System has harmed communities of color for more than a century, says Colin Byers

Colin Byers, a 2019 alumnus of SIT’s MA in Climate Change & Global Sustainability, has contributed to a groundbreaking document aimed at making part of the U.S. electric grid more equitable.

Byers was among a group of community and environmental justice leaders, electric grid analysts, and labor representatives who released “Equitable Grid Principles,” which are intended to guide electric grid infrastructure decision-making in the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) region, according to a May 2 announcement from the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS).

“The clean energy revolution is an exciting opportunity to transform an electricity system that has burdened and harmed communities of color, Indigenous Peoples, and low-income communities for over a century,” said Byers, who is senior campaign coordinator at UCS. “As stakeholders work to get renewable energy online quickly, it’s key that equity and justice are front and center. If done correctly, the transition to 100 percent renewable energy could dramatically improve the quality of life for generations to come.”

The principles provide guidance to grid infrastructure stakeholders for equitable transmission planning, the public utility commission processes, and other decision-making processes. When implemented, they are aimed at improving health, creating good local jobs, providing financial benefits, and avoiding additional burdens on communities already impacted by environmental health hazards, according to the UCS statement.

The Equitable Grid Principles include:

Indigenous Rights. All equitable grid planning processes must engage with affected Indigenous Peoples and communities from the earliest stages.

Accountable Decisionmaking. Grid infrastructure decision-making should establish and utilize a robust accountability system.

Accessibility and Procedural Justice. Electric grid decision-making bodies such as MISO and state utility commissions must be accessible to impacted communities and the public.

Community Control and Governance. Grid infrastructure must be planned and implemented in collaboration with Black, Indigenous, and people of color; and front line, low-income, and impacted communities using processes that support and encourage meaningful, broad-based, and community-based public participation, as well as community-driven development.

Local Control and Value. Grid planning processes and their resulting grid investment decisions should seek to maximize the value of locally controlled clean electricity, energy efficiency, and demand response resources, such as mini-grids and energy storage systems.

Prioritize Renewables and Energy Efficiency. Prioritize grid infrastructure that enables the retirement of coal, gas, and other polluting electricity facilities and supports clean, renewable power—including wind and solar—and energy efficiency.

Justly Sourced. Sourcing of materials and development of grid infrastructure must be done in a manner that mitigates long-term destructive environmental and social impacts.

Support Workers Rights and Protections. Workers engaged in modernizing our grid infrastructure should have access to safe, high-quality, well-paying jobs.

Climate Resilient. Grid planning processes and investment decisions pertaining to them must address overall system resilience under a broad range of plausible scenarios, including historic extreme weather case studies.

The principles were developed by The Equitable Grid Cohort, a group of representatives from Alliance for Affordable Energy, Clear RTO Path, CURE Minnesota, Communities Organizing Latino Power and Action, Cooperative Energy Futures, Environmental Justice Coalition, Environmental Law and Policy Center, Soulardarity, Taproot Earth, UCS and Vote Solar.

This post is excerpted from an article published by The Bates Student by staff writer Trinity Pontoon, and a separate article in Bates News. The material is reprinted here with permission.

Bates College senior Adilene Sandoval is among 42 seniors nationally, and one of two SIT study abroad alumni*, who received grants as part of the 55th class of the Thomas J. Watson Fellowship, a prestigious one-year grant for “pur­pose­ful, inde­pen­dent explo­ration out­side the Unit­ed States, award­ed to grad­u­at­ing seniors,” according to the fellowship’s website. Winners receive $40,000 to pursue and realize their original project during the year following their graduation.

Sandoval, a sociology and environmental studies double major, will embark on a journey through Australia, Italy, Ethiopia, El Salvador, Colombia, and Guatemala to complete her research project, “Weaving Together Activism and Healing.” Her project will explore different trauma healing models and anti-colonial, justice-informed healing models through interviews and volunteer work.

She hopes to “[bring] together activism and healing to foster psychological well-being, a decolonial social consciousness, active resistance and progressive social justice in the communities affected by institutional violence, repression and social injustices.”

According to Sandoval in an email interview, her project’s inspiration “came from wanting to create alternative realities—that center healing—for the inequalities I have witnessed my entire life.”

It was a sacred cycle nurtured through generations of land stewards who passed down their teachings to my father, who then passed them on to me.

After her semester abroad, traveling through Ecuador, Spain and South Africa with School for International Training, where she learned about the intersection of sustainability, agriculture, and social justice, Sandoval found herself “heartbroken, having a really hard time processing the immense theme of inequalities that persisted across all three countries, specifically affecting BIPOC communities.”

At age 8, Sandoval and her family left the mountains of Michoacán, Mexico, and moved to the U.S. in search of a better life. In Mexico, she recalls, life revolved around her family and the land, whether she was helping her father fish for river crabs—chacales—or growing roses and medicinal herbs with her mother. “It was a sacred cycle nurtured through generations of land stewards who passed down their teachings to my father, who then passed them on to me,” she says.

Settling in Washington state, Sandoval and her family worked in industrial agriculture, harvesting apples, cherries, asparagus, and peaches. The symbiotic conversation between Sandoval and the earth was muted. “People were not seen as stewards of the land but rather as a labor force.” That dynamic “leaves you mentally, physically, and emotionally depleted and disconnected.”

After graduating from high school, Sandoval headed to Bates, deeply mindful of her family’s and home community’s resilience. In addition to her studies, she is an active member of Raices Unidas, a digital marketing assistant for the Center for Purposeful Work, and a student ambassador for first-generation students through the college’s Bobcat First program.

Last summer, Sandoval received an Otis Fellowship to study land stewardship, agriculture, and migration in Oaxaca, Mexico. She recalls watching a group of women there work on tapestries using earth-tone threads, dyed using plants and stones. Those fine threads helped weave together a picture for her of “ecological and social well-being,” where “repair of ecosystem services contributed to cultural revitalization, and renewal of culture promoted the restoration of social and environmental well-being.”

I will be able to explore the spectrum in which justice-oriented healing is occurring and how that could be implemented in our communities, institutions, and systems.

Sandoval heard about the Watson fellowship in her first year at Bates. “I remember telling my freshman self to apply when the time came around,” says Sandoval. The fellowship’s holistic approach to experiential learning and its commitment to funding individuals instead of projects drew her to the program. “They really focus on projects that are an extension of the self,” according to Sandoval.

Though the fellowship does not require the completion of a finished end product, Sandoval will be creating a film collection with her research. In addition, her research will inform the approach she takes into a PhD program upon her return to the U.S. “I want my research to represent the broad range of healing practices that exist and not limit itself to western-based practices.”

During her Watson year, Sandoval will seek to deepen and extend her understanding of the concept of community healing that she’d seen in Oaxaca, by volunteering and speaking with community members, organizers, healers, academics, writers, and psychologists in six countries.

“I will be able to explore the spectrum in which justice-oriented healing is occurring and how that could be implemented in our communities, institutions, and systems,” she says.

Sandoval will seek ideas across six countries and five continents, from sovereignty and intergenerational healing within Aboriginal peoples of Australia to the role of community cultural wealth in facilitating healing from displacement in Black immigrant communities in Italy.

Sandoval will depart for her Watson year by August 1 and will return in August of 2024. After her Watson year, Sandoval plans to pursue a PhD in counseling psychology and begin a career in action-oriented research and counseling.

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*Maddison Schink of Colorado College also received a Thomas J. Watson Fellowship grant. Schink attended SIT Peru: Indigenous Peoples and Globalization in spring 2022.

U.S. State Department to confer award at March convention

The U.S. Department of State has named SIT Graduate Institute as the Top English Language Fellow Producing Institution for 2022-23. Of the 192 English Language Fellows selected this year, nine are SIT alumni.

Through projects developed by U.S. embassies in more than 80 countries, fellows work directly with local teachers, students, and educational professionals to improve the quality of English language instruction offered at prestigious universities and other academic institutions.

The State Department will present SIT with an award during a ceremony on March 23 as part of the 2023 TESOL International Convention in Portland, Oregon. (TESOL is an acronym for teaching English to speakers of other languages.)

“On behalf of all the faculty and students who have worked together over the last 50-plus years to build this program, I want to extend my gratitude to the State Department for the English Language Fellow (ELF) program, which has allowed so many of our alumni opportunities to learn, grow, teach, and develop strong intercultural relationships across the world. In particular, I want to extend congratulations to this year’s fellows for their exceptional work and dedication to education that has led to this announcement,” said Dr. Leslie Turpin, chair of SIT’s MA in TESOL program.

SIT alumni selected as 2022-23 fellows are: Beth Barry, Loren Lee Chiesi, Bernadine Clark, Robert Emigh, Sharon Hannigan, Mary Burch Harmon, Geoffrey Moses, Mary Strabala, and Anita Tjan.

This marks the second time SIT’s MA in TESOL program has received an award from the ELF program. In 2019, SIT was cited as the top-producing institution since the program began keeping track in 2006. At that time, a total of 57 SIT alumni had served as fellows.

See: SIT ranked top institution for English Language Fellows program

“We are grateful to the U.S. Department of State for once again honoring SIT in this way,” said SIT President Dr. Sophia Howlett. “We see this award as a testament to the strength of our program and to the commitment of our extraordinary alumni, all those who serve as fellows as well as countless others engaged in English language teaching, training, and learning around the world.”

SIT’s MA in TESOL program was founded in 1969, when it evolved from the organization’s origins as a training center for early Peace Corps volunteers. Today, SIT has more than 3,000 MA in TESOL alumni. The program is presented in a two-year hybrid format that enables students to stay in their current jobs and communities as they complete coursework online, with brief summer residencies on the SIT campus in Vermont.

In 2019, Dr. Turpin and other professors added plurilingual pedagogy as a specialized track, making it the first TESOL program in the country to incorporate egalitarian approaches that celebrate diversity, mutual enrichment, and equity. At the time, Dr. Turpin said the changes were made to “more fully reflect new sociopolitical realities and invite a deeper exploration of the way linguistic and cultural diversity can enhance learning.”

See: Building peace through language

The English Language Fellow Program is an opportunity for experienced teachers of English to speakers of other languages to enact meaningful and sustainable changes in the way that English is taught abroad. The program is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) with funding provided by the U.S. government.

