tours of Havana; field trips to Las Terrazas, Matanzas, Casa de Correa, and Veradero; cultural events in the evenings; informal conversations with seminar leader Dr. Elizabeth Iglesias and other seminar participants; and simply walking the streets with the Cuban people all provided a wealth of new knowledge and a much more in-depth understanding of the dynamics of Cuban society and culture today”

• Expanded and deepened coverage of Cuba in the courses, Development and Change in Latin America and Global Political Cultures.
• Shared key learnings at a formal “faculty brownbag” presentation.
• Interviewed in a live broadcast by the news director of radio station WFDL in nearby Fond du Lac, Wisconsin.
• Profiled in an article in local newspaper.

Ivette Wilson

Assistant Professor of Spanish, Wabash College, Cuba, 2012 Alumni Scholarship Recipient

“The seminar in Cuba corresponded to my expectations in terms of supporting the advancement of my teaching and research in the field of Afro-Latin American studies on many levels. First, it provided me with access to literary and cultural sources otherwise unavailable or with restricted accessibility outside the Cuban context. Additionally, I was able to make contacts with Cuban scholars who, despite our diverse areas of scholarly interests, went out of their way to assist me in finding resources (books, films, other contacts, etc.) that I will be able to use to enhance my students’ experience in the classroom.”

• Panel proposal about the pedagogy of study abroad courses to be presented during the Latin American Studies Association (LASA) conference in 2013.
• Enriched teaching library with contemporary Cuban literature and theoretical works by Cuban scholars offering perspectives on race and gender relations within the country.
• Curriculum enrichment for Caribbean Literature course.

Daryl White

Professor and Chair of Sociology and Anthropology, Spelman College, Italy, 2013 Alumni Scholarship Recipient

“I knew a seminar on Food and Identity would be interesting and useful. How could it not be? I teach a course titled Food and Culture, the recurring theme of which is identities—individual, kin-based, regional, class and status-based, gendered, ethnic, racial, regional, national, transnational, diasporic, and international—all are considered. I was in no way disappointed. [The seminar] was a feast for mind, soul, and body.”

• Made curricular modifications to core course for pending interdisciplinary minor in food studies, as well as major elective for sociology and anthropology majors, including new readings, student research/service project, and new assignments—all inspired by IFDS lectures and site visits.
• Acquired primary materials throughout seminar to enrich course curriculum and instruction.

Arthur Onipede Hollist

Associate Professor of English, University of Tampa, Senegal, 2013 Alumni Scholarship Recipient

“As we found out almost on a daily basis, a lot more learning and aha moments about Senegal came from the most unexpected quarters and from what could not be gleaned between the lines of the neatly-typed schedule.”

“The seminar activities reaffirmed my commitment to experiential learning.”

• Developing simulations and out-of-classroom activities that will have students working with communities in and around campus and overseas, making service projects and cultural activities the centerpiece of faculty-led study abroad experiences.
• As a result of a connection established with Senegalese writer Fama Diagne Sene during seminar added contemporary Francophone authors to syllabus for Introduction to African Literature course.
• Added Senegal as second destination for spring 2015 faculty-led study abroad course in West Africa.

Robert Bookmiller

Professor of Political Science, Millersville University, Spain-Morocco, 2013 Ping Fellow

“Oscar Ceballos (Resident Director) and his team crafted a seminar that had breadth in a wide range of subject areas for these two countries, yet at the same time allowed for in-depth examination of many issues. The historical, religious, cultural, and culinary interconnectedness of Spain and Morocco was clearly evident in the program and speakers repeatedly underscored these linkages in their presentations.”

• Enriched curriculum for U.S. Foreign Policy in the Middle East and Introduction to International Studies courses.
• Expanded and restructured the upper-level course, Middle East Comparative Politics, from one to two semesters, with stand-alone unit focused on the Moroccan political system in the wake of the Arab Spring.
• Developed a faculty-led study abroad course to Southern Spain and Morocco, potentially in partnership with CIEE’s Custom and Faculty-Led team.

