Meet the Cohort

Current participants
Check back in December 2024 when we will announce the ​3rd cohort of Global Learning Launchpad educators. 

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Alumni

GLL alumni come from a range of institutional types, disciplinary/professional interests and experiences.  Learn more about them below.

Spring 2024  Cohort

Ali Freter, University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign 

Ali Freter, Director of Study Abroad, College of Agricultural, Consumer, & Environmental Sciences (ACES), University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign ​

Program/Course: Faculty-led Pre-departure Course Syllabus (template for new program development) ​

About

I was first introduced to International Education through my year abroad in Costa Rica and France. My focus in both countries was on language learning, but of course, I fell in love with the whole experience and decided to pursue a career in the field the minute I learned that was an option! From there, I earned my master's degree in international education from George Washington University and have had the good fortune to work in education abroad ever since. In my current role, I get to be part of the many different aspects of undergraduate student mobility, both in person and virtual. One of my primary responsibilities is to help develop and support a large portfolio of faculty-led study abroad programs within our college. As part of the Global Learning Launchpad, I hope to develop a syllabus template for faculty who are designing new programs. The opportunity and challenge of this project will be to create a syllabus that is equal parts impactful and flexible, as it will need to be used in a wide range of program types, locations, and fields of study. I’m excited to get started! ​

Melissa LaBuda, Penn State University-Scranton Campus

​Melissa LaBuda, PhD; Assistant Teaching Professor, Human Development & Family Studies, Penn State University, Scranton Campus

Program/Course: Palermo, Italy
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About

Once I started in academia full time, 10 years ago I immediately joined the global programs subcommittee. We tried for several years to do a study abroad trip but out of the 24 Penn State campuses, the one I work with has the second lowest per capita income, so students were not able to go because of cost. I teach in the HDFS program, so I am preparing students to work in the human services field. It is imperative that students explore intercultural communication. To enable students to experience other cultures I became involved in COIL. This is a cost-effective way to have students interact with global partners around the world.

Over the past four years, I have been involved in COIL. I am pursuing how intercultural communication exercises between students in different countries change preconceived notions. The next step will be to find ways to measure how these experiences impact students' intercultural understanding in the long term.

​From a pedagogical standpoint, I am looking for ways to bridge what a student is experiencing in a study abroad program and making the connection to what they are learning in the course. In other words, I want to ensure that what they are experiencing is in alignment with the stated Student Learning Outcomes.

Abril Martínez, Centro de Investigación en Matemáticas (CIMAT)

Abril Martínez, International Program Administrator, Centro de Investigación en Matemáticas (CIMAT) - Mathematical Sciences Research Center, International Program Department, Mathematical Sciences in Mexico​

Program/Course: J Term Cultural Immersion Course for STEM equity
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About

I recognize the value of an intercultural environment thanks to my house being a homestay for foreign students for almost 20 years. Now I work in a Research Center (CIMAT) focused on mathematical sciences (math, statistics, data and computer science) in the education abroad department, in charge of the management of the international program.

For this reason, I work with the academic board to generate educational proposals that, in addition to providing theoretical and applied knowledge of mathematical sciences, provide ample opportunity to develop the intercultural and socio-emotional competencies.

I want to focus on the development of the J-Term, which consists of an intensive three-week course, which has 45 contact hours offered in English for both US and Latin American students at the undergraduate level. Likewise, it maintains 4 to 6 hours per week of sociocultural activities, which involve both learning Spanish and the culture of Mexico.

​Since our program attracts STEM students, we would like to focus it on maintaining interculturality and gender equity. Then the question is how to make a program focused on mathematical sciences relevant for study abroad and encourage the development of intercultural skills with a gender perspective in STEM area?