“Fellows are able to achieve so much in their 10-month projects,” said Joseph Bookbinder, director of the Office of English Language Programs. “They advance English language learning, celebrate cultural diversity, encourage critical thought, and model professional and civic engagement. Every day in their classrooms and in their communities, they are citizen ambassadors for both the United States and for their alma maters.”

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For more information about SIT’s MA in TESOL program, visit the SIT Graduate Institute website. For information about the ELF program, please visit the websites of the English Language Fellow Program and the U.S. Department of State. For press inquiries about the ELF program, contact the Department of State by e-mail at [email protected].

Kendra Pierre-Louis is not just a reporter with a voice, she’s a reporter with a megaphone. A print and podcast journalist, her stories have appeared in the Washington Post, The New York Times, Newsweek, The Atlantic, Slate, and many other news outlets.

She is the author of the book “Green Washed: Why We Can’t Buy Our Way to a Green Planet,” and she sits on the board of editors of Rural America In These Times.

It’s a blockbuster C.V. that includes a BA in economics from Cornell University and an MS in science writing from MIT.

The more time I spent at SIT, I realized it was the U.S. that needed to be sustainably developed.

But Kendra’s career focus was still taking shape when she came to SIT to study sustainable development. “I knew I had the desire to do something in environment and sustainability—traditional sustainable development—and thought I would go overseas,” she recalls. “But the more time I spent at SIT, I realized it was the U.S. that needed to be sustainably developed.” She graduated from SIT in 2009 “knowing I wanted to do something in the sustainability space and I wanted it to be domestic.”

While climate change is finally beginning to have its moment in western journalism’s spotlight with dedicated beats at most major news organizations, too much of the coverage is what Kendra calls “global weirding stories instead of global warming stories: Here’s this aspect of climate change that you’ve never heard of and how it’s going to ruin your life.”

On their recent podcast series “How to Save a Planet,” Kendra and her colleagues tried to offer solutions to the existential challenge of climate change in a way that listeners could embrace. In a recent episode, Kendra talks about the fun of riding a bicycle. “I realized that often we talk about cycling as an obligation. But biking is fun; that’s why kids do it. … So, I wanted to do an episode that focuses on the joy of riding a bike.”

One of the ways national media fails the public is in treating democracy as a spectator sport. … We need to give people the information they need to participate.

Beyond getting back on a bike, Kendra also hopes her work will inspire people to ride on over to the polls. “One of the ways national media fails the public is in treating democracy as a spectator sport. Democracy is a team sport, a participatory sport. We need to give people the information they need to participate. With ‘How to Save a Planet’ we do it through the lens of climate.”

Kendra’s approach to her beat is intersectional. She braids the science of climate change with racial and social justice. As she puts it on the In These Times website:

“Environmental justice reporting bridges a critical gap: the belief that environmental issues are distinct from human issues. Rather, when a town disappears due to environmental degradation, a child dies because of environmental pollution, or a farmer loses both her land and her livelihood due to rapidly shifting climate, we become intimately aware of how our lives are connected to the environment. Yet often, these stories stem from those most frequently stripped of their voice. Low-income communities and communities of color disproportionately bear the effects of our environmental pollution despite contributing least to their creation, a fact that emphasizes the need for a mechanism that enables them to be heard. Environmental justice reporting can be such a mechanism.”

It’s easy to feel like you’ve done the story on this predominantly African American or Hispanic or Indigenous community and you can move on. That’s wrong.

The intersectionality of racial, economic, and environmental justice should not be a one-off, Kendra told us. Stories should routinely include a wide array of voices. “It’s easy to feel like you’ve done the story on this predominantly African American or Hispanic or Indigenous community and you can move on. That’s wrong. For me, it’s less about doing a ‘very special episode’ and more about weaving those voices throughout my reporting. It’s about making sure the voices are not necessarily white male and affluent people in power.”

Her work is driven by an innate curiosity—a habit of asking questions, watching, and listening closely—that results in the kind of reporting few others are doing. Camping in Maine last year, she noticed a proliferation of fuzzy, almost charming caterpillars. Turns out, they are an invasive, toxic species wreaking havoc on people and communities across the state, as Kendra reports in this story in The Atlantic.

Another article came about when a scientist commented to her that no one was paying attention to the issue of rising groundwater, so she dug in. “There is a widespread understanding within the geological community that a lot of the flood maps are wrong, that some areas will flood from below, essentially. Sea walls don’t protect against rising groundwater,” she notes.

Her December 2021 article in MIT Technology Review speaks to the gravity of an under-reported problem: “Roadways will be eroded from below; septic systems won’t drain; seawalls will keep the ocean out but trap the water seeping up, leading to more flooding. Home foundations will crack; sewers will back flow and potentially leak toxic gases into people’s homes.”

Although other news organizations eventually picked up the story, few featured the human connection that Kendra’s story did: A Massachusetts woman and her disabled daughter living without heat because saltwater had seeped into gas lines under their house and eroded their furnace.

For me, questions about climate change, economic justice, racial justice, these are moral questions.

For Kendra, the professional is personal. “I grew up extremely Catholic. I’m pretty lapsed now, which is the right level of religion for me. But one of the things, for good or ill, that I still carry is a deep sense of morality. For me, questions about climate change, economic justice, racial justice, these are moral questions. Because of the way the U.S. and systems in the U.S. are structured, the default setting is that you are complicit in the harms we perpetuate. If you’re not doing anything to disrupt the harms, you’re in effect agreeing to the immorality of the systems.”

For Kendra, the hope is that journalism is disrupting the harm.

Journalism project aims to empower youth

BRATTLEBORO, Vermont—SIT Morocco and Scripps College alumna Nejra Kravic has been named the newest Alice Rowan Swanson Fellow, School for International Training announced today. Nejra participated in the spring 2020 program Morocco: Field Studies in Journalism and New Media, but her time in the country was cut short due to the outbreak of Covid-19. She graduated from Scripps College in 2021 with a major in media studies and a minor in Middle East and North Africa studies.

The Alice Rowan Swanson Fellowship was established in 2009 by the family of SIT Study Abroad alumna Alice Rowan Swanson as a living tribute to her desire to bridge cultures and help others, and the role that SIT Study Abroad played in her life. An alumna of SIT Nicaragua and a 2007 graduate of Amherst College, Alice was killed while riding her bicycle to work in 2008.

Media can be used to expose human rights violations, advocate for justice, raise awareness about critical issues, and empower marginalized communities to take action.

Nejra Kravic

“I am incredibly honored to have been selected for the Alice Rowan Swanson Fellowship,” said Nejra. “Beyond the immense privilege of being able to go back to Morocco after my experience abroad was cut short in 2020, it is an honor to continue Alice’s legacy of helping others and advancing human rights. I look forward to reconnecting with Moroccan culture in the coming months.”

For her fellowship project, Nejra plans to return to Morocco to partner with a nonprofit organization, Connect Institute, to conduct a series of media literacy workshops for young people. The goal of the workshops is to empower young Moroccans to think critically about the media, recognize its role in a democratic society, and see it as a tool for positive change and activism, she said.

Nejra said each workshop will have a different theme, such as misinformation, privacy, or social media activism, and would be “experiential and interactive, in true SIT fashion.”

Although the SIT journalism program in Morocco is no longer active, former Academic Director Daniel Bernard said Nejra’s project corresponds with one focus area of the SIT program: the evolution of the media sector in Morocco amid challenges such as competition for revenue in the digital era and government restrictions.

“Her proposal to partner with the Connect Institute is well-founded in that the institute was a firm partner in the study abroad program and has demonstrated its interest in working with international students to promote global values of pluralism,” he said.

Alice Rowan Swanson fellowships are awarded twice annually to SIT Study Abroad alumni seeking to pursue locally led human rights projects in the countries where they studied abroad.

“Even though largely forgotten and underrated in discussions about social justice, media rights are human rights,” Nejra wrote in her application. “In any of its forms, the media can be used to expose human rights violations, advocate for justice, raise awareness about critical issues, and empower marginalized communities to take action.”

Born and raised in Sarajevo, Nejra currently lives in Bosnia and Herzegovina and works as a freelance journalist. In addition to her study abroad experience, which included an internship at Morocco World News, in college she was editor of the Claremont Journal of International Relations. She has held numerous competitive internships and was a Peace and Security Fellow at ReThink Media in Washington D.C., focusing on diplomacy, security, and ending wars through strategic communications.

She won the prestigious Elie Wiesel Prize in Ethics in 2021 for her essay on the modern challenges of Bosnian Muslimness. She is currently a fellow at the Witness Institute, a leadership program dedicated to continuing the work of Elie Wiesel. She is also a Humanity in Action Mapping Inequities 2022 Fellow and a UCLA Law 2022 Fellow. Her goal is to attend law school to focus on media law and press freedom.

SIT alumna advances international education in a business school environment

SIT alumna Caitlin Kelley is director of the Center for Advanced Global Leadership and Engagement (CAGLE), the hub of global initiatives for the Spears School of Business at Oklahoma State University.

Caitlin has an MA in international education from SIT Graduate Institute, an MA in communication with a focus on intercultural communication from the University of Alabama, and a PhD in higher education leadership from Oklahoma State University in progress. She has worked with international students at the University of Arkansas, Kansas State University, Alabama, and Georgia Tech, but this is her first role specifically with business students.

We caught up with her to talk about her position, her focus, and her plans to expand the scope of the center that she leads. We started by asking what drew her to a business school environment.

“Part of it was happenstance. We moved to Stillwater, Oklahoma, to follow my husband’s career. In a town of 55,000 with a big research institution right in the middle of it, with a background in international education, this is the institution to be part of. The business school here is known to be internationally minded: 50 percent of the study abroad that happens here is from the business school. Pre-Covid, that was about 550 students per year who went abroad on short-term, faculty-led programs coordinated through the business school during summer, winter and spring breaks.”

Caitlin said OSU’s business students participate in programs around the world. This year, her center is offering 13 programs including one in Thailand that was in the planning stages pre-Covid. Still, she said, traditional locations dominate.

Part of the joy of that experience is that they’re doing something first and becoming champions for these destinations.

“Our longest-running program is in London; that’s been going for more than 30 years so we have a deep history of alumni contacts who end up working in London, But our students are drawn to all of the common destinations. I could fill an Italy trip every term if I tried.

