LOCATION:

Lory Student Center: Room 308-10

DESCRIPTION:

CSU thrives from the contributions made by international students and scholars. While many arrive on campus proficient in English, there are those who come to learn English or improve their proficiency before transitioning to CSU. PLACE, the Programs for Learning Academic and Community English, plays a critical role in helping CSU reach its internationalization goals. In this presentation, participants will learn about the offerings at PLACE, including the Intensive English Program, English for Academic Purposes, Workplace English, International Writes, J1 scholar support, short-term programs, community programs, and collaborations with Todos Santos. Participants will be given time to reflect on their experiences with international students and scholars, and brainstorm additional opportunities that need to be provided through PLACE to ensure that the internationalization of CSU aligns with the diversity, equity, and inclusion focus of CSU. The session will end with participants completing a survey to help inform future offerings through PLACE.

PRESENTER BIOS:

Jayne Loomis, Senior Instructor, Programs for Learning Academic and Community English (PLACE), Colorado State University

Jayne Loomis is a senior instructor at PLACE at CSU. She teaches in the Intensive English Program and English for Academic Purposes. Jayne has been working with English language learners at CSU since 2006. During her tenure with international students, she has served as an instructor and curriculum supervisor of grammar and listening/speaking. In addition, she regularly serves on committees that promote the success of international students.

Evelyn Pierro, Senior Instructor, Programs for Learning Academic and Community English (PLACE) and Languages, Literatures and Cultures, Colorado State University

Evelyn Pierro is a senior instructor at PLACE and the Department of Languages, Literatures & Cultures at CSU. Since graduating with a joint M.A. in English & German in 2000, she has held program and teacher supervisory roles at CSU, the University of Northern Colorado, and Front Range Community College. She has taught a variety of courses in English language, German, and teacher education, including four years teaching English in Japan at the high school level. Evelyn is currently working with J1 scholars and teaching Workplace English at PLACE, and German in Languages, Literatures & Cultures.

LOCATION:

Lory Student Center: Room 322

DESCRIPTION:

International education programs promote knowledge-sharing, mutual understanding, and revenue diversification. However, questions persist on how to effectively design and operate multinational online programs in volatile times. This panel will highlight experiences from two such programs at CSU that have flourished in recent years (the Master of Tourism Management or MTM program, and the Master of Parks and Protected Area Management or MPPM program). These are led by CSU’s Department of Human Dimensions of Natural Resources in collaboration with Central China Normal University. Panelists will emphasize the unique delivery structure for MTM (in person, online, and hybrid in China), and opportunities for interactions between programs. Resilient strategies to be shared include (1) close collaboration with a local university, (2) a diverse faculty profile, and (3) pedagogical techniques tailored to multicultural contexts. The session will appeal to educators and administrators who are interested in developing or strengthening international education programs.

PRESENTER BIOS:

Lina Xiong, Assistant Professor and Director of China Programs, Human Dimensions of Natural Resources, Colorado State University

Lina Xiong is director of HDNR China Programs and an assistant professor in the Department of Human Dimensions of Natural Resources at CSU

Tian Guo, Assistant Professor and Co-Director of Engagement for China Programs, Human Dimensions of Natural Resources, Colorado State University

Tian Guo is co-director of Engagement for HDNR China Programs (lectures, trips, course delivery), and assistant professor in the Department of Human Dimensions of Natural Resources at CSU.

David Knight, Assistant Professor and Co-Director of Engagement for China Programs, Human Dimensions of Natural Resources, Colorado State University

David Knight is co-director of Engagement for HDNR China Programs (lectures, trips, course delivery), and assistant professor in the Department of Human Dimensions of Natural Resources at CSU.

LOCATION:

Lory Student Center: Room 308-10

DESCRIPTION:

Using collaborative research methods with indigenous organizations, this work analyzes collective trauma among Black and Indigenous communities in Colombia’s Pacific coast. The case examines ethnoterritorial groups, collectives whose identities and political organizing reflect a distinct territorial consciousness characterized by intercultural, environmental, and socioeconomic relationships to land. “Peer interviewers” adapted research instruments and ethics to their communities, highlighting oral testimonies and the collective construction of knowledge. Peer researchers connected emotionally and intellectually with their people, revealing key information about how they value local norms, institutions, and territories. The work breaks the trauma process into different phases and makes original contributions to debates on trauma and territory, and to research methods with marginalized ethnic groups. It claims that territories represent a form of knowledge and produce feedback effects in the trauma process that help people connect emotionally and strategically with place.

PRESENTER BIO:

Marcela Velasco, Associate Professor, Political Science, Colorado State University

Marcela Velasco is an associate professor of political science at CSU in the subfields of comparative politics and environment. Her research centers on local governance in multiethnic municipalities in Latin America. Her current work includes research on ecological capacities in Latin America and a collaborative project on local governance in Colombia’s Pacific coast, a multiethnic region marked by high levels of violence. This project produced a collaborative dataset with information on trauma, environmental degradation, and the effects of conflict on local authorities in Indigenous and Afro-descendant communities.

LOCATION:

Lory Student Center: Room 322

DESCRIPTION:

This session will focus on the launch of CSU’s First Year Seminar and Bridge Programs Abroad. The presenters will give an overview of the intention of creating the new program models, including research and data on the benefits of first year seminar abroad programming. Presenters will talk about how they are seeing early impact of the programming on CSU students who have participated, to include student survey data. The presentation will highlight some of the final projects from students, which includes websites students created on topics of varying social justice issues they learned about during their time abroad. Students from this first-year cohort will share how the programs have impacted their freshman semester at Colorado State University. There will be time for questions from the audience for group leaders and the students who participated in these inaugural programs.