Celeste Newcomb, Penn State University

Celeste Newcomb, Academic Adviser and Instructor, Smeal College of Business, Undergraduate Education, Penn State University 
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Program/Course: Business Administration (BA) 197 with an embedded study abroad component
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About

I have been interested in global learning since I went to college. Participation in programs abroad has fueled my desire to open the study abroad door for others. Fifteen years ago, I started an interdepartmental international program in Costa Rica.
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In the last five years I have transitioned from teaching to advising.  We have a special cohort of students that take BA 197, the change of campus students.   The class is a wonderful opportunity for the students to rub shoulders with each other online and learn about how they can be successful in their transition to the main campus. Our desire is to provide this group of students with an optional international travel experience over spring break. We want these students to have time to get to know each other in person and experience international travel. For many of them, this will be an opportunity to obtain a passport or take their first flight. A question that we are exploring is how can a shared experience involving international travel improve outcomes (graduation rates)?

Andrew Smith, Kansas State University

Andrew Smith, Professor of Practice, Asst. Director News and Sports Media for the A.Q. Miller School of Media and Communication, News Director, KKSU-TV, Kansas State University

Program/Course: Short term program for journalism students, Barcelona

About

Andrew Smith has been at Kansas State University since 2016, after a 25-year Emmy-award-winning career as a television sports journalist.  As the Assistant Director of News and Sports Media for the A. Q. Miller School of Media and Communication, and the multi-media news director for the student television station KKSU-TV, his primary focus is on student media and journalism instruction.  Smith also leads multiple education abroad trips and programs, both faculty led and university sponsored, for the department and University, an interest coming after living in Europe for close to a decade. 
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Smith is developing an experiential learning course for journalism students to be held in Barcelona in the spring of 2025. Using the five senses to first experience, then tell, the stories of the people in Barcelona on a variety of content platforms are the goals of this program with a focus of providing an opportunity for first generation and underserved students with study abroad.  Smith will be using the GLL as a collaborative space to develop new ways to engage with a new culture and best support students who are experiencing education abroad for the first time.

Carolyn Stevenson, Purdue University Global​

Carolyn Stevenson, full-time faculty and faculty advisor Purdue University Global, School of Multidisciplinary and Professional Studies, Department of Professional Studies.

Program/Course: Short term professional studies program that integrates virtual global engagement.

About

Carolyn completed her Ed.D. from Roosevelt University, M.B.A. from Kaplan University, M.A. in Communications from Governor’s State University and B.A. in English from Northern Illinois University.  She has been cited for her expertise in online learning, qualitative research, open educational resources, and prior learning. She is also a regular reviewer for conference papers and textbooks and has served on various offices and committees for the American Education Research Association.

Carolyn has over 25 years teaching and administrative experience in higher education at both the undergraduate and graduate level.  She has published texts on technical communication, building online communities, open educational resources, and environmental education. I am currently developing Global Capstone courses for the Master's and Bachelor's degrees in Professional Studies. These courses are unique because they are a virtual global experience for adult learners.

Spring 2023 - Inaugural Cohort

Eric Archer, Western Michigan University

Eric Archer, Associate Professor, Educational Leadership, Western Michigan University

Program/Course: Global Leadership and Social Change in Albania

About

Eric is an associate professor of educational leadership whose research focuses on topics including diversity and inclusion in post secondary education, international education leadership, and the internationalization of higher education both in the U.S. and globally. He teaches courses on global leadership, international and comparative education, and diversity and inclusion and is active in teaching and consulting in various countries including Albania, the Dominican Republic, Singapore, and Malaysia. One interesting facet of his proposed education abroad program in Albania is that it is one of the least visited countries by Americans in Europe even though the U.S. has maintained close diplomatic relations with the country for over 100 years. One issue he plans to explore during the Global Learning Launchpad program is how to better integrate effective experiential and reflective learning activities for students participating in education abroad activities.

