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Dustin Luca
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SALEM, MASS. – Nearly a dozen faculty-led stories played out far from the North Shore this past year, with study-travel courses and Fulbright journeys taking faculty and students around the world in 2024.
Between courses that traveled and professors who crossed the pond, dozens of members of the Salem State community hit the road in 2024 to study abroad and bring students places that a classroom can’t go.
“It’s very important for all of our community that Salem State remains a leader in global engagement,” said Julie Whitlow, vice provost for faculty and global engagement at Salem State. “As faculty receive prestigious awards such as Fulbright and learn and grow from experiences abroad, they in turn are inspired to invigorate their courses and to provide opportunities for students.
“Our faculty-led study travel courses have benefited greatly from faculty who bring a global mindset to the classroom and the curriculum,” Whitlow continued. “These experiences allow our students to gain international perspectives and allow our faculty to lead in the area of global engagement, thus allowing us to fulfill our mission to "contribute to a global society."
None of this would’ve happened without grant and program support, however.
“Thanks to the generosity of Dr. Francis Hunkins '68 and Dr. Patricia Hammill, the Center for International Education can support faculty-led travel courses and Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL),” Whitlow said.
The Hunkins fund assisted 57 student travelers with costs associated with faculty-led study travel to Costa Rica, Latvia, Hong Kong, China, and South Korea. As one student traveler to China noted, “my life will never be the same after what I was able to experience in China.”
The courses traveling to South Korea (education), Latvia (social work), Costa Rica (healthcare studies), and Hong Kong (business) in Spring and Summer 2024 were also funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Education’s Undergraduate International Studies and Foreign Language Program. The goal of the grant, which has since been accomplished, was to establish a faculty-led study travel course in every school or college. The grant also funded the expansion of COIL into the general education curriculum, so that every SSU student can have interactions with peers in another part of the world.
Courses that traveled this past year
Applying Anti-Bias Education in South Korea
Professors Cami Condie and Youn Jung Huh lead a course titled “Anti-Bias Education: Perspectives and Advocacy in Early Childhood Education” with a simple yet profound goal: to help students develop anti-bias and culturally sustaining pedagogy through the questioning of assumptions about other cultures, embracing differences, and learning to communicate effectively across cultural boundaries – all skills in anti-bias education. This course partnered SSU students with Korean students in Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) opportunities leading to a faculty-led trip to South Korea in Summer 2024.
“Overall, this partnering of a course with a faculty-led study abroad was more than just a trip; it was a journey of personal and professional growth,” Huh said. “Our students not only broadened their cultural horizons but also honed essential skills that will shape their future teaching practices with young children. Through the lens of anti-bias education, they learned to see the world — and themselves — in new and enlightening ways.”
Geography of the Southwest U.S.
Professors Keith Ratner and Stephen Young took 14 students to the Southwest United States, flying in and out of Las Vegas and camping for 12 nights in national and state parks in Arizona, Nevada, Utah and Colorado. Academic themes of the trip focused on water issues, climate change, settlement patterns and the layers of agencies conserving the natural and cultural aspects of the Southwest.
“Most of the students joining the class didn’t know any fellow travelers before the class, most had never been out West, and most had never been camping or hiking,” the faculty wrote after the trip. “The class not only taught the four academic topics, but students also learned how to camp, cook, clean and hike safely.”
World War II and the Holocaust in Western Europe
A group of 23 SSU students, teachers and community members traveled to Europe as part of a trip led by the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies and the history department. Over the course of 12 days, an intergenerational group traveled through the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Germany with professors Chris Mauriello and Regina Kazyulina to study the Holocaust.
“This particular group of students, teachers and community members blended so well around the topic, sites and experiences,” Mauriello said. “You could hear them discussing their impressions, ideas and feelings during site visits and later as we rode together on the bus or at dinner or in the hotel in the evenings. The ‘experiential learning’ was obvious, and the impact was undeniable.”
AY23-24 Fulbright scholars return to Salem State
Kenneth Ardon Economics course in Turkey lead to out-of-class experiences
Economics professor Kenneth Ardon, of Swampscott, taught economics in Turkey at Ankara’s Middle East Technical University (also known as METU, or ODTU in Turkish). While teaching a course on the economics of education, he focused partly on the education systems in Turkey and the United States. Through that, he also advised many students on their research and assisted with applications to graduate schools in the United States.
“While the course went well, my favorite part of the experience was the time I spent talking to my students outside of class,” Ardon said. “When we met after class, they introduced me to lahmacun and pide (Turkish foods that are similar to pizza). We had great conversations about life in Turkey compared to life in America. We discussed politics, economics, religion, food, music, and many other things. My students, and Turkish people more generally, were incredibly welcoming and friendly. Despite my poor language skills, I got to know many wonderful people both on campus and in the city.”
Rebecca Hains returns from American media studies work in Poland
Media and communication professor Rebecca Hains taught U.S. media studies at Poland’s Jageillonian University. The work, which included an undergraduate and graduate class, put U.S. media in an international context to students from all over Europe, including everything from Spain to Ukraine, bringing to the coursework “various perspectives that American students wouldn’t have.”
“Two research projects emerged,” Hains said, “in which the students were collaborating with me, talking with adults in Poland who were children when Communism fell about their recollections of how media and popular culture changed in that era, from Communist-led Poland to the post-Communist era.’”
Julie Kiernan introduces Bulgarian students to theatre as self-expression
Theater and speech communication associate professor Julie Kiernan taught students at New Bulgarian University in Sofia, Bulgaria on how to use theater to offer commentary on social issues. Her work was recently featured by Fulbright Bulgaria, which said theater, “with its profound capacity to convey messages to audiences, can significantly enhance a community’s sense of empathy,” the article opens.
“Completing my Fulbright Award in Bulgaria was an enriching and dynamic experience that has transformed my professional and personal life in many ways,” Kiernan said. “Living in the vibrant capital city of Sofia allowed me to explore different types of theatre and arts daily. Learning the differences and similarities of theatre culture between Eastern Europe and the US was fascinating. I am sure this will influence my creative endeavors for years.”
Other faculty that worked abroad this summer
Lisa Delissio explores 19th century women botanists in the UK
Biology professor Lisa Delissio was twice featured in Europe over the summer, traveling to the United Kingdom for two engagements spotlighting the historically hidden contributions women made to botany in the 19th century. Their contributions have since continued and are even accelerating long after their deaths, she explained.
Delissio first spoke at the Transatlantic Studies Association’s 22nd annual Conference at Lancaster University in Lancashire as part of a panel on the posthumous influence American woman botanists have made on European science. That was followed by a trek to the Natural History Museum in London to deliver a seminar titled “The Life and Work of Hidden 19th Century New England Botanist, Charlotte Nichols Saunders Horner.”
“Recognition of the lives, work and posthumous contributions of local botanists reveals the enduring influence of women who were effectively written out of the history of science,” Delissio said. “It also brings to light and builds international relationships that strengthen the field of botany.”