“But we are also encouraging them to think of non-traditional destinations. We have a group of students that come in as scholar leaders. It’s almost like an honors experience within the college of business. One aspect of the program is a pre-selected study abroad experience and we have chosen some non-traditional destinations. Students this year will go to South Africa, and Singapore is under consideration as a 2024 destination. Part of the joy of that experience is that they’re doing something first and becoming champions for these destinations.”

Outside of sending students abroad, Caitlin says she is also looking at ways to expand the scope of international experiences available through CAGLE, including strong partnerships with international institutions, faculty exchanges, lectures, and events. She is having conversations with faculty about how they engage with their peers internationally—relationships that can grow into institutional partnerships—and about their research, publications, and publishing. She notes that the journals faculty members read, and those in which they publish, often focus on western European research.

It’s important that our students take these intercultural values into their positions.

“So, we’re thinking about what it looks like to have partnerships that create an opportunity for mobility but also collaboration on both the faculty and student side. We’ve had deep partnerships with institutions at the graduate level, but we’re also thinking about what partnerships would help us with our undergrads, not just in terms of hosting students. European universities have gotten really good at offering customized services that almost feel like a provider. What I mean is partnerships that facilitate, for example, how students interact in an online class together, or short-term faculty exchanges that can advance research agendas.

“I came into a center that is ready for this, which is exciting, and I’m working with faculty who want to be doing all the different things they can to advance international education.”

We asked Caitlin how her SIT experience helped prepare her for this role.

“In all sorts of ways! I’m still thinking back on what I learned in that program. We are redesigning our outbound orientations. They were heavy on content, and that’s important, but lacking in intercultural communication skills that can get students ready for an international experience. I’m thinking back to my SIT planning courses and an approach that is more student-centered, more experiential.”

We’re in Oklahoma, so our students will be working for oil companies and other corporate interests. So, it’s important that our students take these intercultural values into their positions.

Finally, Caitlin said that in approaching a position within a business school, she thought carefully about whether it “made sense for my passions and my background.”

“I found that it does. I want these students who are going into business to be ready for a global environment. We’re in Oklahoma, so our students will be working for oil companies and other corporate interests. So, it’s important that our students take these intercultural values into their positions.”

In a story on her university’s website, Caitlin put it this way: “Business is global. As our students graduate, many of the opportunities that they seek will include a global component, such as working with clients in other countries, having co-workers from abroad, or working in multinational companies with branches across the globe. No matter the scope, having a better understanding of the world, the people in it, and diverse business practices will give students a better foundation for going into the global workforce.”

More than 300 friends and supporters gathered with new Vermonters from Afghanistan and several other countries on Oct. 17 at the Brattleboro Museum and Art Center to celebrate a year of refugee resettlement in southern Vermont.

The event was coordinated by the local office of the Ethiopian Community Development Council (ECDC), a national refugee resettlement organization that opened the Multicultural Community Center in Brattleboro in October 2021. Less than three months later, in January 2022, ECDC and partner organizations World Learning/School for International Training and Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation (BDCC), began welcoming refugees to the SIT campus, where they had up to three months of housing while taking English and cultural orientation classes.

Dr. Tsehaye Teferra, president and CEO of ECDC, called the joint effort “a new opportunity and an ideal partnership. … I hope this kind of collaboration will continue and serve as a role model in other cities.”

Since January, more than 100 refugees, most of them from Afghanistan, have migrated to southern Vermont thanks in large part to a massive volunteer effort coordinated by ECDC with local churches and community organizations and more than 200 individuals.

Local partners include St. Michaels’ Interfaith Refugee Ministry, the Rotary Club, the Beloved Community Group, Brattleboro Area Jewish Community, UCC Group, the Spanish-Speaking Group, Rockingham Group, Deerfield Valley New Neighbors Project, as well as smaller support teams for the ArtLords, the Sewing Team, and half-a-dozen other refugee households.

Thanks to this broad community and organizational support, most of the refugees have found long-term housing and jobs, and enrolled in school and classes as they settle in to their new community.

“This is a wonderful opportunity for cross-cultural engagement, which is really what SIT and World Learning are all about,” said Tim Rivera, World Learning senior advisor for innovation and strategy. “While so many of our new Afghan neighbors are busy learning our language, the English language, our culture, it’s a useful reminder that it is also incumbent on all of us to learn from our neighbors about their history, their culture, their experience.”

The October event included a festive afternoon of demonstrations, displays, food, and remarks, with the strength of community bonds and friendship on full display.

Kamila is among several refugees who announced plans to open a local food business.

Guests enjoyed a variety of Afghan dishes prepared by the Afghan chefs.

From left, Abdullah, Meetra, Negina and Zuhra, four of the five members of the ArtLords currently living in Brattleboro, work on a painting representing Afghans in the United States.

SIT Graduate alum Joe Wiah, director of ECDC’s Multicultural Community Center, said he was proud of how Vermont has supported refugees. “We have provided a friendly, supportive environment with our welcoming, small-town approach. It is our experience that newcomers have benefited from more generous and responsive services in Vermont than in most U.S. states.”

World Learning’s Tim Rivera (left) talks with SIT staff member Cynthia Rebelo, one of the community members co-sponsoring a family from Guatemala.

Community members enjoyed exhibits of artwork, clothing, robotics, and toys created by new Vermonters.

Dr. Teferra said the collaboration between ECDC and World Learning/SIT “is a new opportunity and an ideal partnership. … I hope this kind of collaboration will continue and serve as a role model in other cities.”

BRATTLEBORO, Vermont—School for International Training (SIT) President Dr. Sophia Howlett has joined the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, a coalition of college and university leaders that promotes federal, state, and local policies in support of immigrant, international, and refugee students.

The Alliance focuses on several issues related to immigration, including supporting DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) recipients, international students, and refugee students and families. Dr. Howlett also signed the Alliance’s Statement of Support for Students and Scholars Fleeing from Violence and Humanitarian Crises. 

“I am pleased to be part of the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, joining more than 500 campus presidents and chancellors to ensure every student has the tools and support they need to thrive,” said Dr. Howlett. “This is particularly important for our refugee students and scholars, who bring invaluable perspectives and resilience based on their lived experiences.”

Since January, SIT welcomed more than 100 refugees from Afghanistan through a unique partnership with Ethiopian Community Development Council (ECDC) and Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation (BDCC). This is only the second refugee resettlement location in Vermont and the largest resettlement in a rural area of the state.

Since this partnership began, 103 new Vermonters have found long-term housing, 80 percent of all job-seekers are employed, and the adults are enrolled in critical English-language and cultural orientation classes.

SIT is also a member of the Welcome.US Welcome Campus Network and has partnered with ECDC on a concept note focusing on building the capacity of HEIs to engage in refugee resettlement.

As part of the Presidents’ Alliance, Dr. Howlett said she will work to ensure that SIT continues its role in advocating for refugee students, campus members, and neighbors in Vermont.

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The nonpartisan, nonprofit Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration brings college and university presidents and chancellors together on the immigration issues that impact higher education, our students, campuses, communities and nation. We work to advance just, forward-looking immigration policies and practices at the federal, state, and campus levels that are consistent with our heritage as a nation of immigrants and the academic values of equity and openness. The Alliance is composed of over 500 presidents and chancellors of public and private colleges and universities, enrolling over five million students in 43 states, D.C., and Puerto Rico.

Latin America delegates hear how local effort is breaking new ground

BRATTLEBORO, Vermont—A U.S. State Department-sponsored delegation of 10 migration professionals from Central and South America came to Brattleboro recently to learn about a landmark program that is changing the paradigm for refugee resettlement in the United States.

As part of the International Visitors Leadership Program (IVLP) administered by World Learning, the delegation included representatives from government and non-governmental organizations in Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Paraguay, and Venezuela.

The theme of their month-long fact-finding tour, which takes them throughout the United States, is Migration in the Americas: A Regional Project for the Western Hemisphere. One of the State Department’s goals for the program—to explore public-private resettlement programs—brought them to Brattleboro.

Since January, southern Vermont has welcomed more than 100 refugees from Afghanistan through a unique partnership between Ethiopian Community Development Council (ECDC), World Learning/School for International Training (SIT), and Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation (BDCC). This is only the second refugee resettlement location in Vermont and the largest resettlement in a rural area of the state.

In less than six months, 103 of the 104 new Vermonters have found long-term housing, 80 percent of all job-seekers are employed, and the adults are enrolled in critical English-language and cultural orientation classes.

“Based on what we’ve heard from ECDC, as well as co-sponsorship advocates nationally, the success we have had here is unparalleled,” Joel Colony, vice president for external engagement at World Learning, told the IVLP delegates.

Breaking new ground

The extraordinary results are credited to short-term housing provided to all incoming refugees on the SIT campus, and ECDC’s community co-sponsorship approach in which seven to 10 local residents team up to support newly arrived refugees. More than half of the Afghan families who have found permanent housing have done so through direct assistance from the co-sponsorship teams.

This community co-sponsorship model also relies on participation from local organizations, including churches and service organizations, that help weave together a safety net for refugees, many of whom are emerging from traumatic circumstances and have left behind homes and loved ones in their bid for safety and security.

Founded by Ethiopian immigrants in 1983, the local lead agency, ECDC, is one of nine refugee organizations that contract with the U.S. government for resettlement, and the only one that is led by immigrants, according to Joe Wiah, director of the ECDC Multicultural Community Center in Brattleboro.

An SIT alum who worked with refugees in Africa for 30 years, Wiah was named to the ECDC position last fall, just a few months before the first Afghans began arriving. “We quickly learned that the kind of refugee resettlement that was happening in other parts of the country—where an agency does almost everything—was not going to work here,” he told the IVLP delegates.

To bring this idea to town managers, police, and policymakers in a rural area that was new to refugee resettlement, Wiah said, “we needed organizations that had been here for decades to be part of the process. There was also SIT, an academic institution with long international experience with academic affairs and teaching English to beginners.”

Dr. Sophia Howlett, president of SIT, said the partnership was a logical fit. SIT’s founding organization, the Experiment in International Living, participated in refugee education in Southeast Asia starting in 1979 as part of the largest refugee resettlement effort in history. Today. SIT offers undergraduate and graduate programs that focus on migration, including a master’s degree in Jordan and Uganda in humanitarian assistance and crisis intervention.