PRESENTER BIOS:

Nicole Pawloski, Program Manager, Education Abroad, Colorado State University

Nicole Pawloski is a program manager on the Education Abroad team at CSU. Nicole works with a portfolio of CSU staff- and faculty-led education abroad programs, which includes First Year Seminar Abroad Programs. Nicole enjoys creating and supporting inclusive international education abroad opportunities for students to build community while growing as global citizens. She works closely with campus partners and program leaders in developing the on-campus portion of the First Year Seminar and Bridge Programs Abroad. Nicole served a support role on the first-ever Berlin Bridge Program, and looks forward to engaging with campus partners and leaders in preparation for Fall 2023.

Dani Castillo, Senior Instructor, Journalism and Media Communication, Colorado State University

Dani Castillo is a senior instructor at CSU in the Department of Journalism & Media Communication. She has been teaching and advising students for 22 years and is very passionate about sharing knowledge. Her education includes two M.A. degrees, one from California State University East Bay in multimedia, and another one from Savannah College of Art & Design in interactive design and video game production. Her field of expertise is visual communication, but she enjoys teaching many other subjects. Dani has also led several study abroad trips in Europe, Mexico, and Ecuador. She lives in Fort Collins with husband Peter and daughter Sabine.

Toni-Lee Viney, Director of Engineering Education and Student Success Initiatives, Walter Scott, Jr. College of Engineering, Colorado State University

Toni-Lee Viney has supported students through academic advising roles at CSU for 15 years in three different colleges, including liberal arts, business, and engineering. She currently serves as director of Engineering Education and Student Success Initiatives for the Warner Scott College of Engineering. Toni-Lee is passionate about access to international experiences and sees education abroad opportunities as interconnected within CSU’s larger access mission. She co-led the Berlin Bridge Program, one of the first education abroad experiences for incoming students at CSU. In Fall 2023, she will serve as the registrar and advisor on Semester at Sea.

Charlotte Salinas, Assistant Director, Orientation and Transition Programs, Colorado State University

Charlotte Salinas is assistant director of Orientation and Transition Programs at CSU. Charlotte co-led CSU’S inaugural First Year Seminar Abroad Program in Ecuador, and plans to co-lead again for the Fall 2023 program. She is originally from Texas and grew up on a small family ranch. She has also lived in Knoxville, Tennessee and San Francisco, California. She enjoys reading, baking, and spending time with friends and family. She loves to travel and does it as often as possible.

LOCATION:

Lory Student Center: Room 308-10

DESCRIPTION:

In Spring 2022, faculty from Colorado State University (CSU) and Yildiz Technical University (YTU), Istanbul, Turkey, collaborated to develop and offer an experimental graduate-level course aimed at teaching multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) methods to construction and engineering students from both institutions. This course was developed as a result of the international partnership between the Department of Construction Management at CSU and the Civil Engineering Department at YTU. This course was delivered synchronously to CSU and YTU students by faculty from both programs. In its pilot offering, the course was met with significant successes and challenges alike. By documenting this course as a case study, this presentation highlights the successful strategies and barriers to implementing international multi-site classes. By examining the lessons learned, this course can be used as a model for the development of similar courses in an effort to integrate international multi-site classes into the college curriculum.

PRESENTER BIO:

Mehmet Ozbek, Professor, Construction Management, Colorado State University

Mehmet E. Ozbek is a professor and the holder of the Joseph Phelps Endowed Chair in the Department of Construction Management at Colorado State University. He holds a Ph.D. in civil engineering. Dr. Ozbek has taught courses in the undergraduate and graduate programs, including a service-learning course and a study-abroad course. At the international level, he served as the overseas external adviser for the Construction Program at the University of Technology, Jamaica. He also held an administrative position as the acting and interim head of the Department of Construction Management at CSU from 2018 to 2020.

LOCATION:

Lory Student Center: Room 322

DESCRIPTION:

Voices and Visions: The Art and Science of Climate Action is an interactive exhibit space focusing on climate action by youth through their voices and actions. Using a wave and bubble design to invoke the oceans that surround the United States, Voices and Visions uses a story-telling approach traced along three themes: Voices of the Land, Our Voices, Voices of the Oceans, and Visions of Our Future. Each theme contains narrated sections, soundscapes, and short videos connected with flowing hand-dyed “waves” to give the viewer a truly immersed experience and the evocative space to reflect on personal climate actions. This exhibit was presented by students in ESS 505 at CSU and the Bowser/Halliwell Lab through the Youth Environmental Alliance in Higher Education (YEAH) Network at the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.

PRESENTER BIOS:

Alyssa Connaughton, Graduate Student, Graduate Degree Program in Ecology, Colorado State University

Alyssa Connaughton is a first-generation master’s student in the Graduate Degree Program in Ecology at CSU. Her research primarily consists of using non-invasive sampling methods to take inventory of bees and butterflies in national parks to answer management questions.

Nicki Bailey, Graduate Student, Graduate Degree Program in Ecology, Colorado State University

Nicki Bailey is a master’s student in the Graduate Degree Program in Ecology at CSU. She studies butterfly responses to climate change through field studies in alpine and desert national parks. She is passionate about community science, science communication, and education through hands-on experiences.