Elisheva cohen, indiana unversity-bloomington

Elisheva Cohen, Director of International Education Programs & Outreach, Indiana University-Bloomington

Program/Course: Refugees and Forced Migration in the Context of Jordan

About

Elisheva (Elly) is Director of International Education Programs and Outreach at the Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies at Indiana University Bloomington. In her role at the Lugar School, Elly develops, supports and implements global learning programming and outreach for undergraduate and graduate students, K-12 teachers, businesses, organizations, and the general public. Her academic and professional experiences are in the field of international development with a particular focus on education in and about areas of conflict and crisis. Through the Global Learning Launchpad, she is working to strengthen a course on refugee studies that takes students to Jordan and building out a course where students learn about international development through travel to Mexico.

Debra Dreisbach, Penn State University-Lehigh Valley

Debra Dreisbach, Assistant Teaching Professor, Penn State University-Lehigh Valley

Program/Course: CRIM 225N Organized Crime in Film & Society

About

I am an Assistant Teaching Professor and Program Coordinator for the Criminal Justice program at Penn State Lehigh Valley. Prior to entering academia, I was fortunate to have opportunities in my work where I traveled and worked with global partners, which ignited my interest in global learning.  I’ve worked with PSU Global for the past four years in an effort to deliver the course, Organized Crime in Film & Society. This is an inter-disciplinary course that examines the relationship between criminological and justice theories of organized crime using the portrayal of the mafia in popular Italian American film as an entry point. My students and I examine the anti-mafia community movement in Sicily, a movement that was spearheaded by college students and which severely mitigated the mafia’s influence. Students examine the value and importance of looking at systemic inequities, the patterns of power and privilege, and how they shaped the country. Through this course-embedded study abroad program, I am working to explore avenues, where students, through examination of the student-led movement in Sicily, are motivated to organize and engineer meaningful change movements.

William Geibel, University of California-San Diego

William Geibel, Sixth College Faculty & Associate Director of Experiential Learning, University of California- San Diego

Program/Course: Sixth College Internships in Dublin

About

A global scholar and practitioner, Bill Robertson Geibel currently holds a dual appointment at UC San Diego’s Sixth College as a faculty member and the Associate Director of Experiential Learning. In this role, he oversees and teaches within the College’s experiential learning program and works to develop educational programming and partnerships that provide students with real world learning opportunities including study abroad, internships, and community engagement.

Bill’s teaching and scholarship lies at the intersection of globalization, diplomacy, and higher education. In particular, much of his work is focused on understanding how globalization is shaping the way universities prepare students to be engaged citizens, both within and beyond national borders. This interest is reflected in his faculty-led study abroad program in Dublin, Ireland, which seeks to blend the values of career, civic, and global learning, as well as his other global-local experiential learning courses at UCSD.
Prior to joining UC San Diego, Bill worked at UCLA’s International Institute, the Foundation for California Community Colleges, and the US State Department as a Fulbright scholar in Kirikkale, Turkey. He holds a BA from UC Santa Barbara, an MA from Brandeis University, and a PhD in International Education from UCLA.

Scott Griffin, The Ohio State University

Scott Griffin, Director of the Keenan Center for Entrepreneurship & Lecturer, The Ohio State University

Program/Course: Sustainable Business Global Lab

About

Scott is the Director of the Keenan Center & Lecturer in the Fisher College of Business at The Ohio State University. He brings three decades of experience in starting, managing, and growing businesses across a variety of industries nationally and globally, with a proven track record for building high-performing teams.  As part of his role, Scott teaches courses on New Product Development and Innovation at The Ohio State University’s Fisher Graduate School of Business. He also served on the Board of Directors for several non-profit institutions, including Ohio State Parks and Columbus State Community College.
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Griffin is a patent holder and has led the successful commercialization of several new products. Examples include the Earth minded Rain Station and the social venture PackH20 that was awarded the 2013 Smithsonian Cooper Hewitt’s People’s Design Award. Griffin received his undergraduate degree from The Ohio State University in 1987 and his MBA from Xavier University in 1992.