“We would like to connect our programs with what we’re doing here on campus so we can provide support on how to work with refugees,” Howlett told the delegates.

Building a network of support

Although there are a handful of other rural resettlement efforts in the United States, this is the only one that includes a formal partnership with a higher education institution. When they arrive, refugees live in temporary housing on the SIT campus for up to 90 days and enroll in SIT’s New Vermonter Education Program to learn English and U.S. cultural norms.

SIT’s unique approach to language learning also helps to ease learners into a new culture. “People bring the richness of their language and cultural histories, and that should be used in a language class,” said Dr. Leslie Turpin, chair of the MA in TESOL program at SIT. Turpin was part of a group of 12 SIT professors, most of them retired or emeriti, who volunteered to teach classes on campus while the Afghan refugees were living there.

Through classes, shared meals, and short-term housing, the first wave of Afghan refugees had an opportunity to bond with each other and with local residents, building resiliency and a sense of community. More than 200 community members and 17 local churches and service organizations are volunteering with the resettlement effort.

I was expecting to go to a hotel or temporary housing, but fortunately we had the chance to come here to SIT. I was amazed about the services we received.

Ebrahim

Ebrahim worked with the U.S. Embassy in Kabul before the Taliban re-took control of Afghanistan in August 2021. He hid in Kabul for two months before fleeing with his wife and two young children to Vermont via Islamabad, Doha, Philadelphia, and a military base in New Jersey.

“I was expecting to go to a hotel or temporary housing, but fortunately we had the chance to come here to SIT. I was amazed about the services we received. To be honest, I didn’t expect to receive meals and food. I expected I would have to go to work to get food. It wasn’t like that. ECDC and SIT and World Learning advocated for us, and we had the chance to receive services that helped us to resettle smoothly,” he said.

Today, Ebrahim’s family has an apartment and a car. He works for ECDC and is also interested in helping local residents understand more about Afghanistan and the backgrounds of their new neighbors.

“The initiatives that ECDC and SIT took to resettle refugees—the co-sponsorship, the families and volunteers who helped us even beyond the core services that ECDC provided for us, the advocacy by World Learning, SIT, and ECDC—all of it has made support for receiving refugees so high here,” he told the IVLP delegates.

Johanna Rodriguez Tencio, a regional manager with Costa Rican Immigration Police, commented: “It’s clear that wherever possible, government and civil society need to come together to support and guide human mobility.”

Another delegate, Vanessa Lizeth Bolanos Yepez, immigration coordinator at Quito’s airport in Ecuador, asked if there is special support for mothers with infants and young children.

Turpin said two of the most well-attended classes on campus brought health professionals from the local hospital to speak directly with the women, and ECDC continues to work closely with the hospital to provide culturally sensitive support.

ECDC assigns each family a caseworker, who assist them through the resettlement process, including accessing appropriate federal and state benefits, and works with them to find answers to myriad questions and challenges.

The organization has opened a new community center near downtown Brattleboro. English classes are taught there as well as at some job sites that employ groups of refugees. The center also has a sewing room where women can gather to make traditional clothing and learn to offer tailoring services to the community.

The center also houses bicycle safety and repair classes for the many Afghans who rely on bicycles as their only means of transportation.

A group of Afghan young people has received a small grant to run a week-long summer camp where Afghan children can be exposed to their language and culture and non-Afghan children can learn more about it.

A new community blooms

Throughout town, there are signs that the resettlement efforts are taking root. Many downtown businesses still have posters in the window saying “welcome” in English, Dari, and Pashto—the result of an impromptu effort among several Afghans and their Vermont friends during the Nowruz holiday in March.

Five Afghan artists who were part of the famous Art Lords muralists in their home country are commissioning public art projects and working with the Brattleboro Museum and Art Center on an exhibit to recreate and display murals that were destroyed by the Taliban.

Most communities are not this way. What is the essence of your community to be so hospitable?

Carlos Alejandro Soberanis Toledo, Guatemala City urban planner

At Brattleboro Union High School, a young robotics champion who arrived from Afghanistan four months ago speaking little English delivered the commencement address and graduated with honors. And last spring, school garden coordinators collaborated with a local farm to grow two culturally relevant crops and include Afghan dishes in student cooking projects.

What makes this area so welcoming, Guatemala City urban planner Carlos Alejandro Soberanis Toledo wanted to know. “Most communities are not this way. What is the essence of your community to be so hospitable?”

“With the presence of World Learning, this town is used to interfacing with other cultures,” responded local resident Rick Wheeler. “As a resident of the Brattleboro area, I am tremendously proud.”

BDCC Programs Director Jennifer Stromsten concurred. “Here in this tiny, tiny town in this tiny, tiny state, we are doing something that is remarkable for the U.S.: We are welcoming refugees into a rural community. This is a ground-up, not a top-down initiative.”

With a shrinking and aging population, Brattleboro has a declining workforce, Stromsten said. In the past decade, the county lost 20 percent of its labor force. “But we have a lot of jobs—the remaining manufacturing sector is very strong. What we lack is people.”

Here in this tiny, tiny town in this tiny, tiny state, we are doing something that is remarkable for the U.S.: We are welcoming refugees into a rural community.

BDCC Programs Director Jennifer Stromsten

Describing the region as progressive and “politically forward,” Stromsten also noted that the area lacks diversity. “We have not benefited from the diversification that America, in general, has benefited from, but we need to, because the American labor force is more multilingual and multi-ethnic every day.”

For those reasons, BDCC began to focus on migration as one solution, even before the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan. “We knew we could do this with SIT and all of the volunteers and professors within this organization, and the larger volunteer network of citizens and knowledgeable people who have a shared cultural expectation that opening ourselves to the world is a good thing.”

Stromsten admits there are still challenges, but believes that by pulling together the community will surmount them. “Together, we are developing a model. What we’re doing here can work all over the place.”

“A remarkable aspect is the positive attitude of the host community in Vermont,” said Eloisa Elizabeth Ulloa Lucero, an immigration control analyst with the government of Ecuador. “So many of them work as volunteers to offer help to the refugee citizens. Getting to know this place was an excellent experience.”

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The U.S. Department of State administers the IVLP in cooperation with a group of nonprofit organizations based in Washington, D.C., including World Learning. More than 500 IVLP participants have become heads of state or government and thousands of others have become leaders in their respective fields.

For Nadezhda Braun, the part-time, hybrid design of SIT’s MA in International Education is a perfect fit. The format enables Nadezhda (who goes by Nadia), to advance her career—she currently teaches English in South Korea—while interacting with a cohort of learners and teachers around the world.

Originally from Minnesota, Nadia holds a BA in Russian from the University of Notre Dame. We reached out to her in Seoul, where her class of adult learners is transitioning from online to in-person classes. For the first time since she started her teaching position in August, Nadia said she’s able to see the “lightbulb moment”—when she writes something on the whiteboard, for example, and watches a student’s expression change as they make a connection.

It’s the best of both worlds, she says: enjoying the advantages of face-to-face learning while pursuing higher education in an online space.

How did you decide on the SIT MA program?

I went to the University of Notre Dame for undergrad—I did Russian and education schooling and society, and then did the Fulbright English teaching program in Russia. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do when I graduated but I knew I wanted to do something in education. After the Fulbright, I did Teach for America in Oklahoma City for two years.

I looked for programs in international education that had a focus on social justice and equity. I also wanted a practical component; an emphasis on applied learning was important to me. SIT fit all those boxes …

Being in Russia and then doing equity work in K-12, I knew I wanted to teach higher education with adult learners, and I knew I eventually wanted to do something in administration. So, I looked for programs in international education that had a focus on social justice and equity. I also wanted a practical component; an emphasis on applied learning was important to me. SIT fit all those boxes and would allow me to continue to work at the same time.

What helped you decide that you wanted to work with adult learners?

Part of the fun of working with K-12 learners, but also part of the challenge, is that you’re helping students discover what motivates them as they learn how they learn. That’s really joyful and fun, but I found that with adult learners, usually they know how they learn and have an idea of what motivates them. That’s a real pleasure as a teacher: working with people who have already identified their passions and helping them pursue those goals. That’s the difference for me. I get to work with people who already are pursuing those goals, whereas teaching middle school is more about figuring out what those goals are.

What draws you to the administration aspect of higher education?

Both of my parents are in education, or have been; both moved in and out of the classroom, so I knew the challenges of being in the classroom from an early stage in my life. But I also knew that I wanted to be in the classroom for some period because, in my opinion, the best administrators have some kind of empathy for what’s going on in the classroom.

Since high school I have been interested in the admissions process for universities. That was my first line of introduction into what an administrator could do. I have gone through lots of areas that I’ve been interested—from student affairs to study abroad programming—but at this point I think my career goals are in international admissions. I think about helping my current students work abroad in the U.S., what kind of experience would help them. A lot of them struggle with confidence in their English-language abilities. Would they struggle if they had been able to study abroad?

My dream role would be working for a U.S. institution recruiting international students to study in the U.S., with a focus on diverse student groups, or focusing on countries that aren’t represented in the student population in the United States.

For me, international student admissions and student services—getting students to the U.S. and helping them thrive in a U.S. context—is a way of helping those voices be louder in a global world.

There are a lot of equity issues in the U.S. context, but when we think about it on a global scale—whose voices aren’t being heard on a global scale? For example, an international student from an Indigenous population in Russia; that’s not a population that has a loud voice in global politics. What if that student was able to study in the U.S. and learn about U.S. perspectives and the atrocities that have been committed against indigenous people in the United States. They could take what’s being done now within indigenous communities—to preserve their languages, for example—take that back and apply it to their own context.

For me, international student admissions and student services—getting students to the U.S. and helping them thrive in a U.S. context—is a way of helping those voices be louder in a global world.

What do you like about your SIT program?

I’m about halfway through the program and I’ve really loved it so far. The professors have all been so knowledgeable and wonderful and have such a wide variety of expertise. It’s been a pleasure to get to pick their brains about topics and theories. My advisor, Melissa Whatley, has been really helpful in helping me learn about research.