Cristal Dominguez Vasquez, Graduate Student, Ecosystem Science and Sustainability, Colorado State University

Cristal Dominguez Vasquez is a first-generation master’s student in Ecosystem Science and Sustainability at CSU. Her passions lie in conservation and working with marginalized communities most impacted by climate change.

Additional Presenters:
Ashlee Hardin
Dan Briggs
Melissa Morales

 

LOCATION:

Lory Student Center: Room 308-10

DESCRIPTION:

In this presentation, the speaker will introduce the fundamental concepts of coloniality in the educational context of the Global North based on existing literature. Following this guided discussion on coloniality, the presenter will share ideas on how to decolonize classrooms through various strategies and techniques. Additionally, the presenter will provide the audience with an opportunity to reflect and share their personal stories on the effects of colonialism that takes place in our educational systems. Finally, the presenter will guide the audience in a collaborative small-group workshop on ways to advocate for inclusive pedagogies in our classrooms.

This presentation aims to create awareness of the residual systemic effects of colonialism and to understand how decolonization can fight against discrimination and inequity in education. We will collaboratively workshop how to decolonize our classrooms to fight against colonial systems and for an inclusive educational system.

PRESENTER BIO:

Sarah Howard, Graduate Student, TEFL/TESL, and Teaching Assistant in Programs for Learning Academic and Community English (PLACE)

Sarah Howard is a graduate student at CSU pursuing an M.A. in teaching english as a foreign or second language (TEFL/TESL), and a teaching certificate from The Institute of Teaching and Learning. She is also a graduate teaching assistant at Programs for Learning Academic and Community English (PLACE). She earned her B.A. in Spanish from the University of Colorado Boulder. Upon graduating in the Spring of 2023, she intends to apply herself to a Ph.D. program in language, equity, and educational policy. Her research interests include equitable second and foreign language pedagogy.

LOCATION:

Lory Student Center: Room 322

DESCRIPTION:

Despite the fact that French, and languages in general, has received a decreasing interest among college students in the past 50 years, the French language not only brings personal and leisurely gratification, but has a definite professional role in the world. According to a recent study from the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) and Lead with Languages, French is the third most sought language by professionals in the United States. Not disregarding careers in translation, French is needed in jobs linked to business, education, entertainment, industries, art, bookstores, etc. Our French students ought to know that their multiple professional interests can be matched with their passion for the language they chose. During this presentation, a description of the required senior seminar will be laid out to demonstrate how a cornerstone course was developed to bring success to students, combining their multiple career interests while focusing on French, Francophone cultures and literature.

PRESENTER BIO:

Frédérique Grim, Professor, French, Languages, Literatures, and Cultures, Colorado State University

Frédérique Grim is a professor of French at CSU, primarily teaching courses in linguistics as well as teaching methodologies, where her research also lies. She has been the faculty advisor to the French Club, Le Cercle Français, for 15 years now, and has been able to support students’ many inspirations to share the Francophone cultures on campus and in the community. Frédérique enjoys running, cooking and, of course, loves spending as much time as possible with her family in the outdoors (hiking, snowshoeing), crafting, playing games, and traveling.

LOCATION:

Lory Student Center: Room 308-10

DESCRIPTION:

The Center for Collaborative Conservation at CSU runs a Fellows Program for graduate students, faculty, and conservation practitioners who plan and implement meaningful projects, delve into the practice of collaborative conservation, and learn together through a community of practice.

This is a program for leadership and on-the-ground experience. Each year, new fellows are recruited to learn and apply the practices that are the hallmark of successful collaborative conservation. Past fellows have said that participating in the program was among their most impactful career moments. Since 2008, fellows have worked on projects in 27 countries and 17 Native American nations.

This interactive session will include a panel consisting of previous fellows whose projects have tackled tough conservation issues. These panelists will not only relate their experience working in international settings, but also what it is like to learn about these issues through local perspectives, consider local knowledge, and develop solutions together.

PRESENTER BIOS:

Allison Brody, Associate Director of Learning, Center for Collaborative Conservation, Colorado State University

Allison Brody, associate director of Learning for the Center for Collaborative Conservation (CCC), oversees the Center’s fellows program; since 2008, the CCC has awarded fellowships to projects that have taken place in more than 30 countries.

Cynthia Brown, Professor, Department of Agricultural Biology, Colorado State University

Cynthia (Cini) Brown, a professor in the Department of Agricultural Biology at CSU, received a CCC Fellowship in 2018 to collaborate with a Mongolian organization to train land managers in rangeland health monitoring and study management effects on grasslands.

Simran Prasad, Doctoral Fellow, Centre for Wildlife Studies, India

Simran Prasad, a doctoral fellow with the Centre for Wildlife Studies in India, received a CCC Fellowship in 2021 to explore how to mitigate conflicts that arise between humans and elephants in India.

Curtis Kline, Ph.D. Student, Political Science, Colorado State University

Curtis Kline, a Ph.D. student in political science at CSU, received a CCC Fellowship in 2021 to work with local indigenous and rural communities to develop strategic action plans to create GMO-free territories in Colombia.

LOCATION:

Lory Student Center: Room 300

DESCRIPTION:

This student panel will provide attendees with the opportunity to understand what it is like for international students who are experiencing civil unrest, natural disasters, and economic turmoil in their home countries. Students will tell their stories about being “a world away” while this is occurring back home. We will also discuss how the University and the Fort Collins community can help.