Lauren Karplus, University of Illinois-Champaign

Lauren Karplus, Academic Advisor & Experiential Learning Coordinator, Agricultural & Consumer Economics, University of Illinois-Champaign

Program/Course: ACE 436: International Business Immersion Program

About

I am an Academic Advisor and the Experiential Learning Coordinator in the Department of Agricultural & Consumer Economics at the University of Illinois-Champaign. I was fortunate enough to receive a scholarship to spend my junior year of high school living in Germany. That early experience was pivotal in sparking a desire to live in cultures much different than my own, and I have since spent many years traveling internationally whenever I can and living for years in Africa and Europe. Higher education was the best fit for me to be able to live near family in central Illinois while still experiencing a huge diversity of world cultures daily. I’ve worked in immigration advising, study abroad advising, and now work with faculty on building high-quality short-term study abroad programs.

Currently, I am assisting a professor in our department to lead a course on Recreation and Tourism Economics in Croatia this May. I am interested in exploring ways to seamlessly weave in cultural values/worldview differences into course and program content for students who may be primarily focused on the touristic and academic aspects of study abroad programs.

Ramona Meraz-Lewis, Western MIchigan University

Ramona Meraz-Lewis, Master Faculty Specialist, Western Michigan University

Program/Course: CEHD 3050 Seita Scholars Study Abroad: Exploring Themes of Social Justice & Youth Empowerment in Education & Social Services in the Dominican Republic

About

I am a Master Faculty Specialist [equiv. – Clinical Professor] in the Department of Educational Leadership, Research & Technology at Western Michigan University. My work as a faculty member centers on teaching and supporting undergraduate and graduate students in exploring themes of leadership and intercultural development in a variety of educational environments, with a special focus on higher education leadership. I am passionate about helping create opportunities for global perspective taking, particularly for students from first-generation, low-income, and underrepresented backgrounds.

My work in this area has included launching a variety of initiatives including the development of three different study abroad programs: Canada, Malaysia & Singapore, and the Dominican Republic that serve both undergraduate and graduate student populations.  In addition, I have created globally focused courses, expanded the number of global internship partners available to graduate students, and co-designed an award-winning global classrooms experience for graduate students.  This work is highlighted in publications, presentations, and podcasts and has been funded and awarded through professional associations.

Jennifer Miskec, LongWood University

Jennifer Miskec, Professor, English, Longwood University

Program/Course: Continuous Quality Improvement/Faculty Program Leader Resource Center

About

Jennifer is a professor of English at Longwood University. Dr. Miskec’s interests include contemporary American children’s and young adult literature, popular picture books, Early Reader books, Middle Grade Reader books, global children’s culture, and place-based pedagogy.  She was a 2019 Fulbright Scholar in Croatia and has extensive experience leading study abroad programs.

Spotlight on Curriculum

To see example of Jennifer's work, view her contribution to The Forum's Curriculum Toolbox for her faculty-led program called Studies in Children's Literature.
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[Note: to review this resource in the Toolbox, you must be logged into your Forum Account. Don't have an account? No problem. Learn how to create one]. 

Girija Shinde, Volunteer State Community College

Girija Shinde, Professor, Biology, Volunteer State Community College

Program/Course: Special Topics in Biology – Galapagos Program

About

I am a biology professor at Volunteer State Community College, where I have taught for more than 20 years. I am the chair of the international education committee at VSCC. I was an international student, came to the United States in 2001 and since then I have learnt so much even about other states in India and about other cultures across the world. That is why I have always encouraged my students to have a broader world view, to interact with people from other cultures, to travel when there is an opportunity, and expand their horizon to help them to be global citizens. I have done this by inviting Humphrey Fellows to our campuses to meet and chat with students.

I have created opportunities for my students since summer 2013, who live in very rural counties to travel abroad to countries like India, Ecuador, Japan, so that they can get out of their comfort zone and see the world. Today I am proud to say that some of these students have become world travelers! So, over the 2 decades I have been a faculty in the education system in the United States, I have tried to improve the quality of teaching and learning for my students using the global perspective, and helped them to widen their lens, think critically, and cultivate a community of global learners.