There were places like SIT that were already doing virtual learning before the pandemic, so my program hasn’t changed a whole lot. It was clearly designed for an online learner.

Virtual learning has become a necessity in our current context, but there were places like SIT that were already doing virtual learning before the pandemic, so my program hasn’t changed a whole lot. It was clearly designed for an online learner.

I’ve never felt like, ‘Wow, I wish this was in person.’ I mean, I wish I could meet my classmates, but that’s because of the wonderful relationships we’ve been able to develop in this learning space. Even as a teacher, it’s been a struggle to create space that feels as authentic as an in-person classroom would be. SIT has done a wonderful job of doing that and leveraging the benefits of having people online. My cohort is all around the world. There are people in the U.S., Japan, and Korea. We get to share those experiences in our classes, which makes for a much richer, deeper experience.

Let’s shift our mindset from ‘work-life’ balance to ‘work life-personal life’ balance

By Sora H. Friedman, PhD

The past four years, I’ve been researching women’s leadership in International Education.* The data shows that even as women reach senior leadership positions, they are still responsible for much of the management of their homes.

This was documented during the COVID pandemic, when more women were negatively affected by quarantine than men. And it is especially the case for women who nurse their babies, as even if partners are able to bottle feed, I’m told that the physical toll of nursing is strenuous and draining, especially for those who work professionally at the same time. (I never had the honor of nursing so I can only try to understand the experience through others’ stories.)

I’m learning to do myself what I’ve advised my students to do for years: to listen to my gut, to trust myself, to acknowledge the complexities of my personal life and my work life, and to better understand how they fit together.

For many, whether parents or not, the desire to spend time with their family and friends, to perform well at work, to exercise, to contribute positively to their community, to continue lifelong learning, to have “me” time, often results in a feeling of constantly being pulled off center as if they are the rope in a game of tug-of-war.

More personally, in addition to trying to understand qualities of effective and rewarding leadership and the experiences of women senior leaders in my field, this year I’m participating in a program on women’s embodied leadership. I’m learning to do myself what I’ve advised my students to do for years: to listen to my gut, to trust myself, to acknowledge the complexities of my personal life and my work life, and to better understand how they fit together.

As I listen and speak with colleagues and women leaders, one theme that consistently surfaces is the challenge of reaching the proverbial “work-life balance.” So I did what any self-respecting academic does: I searched for the term “work-life balance” on the internet.

The search resulted in over 78 hits on the first three pages alone; I stopped scrolling after that. Sources ranged from general medicine (Mayo Clinic, National Institutes of Health) to education (Maryville University) to psychology (positivepsychology.com, Psychology Today) to commercial professional development (Indeed, LinkedIn, Coursera).

The issue is that the common phrasing of ‘work-life balance’ sets up a false dichotomy between work and life, as it implies that work is not part of life.

However, a search for “work life-personal life balance” only yielded results that start with “work-life balance.” That’s right! There were NO results that described how to balance work life and personal life.

To me, the issue is that the common phrasing of “work-life balance” sets up a false dichotomy between work and life, as it implies that work is not part of life. But this isn’t my reality, nor that of most professionals I’m talking with. I’ve worked incredibly hard for years to develop a career that is fulfilling and of which I am proud. I’ve invested in my education and professional training, and those who know me know that my career is very much a part of my identity. To me, it is something to celebrate, and it’s my reality.

I first lived and studied abroad when I was 17 and I’ve been involved with international education and exchange ever since. My family is my priority, my number one choice, and always will be. But my work is also integral to my character, as I would not be who I am without it.

By buying into the notion of working toward “work-life balance,” professionals, especially women, are figuratively excluding work from our lives. It is as if we are saying that what we do to fulfill ourselves, to share our expertise, to serve our students and colleagues, and even to support our families, falls outside of what we understand our lives to be.

I propose that we reframe our thinking by changing the verbiage and instead consider how we can balance our work lives and our personal lives. Let’s be realistic about how we spend our time and energy. Let’s be inclusive of all that we do, of all parts of our identities. Let’s give ourselves credit for the myriad responsibilities we hold, knowledge we share, and accomplishments we achieve, by telling the world that we have personal priorities, achievements, and challenges, as well as professional priorities, achievements, and yes, challenges.

As I navigate how to balance my work life and my personal life, my family is always my number one, but my work is also a valued part of me. Together, they make me whole. Let’s celebrate all that we are, in both our work lives and our personal lives.

Dr. Sora Friedman is professor of International and Global Education at SIT Graduate Institute.

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*Friedman, S. (2021). How high the ceiling?: Gender and leadership in international higher education. In The Wiley Handbook of Gender Equity in Higher Education, N. Niemi and Weaver-Hightower, M., eds. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

SIT’s Critical Conversations Webinar series has received a top award for Innovation in Marketing & Digital Media from GoAbroad.com. The award recognizes creative, visionary approaches and original ideas in marketing, advertising, and digital media. It was presented on June 2 during the NAFSA conference in Denver, Colorado.

SIT launched the Critical Conversations Webinar Series in fall 2020, at the height of the pandemic, as a way to maintain a presence in the global education community during a prolonged shutdown during which study abroad programs were canceled, and students and faculty were shut out of classrooms.

SIT produced 115 webinars over three semester-long series in 2020 and 2021 that drew 1,796 unique attendees. The webinars are posted online and available to the public for free.

The webinars were designed to inspire community-wide dialogue on global, interdisciplinary topics within SIT’s Critical Global Issues framework and to keep the SIT community engaged and interactive during the pandemic. The seminars featured SIT faculty, students, alumni, and high-profile guests such as Harvard Professor Homi K. Bhabha, one of the world’s leading postcolonial theorists. Other topics included Gen Z and diversity, equity, and inclusion in education abroad, critical tools in gender and queer studies, and even soap-making and cooking demonstrations by our homestay families.

“The Critical Conversations webinar series provided a platform to engage with our communities—partner schools, students, alumni, and others—at a time when in-person events were not possible,” said Mory Pagel, SIT executive director of institutional relations and strategic partnerships. “For us, it has been an important way to stay connected to our network of partners and continue the conversations about some of the most pressing issues affecting communities around the world today.”

BRATTLEBORO—SIT Professors Emeriti Beatriz and Alvino Fantini were honored on May 19 for their decades of service to World Learning and School for International Training during a celebratory dinner on the SIT campus.

“Tonight, we honor individuals who have given so much to our organization over the years—Beatriz and Alvino Fantini—two people who personify the words ‘international education’ and ‘intercultural understanding’,” said SIT President Dr. Sophia Howlett.

Between them, the Fantinis have dedicated more than 100 years of service to the Experiment, SIT and World Learning. Acknowledging the work Alvino Fantini has done to preserve and document the history of the organizations, World Learning Board Chairman Lawrence Cooley announced that the institutional archives, which are housed on the SIT campus, will be named The Alvino E. Fantini Institutional Archives.

“Bea once said, ‘I am a product of education abroad. Its rewards are immeasurable,’” Cooley said. “Bea, yours and Alvino’s contributions over these many years have rewarded us in immeasurable ways.”

The event was one of several planned around the world this year to commemorate the 90^th anniversary of The Experiment in International Living, the program that led to the creation of SIT and World Learning. It was attended by SIT alumni and the World Learning board of directors, current and former SIT and World Learning administrators, staff, and faculty, and family members of some of the organizations’ founders. State Rep. Michelle Bos-Lun, a SIT Graduate alumna, was among the guests.

Alvino Fantini began his association with SIT and World Learning as an Experiment program participant to Mexico in 1954. Nearly 70 years later, he said he remains in touch with his Mexican homestay family. “It changed my life,” he said of his study abroad experience. “It changes lives. We hear it over and over again.”

Today, he has a PhD in linguistics and language education, holds degrees in Latin American studies and anthropology, and has published widely on international education and intercultural and language learning. He also helped transform the Sandanona estate into the current SIT campus.

Alvino Fantini recounted how, when he helped start the archives in 2003, he and a team of volunteers scoured southern Vermont to retrieve photographs, documents, publications and other material from barns and closets, and even the trunk of a colleague’s car. She had been using the heavy file boxes as ballast during Vermont’s snowy winters. Today, the archives are comprised of 30 collections of material across three floors.

Beatriz Céspedes, the daughter of a Bolivian diplomat, was born in Italy, has lived in Peru, Venezuela, and Argentina, and speaks Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish. She joined SIT as a Spanish teacher and Experiment co-leader in the 1960s. “I provided the first foreign accent to the institution,” she joked. “Now we have many.”

Beatriz and Alvino married in 1966. Over the years, both have served the organization in myriad roles including as staff, faculty, committee leads, advisors, and more.

Beatriz Fantini recalled how she taught Spanish to Experimenters, developed material for African language programs, and taught Spanish to members of the U.S. Coast Guard and the Red Cross. “These are some of the opportunities this organization has given to me,” she said.

Yet, some of her most rewarding moments as a teacher are connected to her return to the classroom just this year to help develop and deliver an English-language curriculum for Afghan refugees. “To teach and work with the Afghan refugees has been a highlight of my career,” she said. In SIT’s true experiential learning fashion, she said the reward came not just from helping refugees learn a new language, but also being able to learn about the culture and the people of Afghanistan.

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World Learning Inc. is a thriving global organization made up of World Learning, a global development and exchange nonprofit organization, The Experiment in International Living, the nation’s most experienced provider of intercultural exchange programs abroad and virtual for high school students; and School for International Training, offering accredited undergraduate study abroad programs through SIT Study Abroad, including the comparative International Honors Program, and internationally focused master’s degrees, certificate programs, and a doctorate through SIT Graduate Institute. The organization is now in its 90th year delivering international education, cultural exchanges, and sustainable development. For more information, visit worldlearning.org. 

By Eric House

TESOL certificate inspires photography book that connects language to daily life

When Emma Symanski entered Hampshire College in 2017, she had no interest in teaching English. Little did she know, a suggestion to complete SIT Graduate Institute’s TESOL certificate would transform her undergraduate studies—and lead to the publication of her book, Teaching English Through a Photographic Lens.

Like countless undergraduate students before her, Symanski felt pulled in a million different academic directions. An avid photographer, she enrolled in a photography course, though she still wasn’t sure exactly what she wanted to do for a career. She also signed up for a Spanish class to strengthen her language skills. When Symanski’s Spanish professor recommended she consider pursuing SIT’s TESOL certificate, she was surprised. It wasn’t anything she had thought about doing.