PRESENTER BIOS:

Greg Wymer, Director, International Student and Scholar Services, Colorado State University

Greg is in his 25th year in the field of international education. He joined Colorado State University in July of 2022 as the director of International Student and Scholar Services (ISSS). Most recently and for the past decade, he served in a similar position as director of ISSS at South Dakota State University.

Greg possesses strong cross-cultural competence, global leadership, strategic and tactical skills, and expertise in F1 and J1 immigration regulations. He has led purposefully to provide a caring and advocating approach to the international communities he serves. This approach has helped the universities he has worked for to experience exponential growth while giving students and scholars a fantastic experience.

Lisa Pappas, Associate Director for International Student Success and Retention, Colorado State University

Lisa has been employed in the field of international education for over 30 years working most of her career at Colorado State University. She has served in a variety of roles within International Student and Scholar Services. Most recently, her work has been focused in the area of student success and retention. She works closely with a diverse international student population. Her passion has been to support and encourage these international sojourners as they pursue their academic and personal goals and dreams.

Sagarika Sarma, Case Manager, Office of Case Management, Colorado State University

Sagarika Sarma currently serves as a case manager in the Office of Case Management and Referral Coordination at CSU. Her position is centered on collaboratively creating solution-focused interventions with and for students experiencing crisis, and connecting them to resources across the University and community.

A first-generation immigrant, Sagarika is originally from Assam, India, and lives her life intimately straddling across two cultures on a day-to-day basis. She is a proud alum of Indraprastha College for Women, University of Delhi, and Colorado State University.

Sagarika and her family now call Fort Collins home but shuttle back and forth between Assam and Fort Collins pretty frequently!

LOCATION:

Lory Student Center: Room 322

DESCRIPTION:

The purpose of this session is to discuss some of the most typical language challenges that international students experience in college classrooms, followed by recommendations for content area instructors on how to best support this student population in their classes as well as how to create an inclusive environment for students of diverse backgrounds. During the session, the presenters will first provide an overview of the linguistic differences that characterize English language learners’ ability to use English for academic purposes, focusing specifically on the vocabulary demands as well as the reading and writing skills required for adequate comprehension and production of academic discourse. In addition, the presenters will offer general recommendations and specific teaching strategies for instructors to use pre-, during-, and post-instruction, in order to enhance learning opportunities for international students in their classes. The presenters will share an instructor resource to demonstrate explicit strategies and applications for student engagement in classes across disciplines. The audience will be invited to reflect on their own experiences as well as how they might be able to apply these strategies in their pedagogical contexts.

PRESENTER BIOS:

Tatiana Nekrasova-Beker, Associate Professor, Applied Linguistics and TEFL/TESL, Colorado State University

Tatiana Nekrasova-Beker is an associate professor in applied linguistics and TEFL/TESL (teaching English as a foreign/second language) in the Department of English at CSU, where she teaches applied linguistics courses, including teaching English as a foreign/second language, theories of foreign/second language learning, curriculum development in English for specific purposes, and language across cultures. She received both her M.A. and Ph.D. in applied linguistics from Georgia State University and Northern Arizona University, respectively. Her research focuses on usage-based approaches to L2 acquisition, corpus-based analyses of learner language and discipline-specific texts, curriculum design, and assessment of second language skills.

Anthony Becker, Associate Professor, Linguistics and TEFL/TESL, Colorado State University

Anthony Becker is an associate professor in the Department of English at CSU. He primarily teaches courses within the TEFL/TESL graduate program and the undergraduate linguistics concentration, and coordinates workshops and other projects for Programs for Learning Academic and Community English (PLACE). His current research/teaching interests focus on second language assessment, corpus linguistics, English for specific purposes, and research methods in applied linguistics. He holds Ph.D. and M.A. degrees in applied linguistics from Northern Arizona University and Georgia State University, respectively, and an undergraduate degree in psychology from Millersville University of Pennsylvania.

Lauren Kinter, Director of Programs for Learning Academic and Community English (PLACE), Colorado State University

Lauren Kinter is the director of Programs for Learning Academic and Community English (PLACE) at CSU. Over the last decade, she has both taught ESL and managed intensive English programs within the U.S. higher education setting. From a pedagogical perspective, her interests lie in the sociocultural aspects of language acquisition. As a program administrator, she is particularly focused on how universities can best support the success of English language learners, both domestic and international.

Jacqueline Rusch, Graduate Student, TEFL/TESL, Colorado State University

Jacqueline Rusch is a current second-year M.A. student in the Teaching English as a Foreign/Second Language (TEFL/TESL) Program at CSU. She approaches her work and research with the positionality of being a white, middle-class woman who grew up in the rural Midwest and acknowledges the potential biases that accompany this background. Her professional background is in Spanish secondary education and adult English education, and she has spent extensive time traveling and teaching abroad, specifically in Chile. In the field of TEFL/TESL, her research interests include linguistic justice, translanguaging, decolonial & antiracist pedagogies, and world Englishes.

LOCATION:

Lory Student Center: Room 308-10

DESCRIPTION:

Globally, 780 million individuals lack access to improved drinking water and 2.5 billion lack improved sanitation. Water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) prominently impacts women and girls globally due to biological and cultural factors. It is pronounced in maintaining women’s menstrual, sexual, and reproductive health. WASH projects also contribute to economic development, gender equality, and educational attainment of girls in schools. This session highlights a WASH project and a study from Nepal. First, the study utilizes the framework of postmodernism feminism, community-based natural resources management, and gender and development to highlight the importance of a community-engaged approach in meeting the needs of women and marginalized groups within a WASH project in western Nepal. Second, the study presents a case study of an intervention project in eastern Nepal. A collaboration with Rotary International, this project helps build gender-specific toilets in a rural village to address issues related to period poverty.