Kate Dimitrova

Assistant Professor of Art History, Alfred University, Spain-Morocco, 2013 Ping Fellow

• Presented the talk “Everlasting Ornament: Visual Culture of the Medieval Islamic World” dedicated to recounting the IFDS experience with the CIEE at the institution’s professional forum.
• Incorporated photographs of sites and artifacts encountered during the seminar for use as primary sources and instructional tools.

Keith Morton

Department of Public and Community Service Studies, Providence College, Brazil, 2013 Ping Fellow

• Created a digital storytelling piece about his seminar experience in Rio de Janeiro.
• Presented, with a fellow 2013 IFDS alumnus, “Infusing International Experiences into the Curriculum: Brazil and India and the Dilemmas of Development” during International Education Week at home institution.
• Shared and integrated knowledge about the pacification process in Rio’s favelas with the Institute for the Study and Practice of Nonviolence, which develops community violence intervention programming in Providence, Rhode Island.

Ben Feinberg

Department of Anthropology, Warren-Wilson College, Brazil, 2013 Ping Fellow

“I added some details to classes and a few citations to a paper. But I also felt like a learner again and for faculty members at teaching-focused colleges, this might be the best outcome of all—an experience that enhances our morale and translates into stronger, more enthusiastic, and more sensitive teaching.”

• Added a comparative element to an article for publication, focused on media representation of Mexican drug wars that includes parallels and points of divergence with media representations of drug trafficking in Brazil.
• Incorporated lecture material from seminar into courses in Latin American studies.

Nicholas Longo

Department of Global Studies, Providence College, India, 2013 Ping Fellow

“The seminar especially left me asking about the possibility for globalization to have an Indian accent; that is, for the global forces that are bringing the world together to leave space in a place like India (which in so many ways is ground zero for globalization) to maintain its unique cultural and social traditions.”

• Incorporated the themes from the seminar into Global Studies Capstone course.
• Developed a course specifically on the theme of global cities, using Mumbai as a case study.
• Gave a presentation of the findings and lessons from the seminar, “Infusing International Education into the Curriculum,” to the campus during International Week.

Christina Placilla

Department of Fine and Applied Arts, Winston-Salem State University, Spain, 2013 Ping Fellow

• Developed a special topics course focused on parallel development of music and architecture in Spain.
• Enriched the curriculum of Music History, a course focused on the music, politics, and culture of the medieval period.

Evelyn Newman Phillips

Professor of Anthropology, Central Connecticut State University, Jordan, 2012 Ping Fellow

“This seminar gave me insight into the historical agency and determination of Jordanian women. I am motivated to seek more opportunities to increase my knowledge and share it with our students to help reduce the unfortunate misunderstandings that sometimes exist between the Middle East and the West.”

• Integrated literature and lectures from the seminar into revised Introduction to Cultural Anthropology course.
• Advised on a senior thesis focused on the agency of Muslim women of Middle Eastern origin in Connecticut.
• Consulted with local Muslim leaders to arrange for international studies majors to intern with community nonprofits serving Middle Eastern and immigrant community members.
• Applied for a Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence opportunity.
• Hosted a faculty “brownbag” talk by the Anthropology Department.

Shoshana Kerewsky

NTFF Assistant Professor, Counseling Psychology and Human Services, University of Oregon, Botswana, 2012 Ping Fellow

“This seminar contributed significantly to my understanding of HIV and health concerns, public health policy, and health service delivery in Botswana. This is very helpful to my teaching and presenting as it broadens my perspective and gives me specific, cross-cultural examples to use to illustrate these topics.”

• Enriched the curriculum for the courses HIV, HCV, TB, and Other Sexually Transmitted Infections, and HIV Counseling as well as a graduate course titled Mental Health and Diagnosis.
• Proposed a college-wide colloquium to present on the IFDS experience.
• Renewed engagement with the Office of International Affairs by offering to advise students studying abroad and to collaborate in developing a student internship with Baylor-Botswana Children’s Clinical Center of Excellence in Botswana.
• Presented a poster titled “HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa: An Update from Botswana” at the National Organization for Human Services annual conference.