I was looking for that common thread, a way of storytelling and communicating. They’re both like language—photography is really another kind of language.

World Learning offers the SIT TESOL certificate in locations around the world. One is the International Language Institute of Massachusetts (ILI), which provides language education at Hampshire College and the surrounding community. Symanski researched the program and quickly became captivated by the student testimonial videos she discovered online. She decided to go for it.

“It completely informed the whole rest of the path of my college experience—it ended up just being amazing,” says Symanski, who ultimately completed SIT’s TESOL certificate during the fall semester of her second year of college. “I’m so thankful that I took that leap because it was more than learning the different [TESOL] frameworks. I viewed the way that I had been taught my whole life differently after it.”

Symanski’s TESOL experience led to her Division-III project, Hampshire College’s equivalent of a senior thesis: a self-designed course on using photography as a tool for learning English.

Reflecting on how she found such a love for teaching language learners when she originally thought that photography was her sole passion, Symanski realizes, “I was looking for that common thread: a way of storytelling and communicating. They’re both like language—photography is really another kind of language.”

Sharing something personal like a photo of family or a special place made it easier for the students to speak in a different language.

What she learned during the TESOL certificate course was crucial for the design of her class and provided her with the necessary tools to succeed —like the idea of frameworks, which was a cornerstone of her TESOL certificate experience. Frameworks provide a template for teaching a specific skill—like listening, reading, writing, or speaking—and center the importance of reflection.

“It was so nice to have all the resources I gained throughout the course. I directly referred to many of the different example lessons that we went through,” she says. “It was very helpful.”

As she prepared to teach her course, it was vital to develop a sense of trust with her students. To do that, she interviewed her students and photographed them. This initial step was essential for her getting to know each person in depth and hearing their background. There were opportunities for the students to share different parts of their lives throughout the class—the photography facilitated this.

“Not only was I able to hear individual stories, but they were able to share them with each other. They used their photos—having that visual element, too—to learn about each other. There was no pressure,” she says. “Sharing something personal like a photo of family or a special place made it easier for the students to speak in a different language. When you include photography in language learning, it becomes something you’re actually passionate about. Sharing something personal like a photo of family or a special place made it easier for the students to speak in a different language, not just some other activity.”

This community was further shaped by the larger purpose of the class—working together to create a gallery showcase.

“All of the students knew right away that throughout the class they were going to be creating this thing together, and each person would be doing their thing individually, but then it would come together to be this really cool gallery. That also helped create this larger sense of community—being able to contribute was more than just for that moment—it was also going to lead to this bigger outcome,” she says.

Unfortunately, due to COVID-19, the initial plans for the gallery were scrapped. Instead, Symanski worked with her advisors to find another way to capture the course and the community built with it. One of her advisors was a photographer specializing in photo books, and the idea to create a book resulted in Teaching English Through a Photographic Lens.

The book uses photography as a tool for taking language out of the abstract, connecting it to the personal and day-to-day life, and creating a sense of understanding and trust.

Equipped with a new set of teaching tools, a strong community, and a book that documents the process, Symanski graduated in 2020 and moved from the Hampshire College area. While she would love to have the gallery show take place now, she knows that it would likely be different than initially planned. However, she remains connected with her students, some of whom are still practicing photography and other art projects.

Since graduating, she spent some time traveling and continues teaching and developing art and music projects while working at her local coffee shop and managing their social media. “I do it all! I’ll always have something in the works,” she says.

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Stay up to date with Emma’s photo projects by following her on Instagram at @emmasymanski. Click here to learn more about Teaching English through a Photographic Lens and support Emma’s work by purchasing the book.

During Women’s History Month, SIT spotlights some of our extraordinary faculty, staff, and alumni across the globe who are making history today through their thinking, their words, and their actions.

As an Iraqi-American growing up in the predominantly white U.S. state of Idaho, it wasn’t until Hadiel Mohamed got to SIT that she found the support to explore her own identity.

“Going to SIT was the first time I got to go on an exploration of my racial identity and my lived experiences in Idaho, where I experienced racism and oppression but never had a teacher or family member or professor naming what I was going through,” says Hadiel, who completed her SIT master’s degree in Intercultural Service, Leadership, and Management in 2017.

Hadiel was among the last of the SIT Graduate Institute cohorts who did their full master’s degree programs on the SIT campus in southern Vermont. Today, full-time programs are taught at SIT centers around the world. Students in the hybrid programs come to Vermont only during the summer.

Hadiel’s exploration—the courses and conversations she shared with students and faculty on a remote Vermont mountain—set her on a path toward her current career as an anti-oppression trainer. We reached out to Hadiel to talk about the transformative work she does with individuals and organizations ready to make deep and meaningful changes. Following are excerpts from our conversation.

Please tell us about yourself—your background, what brought you to SIT, and ultimately to the work you’re doing.

My dad came to the U.S. on a student visa to Utah, where he studied horticulture. I was born in Logan, Utah, and when I was 2, we moved to Boise [Idaho]. I did undergrad in Idaho and then left for the Peace Corps in Senegal.

I was drawn to the Peace Corps mainly because I wanted to get involved in volunteer and international development. And in all honesty, Peace Corps is a semi-accessible way to get paid for that. It was a way to travel and do what my heart was leading me to do.

I was in Senegal for about four years; two years were in a small community doing whatever the community needed of me. Most of that focused on agriculture; there was some preventive health. I extended my service and the last two years were more impactful in shaping me as a human. I was in a larger city working with local activists advocating for young children who were being trafficked into the country.

I had learned Fulani, a minority language, but that’s not what was spoken in the city, so the kids became my translators. That was the most radical experience I had. It shaped my Peace Corps work because I was able to do what the children and local activists were asking without Peace Corps bureaucracy. It taught me that when ego drives us it’s not necessarily going to be what the people need.

Post Peace Corps we got a pamphlet with universities that have Peace Corps scholarships. SIT was listed on that. I knew the way Peace Corps did their language teaching, the immersive process, stemmed from SIT. I wanted to do grassroots organizing, so I was drawn to the concepts of immersive training and having this notion of understanding the community, being community-led.

Your website says: “In Vermont, I had the honor of learning and unlearning from practitioners who radicalized my critical race analysis and demonstrated the application of theory into practice.” Can you talk more about that?

SIT was a bubble in which I met some amazing humans.

There are very specific professors who really shaped me in the ways they held space in the classroom; Rachel Slocum was one. The Critical Race Theory weekend workshop she held for us shaped me. So many things she said I still carry to this day. We were unlearning things, and she had a way of calling us in, calling us forward. She would say, “What if it was this way instead?” And it was like: Oh my gosh!

I’m still holding onto the way these professors moved through the class, brought this radical imagination and implanted it within us.

Tats [Tatsushi Arai] was also that type of professor. The language he used was so intentional and meaningful. He would say, “One reason we don’t use the term ‘black market’ is because of negative connotations. We say, ‘parallel economy.’”

I didn’t have classes with Mokhtar Bouba, but I still have conversations with him that leave me with my soul feeling so fulfilled. Jeff Unsicker was another. I’m still holding onto the way these professors moved through the class, brought this radical imagination and implanted it within us.

It was also the students. I have some of the greatest, most radical friends from SIT. I’m grateful that I got to do this in person; to have conversations until 3 a.m. in the cafeteria about things like how we could end racism in our communities. The ways we were able to engage is something difficult to replicate.

Ryland [White] is a huge reason why I’m at where I’m at; I took her Training Design for Experiential Learning course. From Paulo Freire’s banking concept to Kolb’s Learning Cycle, there was a lot of unlearning. A huge part of Ryland’s course was about training and facilitation. I still apply it to my everyday life, whether it’s a conversation with someone in a grocery store or a workshop with 40+ participants, facilitation skills are so important.

We were learning theory, but the professors are also practitioners, so they gave us real-life examples. You’ve heard of analysis paralysis, when people are so stuck on the theory that it holds them back from applying it. This wasn’t that.

How does your cultural background shape who you are today?

A huge, influential component for me is being a brown woman who grew up in Idaho, a predominantly white conservative state. It’s also what has driven me to do a lot of youth and education work; to emphasize the importance of having your identity validated in these spaces starting at a young age.

Whether it’s a conversation with someone in a grocery store or a workshop with 40+ participants, facilitation skills are so important.

Because they were from a country that was and is in conflict with the U.S., my parents definitely took on this approach of assimilation. We had our racial and cultural and ethnic identity, but it wasn’t explored, validated, or completely embraced because we had this fear, being in a predominantly white state.

Going to Senegal and seeing this beautiful country where people were being validated with their ethnic identities, experiencing so many of those cultural practices, made me yearn for exploring my own cultural practices. Going to SIT was the first time I got to go on an exploration of my racial identity and my lived experiences in Idaho, where I experienced racism and oppression but never had a teacher or family member or professor naming what I was going through.

Going on that journey made me realize that I don’t need to assimilate, I don’t need to fit in with whiteness. By exploring how to dismantle white supremacy I’ve found the passion to create spaces for educators, youth workers, teachers, and youth to feel empowered and validated for who they are.

You refer to your work as anti-oppression training and you seem to avoid what has become a popular acronym—DEI—diversity, equity, and inclusion. Can you explain why?

My separation from the term DEI comes from the fact that sometimes folks focus only on diversity: How can we bring people with different identities into a place that hasn’t done any of the work? In that way, you’re ultimately asking people to come into a place of harm. The retention rate isn’t high; the pay is still low; the policies are still oppressive; they’re dealing with racist comments from colleagues on a daily basis. It’s not a place where they get to feel celebrated. So, my qualm with the term is that it’s often not looking at the bigger picture.

By exploring how to dismantle white supremacy I’ve found the passion to create spaces for educators, youth workers, teachers, and youth to feel empowered and validated for who they are.

With inclusion, we’re trying to include people in a culture of white supremacy, and I don’t want to be included in that, I don’t want to replicate it. If we can dismantle that culture, we can build something so much better.

A lot of places approach DEI as a checked box: We did this training, now we’re good.