PRESENTER BIOS:

Umit Shrestha, Assistant Professor, Colorado School of Public Health, Colorado State University

Umit Shrestha is an assistant professor in the Colorado School of Public Health at CSU in global health and health disparities. His work has revolved around the nexus of WASH and gender equality and social inclusion in Nepal. He teaches courses in global health and centers his pedagogical approach around social justice, inclusion, and the praxis of decolonization.

Niroj Bhattarai, Assistant Professor of Economics and Founding Research Associate at the Poverty Action Center, Colorado State University

Niroj Bhattarai is an assistant professor of economics and a founding research associate at the Poverty Action Center at CSU. His research interest lies at the intersection of education, inequality, and WASH, and subsequent impact on economic development. He teaches courses in macroeconomics and economic development.

LOCATION:

Lory Student Center: Room 322

DESCRIPTION:

Learn about the CSU Todos Santos Center from the people who are living, working, teaching, and studying there. This panel conversation will feature an introduction by Director Kim Kita, followed by a panel discussion with Associate Director Idalia Paz y Puente, whose family is from Todos Santos, Professor Erika Osborne, who teaches at the Center, including as the academic coordinator for the new semester program, and Grace Goldenberg, an undergraduate student at CSU. There will be time for audience questions and engagement.

PRESENTER BIOS:

Kim Kita, Director, CSU Todos Santos

Kim Kita has been the director of CSU Todos Santos since its construction in 2013 and opening in October of 2015. Kim is a bridge between CSU Fort Collins and the CSU Todos Santos Center, overseeing and leading program development, business operations, and the Center. Through listening, mutual respect, and co-creation, Kim and her team established CSU’s presence in Todos Santos by balancing two guiding compasses for action: CSU’s land-grant mission and the Todos Santos community priorities.

Idalia Paz y Puente, Associate Director, CSU Todos Santos

Idalia Paz y Puente comes from a multi-generational Todos Santeño family and serves as the Center’s associate director. In this role, Idalia combines a deep curiosity for people, culture, and learning with her expertise as a lawyer and administrator. A captivating storyteller, Idalia guides students by sharing her family’s roots and traditions. While her role includes accounting, legal, and supervisory responsibilities, she also joyfully connects people across cultures.

Erika Osborne, Professor, Art and Art History, Colorado State University

Erika Osborne is a professor in the Art and Art History Department at Colorado State University. For the past 17 years, Erika has taught painting and drawing alongside environmental field courses for artists, such as Mexico: Art Meets Environment, Art and Environment, Art in Forest Ecosystems, Cultural Extraction: Energy in the Humanities, Land Arts of the American West, Wilderness Studio and Place: Appalachia. Erika has written about her pedagogical work in books and journals, including Arts Programming for the Anthropocene: Art in Community and Environment, and Making the Geologic Now: Responses to Material Conditions of Contemporary Life.

Erika Osborne’s creative work addresses cultural connections to place and environment. She has exhibited extensively nationally and internationally, with exhibitions at institutions such as the Phoenix Art Museum, the Carnegie Museum of Art, the Nevada Museum of Art, and the Chautauqua Institute. Erika has been the recipient of numerous grants and awards, including a recent Fulbright fellowship. Her work has been highlighted in five books surveying land and environmental art as well as in publications such as New American Paintings, Art Papers, Sculpture Magazine, and Southwest Art Magazine.

Erika has taught several courses at the CSU Todos Santos Center and served as the academic coordinator for the recent Fall 2022 semester program.

Grace Goldenberg, Undergraduate Student, Interdisciplinary Liberal Arts, Colorado State University

Grace Goldenberg is a junior studying interdisciplinary liberal arts with a minor in global environmental sustainability at CSU. She was attracted to the Todos Santos program because of the interdisciplinary nature of the courses as well as the unique presence of a campus center abroad. Her major encompasses many subjects, and this program suited her array of academic interests and provided mentors who practice integrating various subjects, such as ecology, art, history, and writing. Her experience in Todos Santos was exceptional because of the incredible staff at the center, high quality courses, and the stunning beauty of the region.

LOCATION:

Lory Student Center: Room 308-10

DESCRIPTION:

We have often wondered why so many students from Southwest Asia and North Africa (SWANA) are categorized as white in the census, when this categorization wrongfully describes their lived experience. In this session, we will learn about the history of SWANA in the United States and how the whitewashing of SWANA students has resulted in issues supporting them within higher education.

PRESENTER BIOS:

Hiba Abdeljalil, Academic Success Coordinator, Human Development and Family Studies, Colorado State University

Hiba Abdeljalil (they/them) currently serves as an academic success coordinator for Human Development and Family Studies at CSU. They also served as residence director, where they oversaw the Global Village Residential Learning Community as well as the Arts and Creative Expressions Residential Learning Community in Parmelee Hall. Prior to CSU, Hiba worked as a residence hall director at Macalester College in St. Paul Minnesota, after pursuing their master’s degree from Missouri State University in student affairs in higher education.