Ellen Cox

Associate Professor of Philosophy, Transylvania University, Paris, 2012 Ping Fellow

“In addition to attending lectures by leading French activists and intellectuals working on disability, our group also toured cultural sites, such as museums and cafés, and met with the individuals who designed them to be accessible to folks with all different kinds of disabilities and to facilitate interaction between people with different life experiences. Our discussions were also constant reminders to typically-abled participants that what we consider ‘healthy’ or ‘normal ability’ is not only socially constructed, but also a temporary condition.”

• Collaborated with the institution’s study abroad office to develop an international course focused on issues of disability that would be accessible to students of all abilities, particularly accommodating to students with disabilities, who are underrepresented in study abroad.

Molly Enz

Associate Professor of French, South Dakota State University, Senegal, 2012 Ping Fellow

“When I enrolled in the IFDS in Senegal, I expected to acquire a new perspective on Africa and expanded knowledge about Senegal that I could use to enhance my teaching and broaden my research. I definitely achieved this and gained so much more than I anticipated. After a very stressful past year of typical workload and budget issues faced by most of us working in academia, I desperately needed a reminder of why I entered this profession and a new source of inspiration. My experience in Senegal provided me with both of these things and so much more.”

• Co-edited a volume of essays with a fellow seminar participant titled Fed Up: Creating a New Senegal Through the Arts, which has been submitted to publishers.
• Redesigned Introduction to Francophone Cultures course to focus more material on Senegal.
• Planning to develop and lead a study abroad program to Dakar.

Robert Elfline

Professor of Music Performance, Augustana College, Northern Ireland, 2012 Ping Fellow

“I envision this experience having an effect on virtually every course that I teach—and that includes courses where the benefits might be less intuitive, like applied piano lessons or music theory. The most profound impact will be felt in a course that I teach on music and conflict, where the experience of seeing how Belfast musicians create, recreate, and manipulate a musical text has given me both a new set of course activities as well as a new perspective on the materials that I am already using.”

Kathleen Cornely

Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Providence College, Italy, 2012 Ping Fellow

“I appreciated the interdisciplinary nature of the seminar. I’m used to attending science conferences from like-minded biochemists. But on this trip, I was able to discuss the political implications of food production and manufacturing with the political scientists in the group. I learned how to construct a sensory food diagram from the psychologist in the group who was an expert in this area. I learned to appreciate the art inspired by the slow food movement on a trip to Cerasco with the ceramic artist in the group. Interestingly, there were two other biochemists in the group whom I had not met before; I plan to connect with both of them at our upcoming national meeting.”

• Incorporated international perspectives on nutrition, diet, and food production and consumption into Nutritional Biochemistry course.
• Proposed a new team-taught course on The History of Food with institution colleagues.
• Renewed engagement with the Center for International Studies to increase science majors’ participation in study abroad.

Ron Reuter

Department of Natural Resources, Oregon State University, Costa Rica, 2012 Ping Fellow

• Developed a new section of the hybrid course Current Issues in Natural Resources to be delivered partially online and partially on site in Monteverde.

Kimberly Jackson

Associate Professor of Biochemistry, Spelman College, Italy, 2012 Ping Fellow

“The seminar was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that provided a multi-experiential understanding of food through guided tastings, seminars, in-class lessons/exercises, and cross-country travel with a group of colleagues learning from each other’s varied disciplines.”

• Integrated the seminar experience into leadership as co-chair of newly developed minor in interdisciplinary food studies.
• Outlined development of digital project focusing on “Diasporic Communities of ‘Soul Food’” that would examine and map the Spelman/Atlanta/West End communities in terms of recipes, gardens, and food significance, past and present.

Peter Gomori

Professor in Department of Management and Information Technology, St. Francis College, Germany-Poland, 2012 Ping Fellow

“Not only have I felt encouraged to engage in research on the various political and economic issues facing Central and East European countries, but also to support events that help our community develop a better appreciation of the rich culture and history of that part of our world.”