I don’t do a one-off anti-racism training; I find it harmful. Instead, I will lead multiple workshops and there must be co-created accountability: What will this look like for you to implement? How can you hold yourself accountable?

It’s not easy. Organizational shifts are huge. Not everyone is ready to embrace the journey.

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Find out more about Hadiel’s work on her website.

How organizations should celebrate Black History Month

By Alexis Floyd and Tim Rivera

February is Black History Month, a time when many organizations write about notable Black figures in history and events from the past, especially those that may be most relevant to their work. But since history continues to be a contested subject across the world, organizations today must deliberately highlight stories, individuals, and topics beyond traditional narratives.

For organizations to show they believe in the importance of empowering Black identities and ensuring their own colleagues and teams feel fully included within the organization, it is essential they engage honestly with the history of Black people or any historically marginalized group.

One important way to celebrate Black History Month is by fostering open and frank learning opportunities about a broad range of Black culture, topics, achievements, and history.

Black History Month is an opportunity to go beyond stories of racism and slavery. It is a chance to cultivate our individual knowledge of the experiences and intersectional identities of the Afro-diaspora, recognizing Black progress, journeys, and futures — all of which are, by their very definition, transnational and global. Black political and civil rights leaders, artists, and authors have all sought inspiration from and have been influenced by their peers and experiences from other parts of the world.

For example, James Baldwin left the United States in the 1940s for France where, as a young gay Black man, he felt greater racial and sexual liberation to write. Nelson Mandela’s fight against apartheid and Patrice Lumumba’s leadership of the Congolese National Movement were sources of inspiration for generations of American civil rights leaders. And one can see a common thread from the stories of Zora Neale Hurston to Toni Morrison to Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

Black History Month is an opportunity to elevate unsung stories of Black achievements and their global impact to new audiences that are perhaps unaware.

We believe it is important for organizations to not just engage with these personalities and narratives, but also create opportunities to analyze and unpack them. By featuring a range of stories, perspectives, and information during Black History Month — along with forums for colleagues to have open and honest discussions — organizations can best show their commitment to raise Black voices, celebrate progress, acknowledge shortcomings, and reaffirm their own values.

World Learning and School for International Training programs are founded on the values of social inclusion and justice. By engaging with an honest history of Black people — in America and around the world — during Black History Month, we can strengthen our own learning as well as our commitment to social inclusion and justice. We can also ensure our Black employees, students, and participants feel fully included in the World Learning community.

World Learning is hosting speakers, film screenings, and discussion forums to celebrate an honest history during Black History Month. To learn more, email [email protected].

Lewis Ricardo Gordon, a philosopher and leading scholar in black existentialism, will be speaking to the World Learning community on March 9. This event is open to the public. To register, click here.

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Alexis Floyd is a program associate at World Learning and a co-chair of the DEI Committee. Tim Rivera is the DEI program manager at World Learning.

Study examines human health-environment link

The Human Health chapter of the Vermont Climate Assessment is not light reading. From household mold to tick-borne diseases to the effects of extreme weather on mental health, the chapter spells out in frank and uncluttered terms what Vermonters can expect from a warming climate.

• Read Human Health in Vermont

“The myriad effects of climate change impact every part of the human body in one way or another, and climate change effects also disrupt health systems, supply chains, and health infrastructure,” the introduction declares. The Human Health chapter is part of a 500-page assessment, published in November, detailing the myriad ways climate change will impact Vermont.

While the unvarnished information is not comforting, that’s part of its power. Addressing health and nine other subjects in separate chapters, the assessment is an urgent call to action to address climate change, and an invaluable tool for policymakers.

The idea of the overlap between climate and human health lodged in my brain.

That’s one reason why SIT Climate Change & Global Sustainability alumna Stephanie Clement decided to spend a year and a half volunteering to be the primary writer of the health chapter. “The assessment is there to inform policy making. The folks who are creating policy for Vermont’s Climate Action Plan are referencing our chapters. So, it is a critical tool for policy assessment,” says Clement.

The assessment got a lot of attention when it was released in November. “The feedback has been amazing,” Clement says. “It’s empowering to be referenced and questioned, and to engage in intellectual conversations about real-life issues. This is tangible and real – those are the things I joined SIT for.”

Just a little more than two years ago, Clement was hiking across glaciers in Iceland and studying coral reefs in Zanzibar as part of the small second cohort of SIT’s Climate Change and Global Sustainability MA program.

One of the great things about travel—something SIT knows very well—is that it completely upends your comfort and known existence in the world.

The daughter of an international development worker and an SIT TESOL alumna, Clement was familiar with SIT’s approach to education. She grew up in Africa and the Middle East, studied international development as an undergrad at McGill University, and served with the Peace Corps in Zambia, where she began to pay closer attention to the intersection of health and the environment.

“The idea of the overlap between climate and human health lodged in my brain. People are so dependent on land and environment; it’s hard to separate human well-being and health and environment and health,” she says.

With its trans-continental focus on the intersection of natural and social sciences, SIT’s program seemed like a logical fit for Clement. The SIT program features a small cohort and direct access to the program chair, Dr. Jonathan Walz, and other professors.

“One of the great things about travel—something SIT knows very well—is that it completely upends your comfort and known existence in the world, what you know and rely upon. You have to readjust and learn. Iceland was so foreign to me. I had never been to a northern country like that. It kept me on my toes. That contrasted so strongly with Zanzibar, tropical, south of the equator, with heat, humidity, and so many people. That juxtaposition keeps you constantly alert and aware and learning about your environment.”

The third semester of the Climate Change program is a practicum designed to be carried out anywhere in the world. Clement originally had intended to do hers in an agro-forestry program in Senegal, but COVID-19 disrupted that plan. Instead, she ended up back home working with the nonprofit Vermont Climate and Health Alliance (VTCHA), researching and writing about connections between community, climate, and the COVID-19 response.

Her VTCHA contacts eventually recommended Clement as a lead writer for the health chapter of the Vermont Climate Assessment. On top of her full-time job with the U.S.-Canada nonprofit One Tree Planted, she took on the Herculean task of learning more about the impacts of climate change on human health in Vermont.

That meant collecting and writing about myriad aspects of human health related to climate change.  “What happens to Vermonters who are used to a colder climate. How a changing climate will affect vulnerable populations. What happens with air quality and more pollen. The impacts of climate on mental health. So many of these things are being underreported and under-represented,” Clement says.

With that information now available publicly, Clement hopes it will catalyze a statewide plan of action.

“In Vermont we have been ahead of the curve in so many areas on a small, localized scale. In 2016, for example, Burlington was the first city in country to run completely on renewable energy,” But that local action hasn’t grown into state or regional policy, she notes.

“We have to fix our electric grid, get electric vehicles on the road, get homes weatherized, fix our infrastructure. It’s much larger than local actions.”

Still, Clement has faith in Vermonters. “If Vermont stays true to its values, there will be a lot of community conversations about what needs to be done. I have a lot of hope and positivity about how Vermont will engage. We are community action-oriented people.

“I really hope there are tangible results that come out of this. It would feel like the effort we put in was for something good.”

World Learning Inc. is pleased to announce the hiring of Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Officer Wagaye Johannes, whose experience, voice, and leadership will advance the organization’s core values of social inclusion and justice throughout its operations and programs.

Johannes is currently director of operations and organizational development at Diversity Abroad, where she leads efforts to strengthen the organizational infrastructure and visibility. In this role, she also has led DEI consulting projects including an assessment of World Learning and the School for International Training in 2020-21.

“Wagaye comes to us with extensive experience at the intersection of DEI and international education. She knows us and our organization already which will be invaluable as she begins this role,” said World Learning Inc. President and CEO Carol Jenkins.

Before joining Diversity Abroad, Johannes worked for the Institute of International Education (IIE) where she launched Generation Study Abroad, a campaign involving a network of more than 700 institutions to increase and diversify participation in study abroad. While at IIE, Johannes led the organization’s first diversity and inclusion task force and headed internal global communications. Johannes brings with her a global perspective having worked in Japan, Germany, Hungary, and the Netherlands. She has experience designing programs with a global inclusive lens and facilitating DEI trainings.

In her new role, Johannes will be responsible for driving the implementation of World Learning’s DEI priorities across the organization’s operations and programs. Her work will foster a more diverse, inclusive, equitable, and accessible workplace, learning environment, and culture, in addition to supporting the entire World Learning team’s contributions to lasting, cultural change.

“I am excited to join the global World Learning family and look forward to advancing the mission by working across the brands to embed diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging,” Johannes said.

Johannes was selected for the position after a comprehensive national search lasting nearly five months. Candidates participated in multiple rounds of interviews with staff and faculty members from across the organization, representing diverse backgrounds, roles, seniority, and responsibilities.

World Learning Inc. is a global organization made up of The Experiment in International Living, the nation’s most experienced provider of intercultural exchange programs abroad and virtual for high school students; School for International Training, offering accredited undergraduate study abroad programs through SIT Study Abroad, including the comparative International Honors Program, and internationally focused master’s degrees, certificate programs, and a doctorate through SIT Graduate Institute; and World Learning, a global development and exchange nonprofit organization.

Although SIT program delivery was modified in 2021, SIT Study Abroad and SIT Graduate Institute continued to provide life-changing international experiences for graduate and undergraduate students throughout the year.

Not surprisingly, the challenges brought about by COVID-19 meant that many of the most popular programs in each division were either hybrid or virtual. Nevertheless, students like Tiffany Padilla, who studied Tibetan online, found “immense value in experiencing a study abroad of any kind.”

Read “Insights from a virtual study abroad”

Top 5 SIT Graduate programs in 2021

Based on enrollment, the most popular SIT Graduate Institute programs in 2021 were:

1. Part-time hybrid MA in Sustainable Development

In this two-year program, students learn to support thriving communities and build skills in community development and social change. They work with their professors and cohort online, with brief residencies in Vermont and field courses in Nepal and Mexico.

Read Randal McCoy’s capstone paper, “Black Lives Matter”

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2. Part-time hybrid MA in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages)

SIT is a national leader in TESOL training so it’s no surprise that this two-year program continues to rank among SIT’s most popular. Grounded in plurilingual pedagogy and led by experts in the field, the program provides students the opportunity to specialize in one of four subject areas: teacher training, plurilingual pedagogy, teaching refugees and displaced persons, or teaching young learners.