Rachel Wada, Assistant Director, Asian Pacific American Cultural Center, Colorado State University

Rachel Wada (she/her) is a multiracial, fourth-generation Asian American woman from Aurora, Colorado. Rachel obtained her master’s in higher education in student affairs from the University of Connecticut, and is currently serving as the assistant director of the Asian Pacific American Cultural Center (APACC) at CSU. Rachel also served as the student success coordinator at APACC in January 2022. Prior to CSU, Rachel gained experience as coordinator for Asian Pacific American Student Affairs at the University of Arizona, and as a residence director for the University of Minnesota Duluth.

LOCATION:

Lory Student Center: Room 322

DESCRIPTION:

Did you know that of the 7,000+ languages spoken today, over half of them are predicted to be severely endangered or completely extinct by the end of this century? This session will explain why this rapid decline is happening and explore the urgent question of what the world loses when a language goes extinct. Participants will also learn about worldwide efforts to preserve, protect, and even revitalize endangered languages, with a special focus on the regional languages of France. This will be an interactive session where participants learn about and reflect on the connections between globalization, technology, and linguistic diversity. They will leave with a greater appreciation for the sophisticated tools that our languages are, and for the importance of linguistic diversity in our international, interconnected world.

PRESENTER BIOS:

Zel Gabriel, Graduate Student in TEFL/TESL and French Language, Literature, and Culture, Colorado State University

Zel Gabriel is a master’s student at CSU, pursuing degrees in teaching English as a second language and in French language, literature, and culture. Her research interests include corpus linguistics, second language acquisition, language revitalization, translanguaging and translingual pedagogy, and LGBTQ+-friendly language pedagogy. She has taught both English and French to CSU students since moving to Fort Collins in 2019. When not on campus, she can be found hanging out with her three cats and listening to podcasts of all kinds — she’s always happy to give recommendations. She comes from Cleveland, Ohio, USA.

KEYNOTE SPEAKER:

William B. Taylor, U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine

Ambassador William B. Taylor is an American diplomat, government official, and former military officer. He served as the United States ambassador to Ukraine from 2006 to 2009 under President Bush and Obama, and as chargé d’affaires at the U.S. embassy in Kyiv from June 2019 to January 2020. Currently, he is vice president for Russia and  Europe at the U.S. Institute of Peace.

Ambassador Taylor also served as the U.S. government’s representative to the Mideast Quartet, which facilitated the Israeli disengagement from Gaza and parts of the West Bank. He served in Baghdad as the first director of the Iraq Reconstruction Management Office from 2004 to 2005, and in Kabul as coordinator of international and U.S. assistance to Afghanistan from 2002 to 2003. Ambassador Taylor also coordinated U.S. assistance to the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. During the Arab Spring, he oversaw U.S. assistance and support to Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, and Syria.

Ambassador Taylor is a graduate of West Point and Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, and served as an infantry platoon leader and combat company commander in the U.S. Army in Vietnam and Germany.

MODERATOR:

Leigh Paterson, Senior Editor and Report, KUNC

As KUNC’s senior editor and reporter, Leigh’s job is to find out what’s important to Northern Colorado residents and why. She seeks to create a deeper sense of urgency and understanding around these issues through in-depth, character-driven daily reporting and series work. In previous roles, Leigh has reported from Colorado, Wyoming, and Washington DC, covering beats such as mental health, guns, and the energy industry. Her work has appeared on NPR, PBS, the BBC, Kaiser Health News, and Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting.

DESCRIPTION:

Vice President for Student Affairs Blanche Hughes and Vice Provost for International Affairs Kathleen Fairfax discuss the internationalization of student affairs in higher education, and how the campus can work together to promote global citizenship.

PRESENTER BIOS:

Blanche Hughes, Vice President for Student Affairs, Colorado State University

Blanche Hughes is currently in her 15th year as the vice president for Student Affairs at Colorado State University and serves on the President’s leadership team. She values effective collaboration and building strong relationships in support of a student-centered institution. Prior to joining CSU, she spent two years teaching sociology and chairing the Department of Sociology at Pikes Peak Community College. The majority of her professional experience, however, was spent in her 13-year tenure as the director of Black Student Services at Colorado State University prior to her move to Colorado Springs in the fall of 1998. She has experience in teaching undergraduate and graduate courses, programming, counseling, training, and leadership development. Her research interest lies in areas relating to race and ethnicity, gender, and student retention in higher education.

Hughes has a B.A. in education from Earlham College, an M.Ed. from Colorado State University, and her Ph.D. in sociology from Colorado State University.

Kathleen Fairfax, Vice Provost for International Affairs, Colorado State University

Kathleen Fairfax is the vice provost for International Affairs at Colorado State University. She oversees a staff of more than 60 professionals within International Programs and collaborates with colleges and units across campus to implement the University’s internationalization initiatives. She serves on the Provost’s Leadership Council.

Prior to CSU, Fairfax served as the assistant vice president for International Affairs at South Dakota State University. Her career has also included serving as vice provost for Global Education Services at Arizona State University, director of the Office of Study Abroad at Michigan State University and at Purdue University, as well as similar roles at Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, and DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana.

Fairfax holds a master’s degree in political science/international relations from Indiana University Bloomington, and a bachelor’s degree in political science and Spanish from DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana.

LOCATION:

Lory Student Center: Room 322

DESCRIPTION:

Colorado State University’s contributions to addressing global sustainable development challenges, including water security, provision of energy and nutrition, reducing disease burden, responsible use of environmental resources, and promoting social and environmental justice, are unparalleled. The interactive session will explain how this remarkable record has been compiled and feature three examples of current high-impact work. It will begin with a brief chronology entitled Frontier Days to Now: CSU’s International Contributions to Water (Neil Grigg). This will be followed by three presentations of about 15 minutes each as follows: 1. Global Outreach: A Course About Global Water Challenges With TIIAME in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, and Bridging Toward Future Study Abroad Programs (Pinar Omur-Ozbek); 2. Energy, Health, and Environment: Engagement with China and Latin America (Ellison Carter); and 3. Water and International Development: 20 Years of Coursework and Projects in Rural Areas Around the World (Jeff Niemann).

PRESENTER BIOS:

Neil Grigg, Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Colorado State University

Neil Grigg is a professor of civil and environmental engineering at CSU where he has been a director of the Water Center, the International School for Water Resources, and International Education, as well as a department head. He has worked with leading Colorado State educators from President Bill Morgan up to now, and he has worked on water issues in countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. He maintains contact with CSU water alumni in different countries, and he participates in several international water associations. He is currently working with Peruvian experts on integrated water resources management.

Pinar Omur-Ozbek, Associate Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Colorado State University

Pinar Omur-Ozbek is an associate teaching professor in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at CSU. With support from the American Council for Education, she developed a course on global water challenges that includes students from TIIAME in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, which may become a study abroad program. She teaches engineering students about environmental and social justice issues with positive results. Her interdisciplinary drinking water research evolved from biomedical fields, and extends to therapy for cancer patients. She developed the first international odor standard for water, and has focused on taste-and-odor problems related to algal products with the goal of protecting the safety of tap water.

Ellison Carter, Assistant Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Colorado State University

Ellison Carter, an assistant professor in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at CSU, has worked for over a decade in China and has projects in several countries in South America. With a dual B.S. in biology and Spanish, she completed M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in civil engineering after working with ecologists in Costa Rica. She completed a postdoc at the Institute on the Environment at the University of Minnesota, with field-based studies in China concerning air quality, climate, energy, and health. She now works on impacts on air pollution exposure and human health relevant to energy, housing, and transportation.

Jeff Niemann, Faoro Professor of Water Resources, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Colorado State University

Jeff Niemann is Faoro Professor of water resources in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department (CEE) at CSU. He developed CEE’s Water and International Development Program, and worked on drinking water and sanitation projects in El Salvador, Belize, Gabon, Guatemala, and Kenya. His research also addresses flood events in mountain basins and climate change impacts. In 2011, he received WSCOE’s George T. Abell Award for Outstanding International Contributions and the President’s Volunteer Service Award. He received the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers at the White House in 2002, and has received departmental awards to include Borland Chair, Outstanding Performance, and Excellence in Teaching.

LOCATION:

Lory Student Center: Room 324

DESCRIPTION:

How do the performing arts participate in social transformation? Megan Lewis has spent her career researching South African theatre, film, and performance, and the roles the arts play in culture, especially during times of significant upheaval and change. As Brecht once said, art can hold up a mirror to culture and also be a hammer with which to shape it. In this engaging session, Lewis will chronicle how theatre helped move South Africa out of its racist apartheid past and into a new democracy. She will showcase some of the most provocative, creative, and brilliant theatremakers and shakers as they speak truth to power, use satire as a social corrective, build community across difference, dance up new possibilities, and challenge systems of power for a better future. This presentation will include video, visuals, and highlights from her body of scholarship. Artists include Athol Fugard, John Kani and Winston Ntshona, Magnet Theatre, Peter van Heerden, Ewok Robinson, Mamela Nyamza, Mwenya Kabwe, Die Antwoord, and Gaven Hood, among others.

 

PRESENTER BIO:

Megan Lewis, Associate Professor and Director of Theatre, Colorado State University

Megan Lewis is a South African American theatre historian and performance scholar. She is the author of Performing Whitely in the Postcolony and Magnet Theatre: Three Decades of Making Space, which won the Hiddingh-Currie National Book Award in 2018. She is currently working on her third book project: a study of safari as performance. Lewis has published on African political theatre, film, and performance in Theatre Journal, Performing Arts Journal, Theatre History Studies, Text & Performance, Theatre Topics, and The Journal of Dramatic Theory and Criticism.

Lewis is a multidisciplinary educator with a passion for inspiring intellectual curiosity and advocating for the performing arts as a powerful force for social activation and change. Her teaching passions include African theatre and film, the politics of performance, non-Western performance traditions, theatre of dissent, the performance of gender (masculinity) and race (whiteness) in South Africa, and white allyship. Prior to joining the faculty at Colorado State University, she taught at the University of Minnesota and UMass Amherst.

Lewis’ accolades include a 2015 Distinguished Teacher Award from UMass Amherst; a national book award; an intensive summer study abroad program – Arts & Culture in South Africa – focused around the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown/Makhanda; and two global teaching voyages for Semester at Sea. She served as graduate program director and Multicultural Theater Certificate director before taking on the exciting new leadership challenge as director of Theatre at CSU.

LOCATION:

Lory Student Center: Room 308-10

DESCRIPTION:

This session will introduce two innovative approaches aimed at creating collaborative international exchanges. It will start by focusing on an art exhibition that was developed through a partnership with CSU and the Kghodwana Museum in Mpumalanga, South Africa. This exhibition introduced new methods for creating international museum collaborations and attempted to address the inequities often found between Western and non-Western museums. The result was a collaboration that promoted cross-institutional participation and drew upon the strengths of each partner institution’s art collections and bodies of knowledge. The session will also highlight a recent art history class that used the COIL approach (Collaborative Online International Learning), which allowed learners from CSU and the University of the Free State, South Africa, to hold livestream class sessions and create a collaborative research project.

PRESENTER BIO:

David Riep, Associate Professor, Art History, Colorado State University

David Riep is an associate professor of art history at CSU. He received a Ph.D. (2011) in art history from the University of Iowa with a specialization in the arts of Africa, and spent more than five years living in South Africa while conducting his field research on South Sotho art and history. Most recently, David has been involved in an ongoing multi-disciplinary project entitled Africa Meets Africa, which explores southern African cultural heritage and uses cultural context as a link to understanding the arts, mathematics, language, and history.

LOCATION:

Lory Student Center: Room 322

DESCRIPTION:

This session will review the overall economic environment in which smallholder farmers operate, and how the up-front costs of projects can hinder innovations. It will continue to review the limits of agronomy in addressing the operational constraints hindering farmers’ ability to adopt innovations designed for their benefit. Included in this will be the calorie energy balance smallholders face requiring a diet of 4,000 kcal/day to undertake a day of agronomic field work, compared with having 2,500 kcal/day to barely meet basic metabolism, and how this impacts crop management and food security. Finally, the session will review the overall reliance on farmer organizations in providing reliable services to smallholders and the degree farmers participate in or avoid them.

PRESENTER BIO:

Richard Tinsley, Professor Emeritus, Soil and Crop Sciences, Colorado State University

Richard Tinsley is professor emeritus from the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences at CSU, working exclusively on international projects. This included four years (1980-1984) with the Egypt Water Project, four years (1986-1990) with the Malawi Project, and two years (1984-1986) with the Pakistan Water Project. Professor Tinsley also worked with IRRI in Viet Nam (1975), the Philippines (1975-1977), Sri Lanka (1977-1979), Egypt (1991-1994) Thailand (1995-1998), and Tanzania (1998-2001), as well as several short-term assignments in a multitude of countries, including 15 F2F volunteer assignments.

LOCATION:

Lory Student Center: Room 308-10

DESCRIPTION:

Brazil has the highest leprosy new-case detection rate of any country in the world, averaging around 25,000 new cases per year. This session will highlight the work of the Spencer Lab at CSU to support Brazilian collaborators in their efforts to reduce the number of cases of leprosy, which is especially high in the northern state of Pará in the Brazilian Amazon.The Spencer Lab has visited over 40 cities to diagnose schoolchildren and visit households of those diagnosed with leprosy in order to treat them in the early phases before they develop advanced disease with nerve damage, disability, and resulting stigma. It is also working to develop a rapid diagnostic test for leprosy.

PRESENTER BIO:

John Spencer, Associate Professor, Microbiology, Immunology, and Pathology, Colorado State University

John Spencer is associate professor in the Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Pathology at CSU and principal investigator of the Spencer Lab. His leprosy research has received international recognition that includes the description of likely zoonotic transmission of leprosy from armadillos in Mexico to humans, and the first cases of leprosy found in wild chimpanzees in forest preserves in the West African states of Guinea Bissau and the Ivory Coast. Of his 92 publications, 58 are focused on leprosy. He received two Fulbright Scholar Awards to Brazil, and in 2014 was featured in a 25-minute video documentary showcasing his lab’s leprosy surveillance activities in the city of Breves, Pará, Brazil.

LOCATION:

Lory Student Center: Room 322

DESCRIPTION:

Worldwide, 450 million people have some type of mental disorder. This accounts for 20% of the global burden of disease, but only 3% of the world’s healthcare budgets goes towards mental health needs. These gaps in healthcare are often filled by non-profit organizations and NGO’s. Attendees participating in this presentation will walk away with a greater understanding of the work done by Global Livingston Institute, specifically the Mental Health Facilitator Program, and the unique barriers associated with living rurally on a lake in East Africa. Attendees will learn about international development, qualitative research abroad, and access to mental healthcare. This presentation is good for anyone curious about international development, mental health services, barrier reduction, Global Livingston Institute internship opportunities, or East Africa travel.

PRESENTER BIO:

Sarah Byers, Graduate Student, International Policy and Management, Colorado State University

Sarah Byers is seeking an M.P.P.A. degree with a focus on international policy and management. With nearly a decade of social work in local Northern Colorado nonprofits, Sarah brings a unique perspective to international development. During the Summer 2022 semester, she took her service skills abroad to Uganda. As a public health and community development intern for the Global Livingston Institute (GLI), Sarah helped GLI pursue their mission to listen, think, and act for rural, low-resourced communities. Attend her session to learn more about her research and experience evaluating GLI’s Mental Health Facilitator Program on Lake Bunyonyi. When Sarah isn’t working, she is trail-running or forcing her dog to love her.

LOCATION:

Lory Student Center: Theatre Lobby

DESCRIPTION:

Join us to celebrate the groundbreaking of the CSU Peace Corps Tribute Garden to honor CSU’s deep roots with the Peace Corps and the individuals who helped lay its earliest foundations. Local Peace Corps and community leaders will be in attendance to celebrate National Peace Corps Day. This is open to all ages and the greater community.

In the early 1960’s, a CSU team developed and conducted a feasibility study that helped to frame many of the foundations for the U.S. Peace Corps and its training programs. CSU was heavily engaged with some of the first volunteers by providing training and in-country support, and has sent over 1,750 volunteers to the Peace Corps since 1961. The University currently ranks 11th for all-time sending institutions.