Find out more about plurilingual pedagogy

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3. Part-time hybrid MA in International Education

In this two-year hybrid MA, students learn to lead education programs in communities around the world. The program features brief summer residencies on SIT’s scenic Vermont campus and includes electives focused on leadership, peacebuilding, language education, international development, and intercultural service.

Program chair Dr. Sora Friedman talks about her new book

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4. Global MA in Climate Change & Global Sustainability

In SIT’s one-year Global Master’s programs, students study in a different country each semester and in most cases complete their final capstone anywhere in the world. Among our first and most popular of these global formats is Climate Change & Global Sustainability. With one semester each in Iceland and Tanzania, students gain the knowledge, skills, and global experience to address climate change and enhance the sustainability of environments and responsible human livelihoods. Alumni from this program have gone on to careers in public policy and NGO fields.

Climate Change alumna Danielle Purvis: ‘The ways of the world must change’

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5. Global MA in Diplomacy and International Relations

Students prepare for careers in international, regional, and global affairs or diplomacy to address some of the most critical issues facing the planet. This one-year program takes place in South Africa, Switzerland, and the United States for key points of comparison among U.S., European, and African perspectives as students learn how to function with the global political system.

Program chair Dr. Bruce Dayton: ‘We’re at a tipping point’

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Top 5 SIT Study Abroad programs for 2021

Based on enrollment, the most popular SIT Study Abroad programs and countries in 2021 were:

1 & 2. Iceland

SIT Study Abroad’s two most popular programs in 2021 were both immersive experiences in Iceland. Students on our semester program, Climate Change and the Arctic, were drawn to the beauty of Iceland’s glaciers, volcanoes, coastlines and waterfalls. In that dramatic setting, they study climate models and carbon management with experts on the front lines of the fight against climate change.

SIT’s summer program in Iceland, Renewable Energy, Technology & Resource Economics, is similarly focused on climate and environment, attracting students interested in energy policy and renewable energy technologies.

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3 & 5. South Africa

Summer and semester Virtual Internships in Diplomacy, Conflict Resolution, and International Relations ranked third and fifth respectively in 2021, preparing students for careers in human rights or global affairs. Both programs explore non-western perspectives on conflict resolution, human rights, international relations, and south-south diplomacy in cooperation with partners like the Africa Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD), Africa’s largest conflict resolution NGO.

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4. Kenya

Another virtual internship in Africa ranked among our top 5. On our summer program Kenya: Virtual Internship in Public Health in the Tropics students have the opportunity to intern with a community or research organization, business, government agency, or NGO. This program is carried out in partnership with the Kenya Medical Research Institute, the Centers for Disease Control, and other organizations working on public health issues in Kisumu. (The semester version of this program was also popular, coming in sixth in our 2021 ranking.)

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#1 Muse: Ecuador

Last but not least, we would be remiss if we failed to include Ecuador in this list as the country that inspires some of the most prolific writing among our students and alumni.

I was captivated by the Ecuador’s immense, thriving biodiversity.

Zane Libke

This program has caused me to reflect a lot on what exactly the goal of ‘development’ is, on what changes I actually want to make in the world, and how one should go about making change.

Meg Edwards

Exploring the cloud forest for five days and our trip to the Amazon was like, ‘Someone pinch me, I think I’m dreaming’.

Halle Catalina Brown

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Plurilingualism refers to an individual’s use of more than one language, as opposed to “multilingualism,” the term that applies to a culture or country using more than one language. When a teacher of an additional language facilitates the learning of that language by exploring and including the languages and cultures of the students, plurilingualism becomes a pedagogical  practice.

SIT’s MA in TESOL program offers a concentration in plurilingual pedagogy, and SIT boasts two internationally recognized experts in the subject, Professor Emerita Diane Larsen-Freeman and Professor Elka Todeva. The two recently collaborated to pen a chapter of The Routledge Handbook of Plurilingual Language Education (edited by Enrica Piccardo, Aline Germain-Rutherford, and Geoff Lawrence). Their chapter, “A Sociocognitive Theory for Plurilingualism: Complex Dynamic Systems Theory,” joins the contributions of many other experts in an expansive exploration of theory and practice around the idea of plurilingualism in language education.

The two professors also collaborated in their answers to our questions about plurilingualism and their contribution to the Routledge Handbook.

Your chapter in the Routledge book contains a lot in its title: “A Sociocognitive Theory for Plurilingualism: Complex Dynamic Systems Theory.” Could you tell me in terms for the uninitiated what your chapter is about?

Despite the fact that plurilingualism has attracted a great deal of attention among language educators, it lacks a theoretical grounding. Our chapter was invited to fill this gap. Having a theory can help us give meaning to observations, generate new questions, and provide coherence in our field.

We offer Complex Dynamic Systems Theory (CDST) for this purpose. CDST is a “post-structural systems” theory. A system is a collective whole, made up of interdependent parts. The “socio-” and “cognitive” in our title reflects one application of this notion of interdependent constituents. Language education researchers have argued for a long time about the fundamental nature of language acquisition: Is it a social process or a cognitive one? Of course, most would say it is both, but CDST goes beyond mere pluralism in order to show how they are interconnected in the language acquisition process.

CDST can accommodate the unique repertoire of language resources of a plurilingual speaker, which connect the individual and the social. Speakers are perpetually updating their repertoires in a nonlinear manner.

There are three other characteristics of CDST that we highlight in our chapter: a) the fluidity of dynamic systems, b) their non-finality and shape due to interdependent social and cognitive processes, and c) their focus on the individual as a social agent.

What does “plurilingualism” mean?

Plurilingualism is a term that came into applied linguistics and language education through French and Italian sources. For years, Anglophone scholars favored the term “multilingualism” to describe individual and societal linguistic diversity.

Plurilingualism gained visibility primarily after the publication of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) in 2001. The Common European Framework of Reference distinguished between plurilingualism as an individual phenomenon, focused on the linguistic repertoires of individuals “in which all linguistic abilities have a place,” and multilingualism viewed as a societal phenomenon, “seen as the coexistence of different languages in a given society.”

Instead of emphasizing the sequence of language acquisition in a person’s repertoire … plurilingualism refers to the whole scope of one’s language resources as it exists at any one time.

Plurilingualism has ushered in a new way of thinking about meaning-making and communicative processes. It embraces the concept of a person’s linguistic and semiotic repertoire—a dynamic, never complete, constantly changing constellation of developing languages and registers shaped by life experiences and trajectory rather than one’s birth. Instead of emphasizing the sequence of language acquisition in a person’s repertoire—as L1, L2, etc.—plurilingualism refers to the whole scope of one’s language resources as it exists at any one time. It objects to a monolingual bias, and it brings into bold relief the agency of language learners/users.

As we pointed out in the book chapter, plurilingualism is the lived experience of millions of people around the world.

When you add “pedagogy,” what does the overall term mean?

Plurilingual pedagogy is enacted in classrooms that embrace linguistic diversity, and strategically and deliberately tap into the rich linguistic and cultural knowledge and experiences of the learners and teachers who we think of as co-explorers.

Consistently creating spaces for cross-linguistic and cross-cultural explorations, these classrooms facilitate, expedite and maximize people’s communicative capacities, learning, and plurilingual and pluricultural awareness. These classroom experiences have been shown to lead to better and deeper learning; they foster empathy and better understanding of other people and cultures; and they unleash creativity and better learner investment.

So, on a practical level, what does it mean to bring this concept into the classroom? How do you teach a language with multiple languages and participants who don’t all speak the same language(s)?

For language teachers to become successful practitioners of plurilingual pedagogy, they need above all a significant shift of mind—a metanoia—to use a lovely Greek term; a profound, encompassing shift of mind and a fundamental change of orientation. Plurilingual pedagogy practitioners do not have to know the languages of all those present; all they need is to provide the space for focused cross-linguistic and cross-cultural explorations.

When teachers consistently and strategically engage in such comparisons and explorations, learners become skilled at creating and testing hypotheses about how languages work.

When not constrained by society-imposed gatekeeping, our communicative repertoires naturally include a wide range of linguistic and modal resources that can take us beyond traditional print-oriented, target language–only teaching. When we bring the two together, we open possibilities for students to connect their new language to their prior knowledge in dynamic ways, emphasizing their agency and creativity.

Plurilingual pedagogy practitioners do not have to know the languages of all those present; all they need is to provide the space for focused cross-linguistic and cross-cultural explorations.

Plurilingual classes are much more intellectually stimulating and emotionally engaging. Any aspect of language can be the object of a fascinating exploration – from comparison of distances between speakers and the amount and type of physical contact involved, to gestures used to attract someone’s attention or to express puzzlement or amazement, to the way users of the language situate actions and events in time.

Drawing on their professional expertise, teachers can focus explorations on linguistic features that are likely to prove interesting and in line with their instructional priorities. This process allows better prioritization; it affords the learners agency content- and process-wise, and harnesses their curiosity, while lightening the burden of planning for teachers. Sustained, guided, and clearly focused deeper explorations not only lead to a better understanding of key target language patterns, but also reveal the uniqueness and beauty of the learners’ languages.

What does plurilingual pedagogy allow you to do as a teacher that you wouldn’t do otherwise?

Adopting a plurilingual, multimodal mindset helps teachers and students bring their practices in line with the increasingly complex ways people make meaning and share and access knowledge these days.

To this day, many language institutions and many teacher training programs approach the learning of language as a problem people need help with.

Almost 30 years ago, Richard Ruiz invited us to consider three different orientations to language: a) language as a problem, b) language as a right, and c) language as a resource.

To this day, many language institutions and many teacher training programs approach the learning of language as a problem people need help with. In contrast, Ruiz’s language-as-a-resource orientation helps us take full advantage of the rich linguistic and cultural knowledge of language learners. Ruiz’s language-as-a-resource orientation remains under-used. Our MATESOL program offers guidance on the theory and practice of this language orientation. The addition of the plurilingual pedagogy advanced seminar to our curricula is one more opportunity for educators to go more deeply into this area.

SIT is a leader in language education. What role does it play in the world of plurilingual education?

Our MATESOL program was one of the earliest proponents of plurilingual pedagogy in North America, with conference presentations and workshops offered in the early 1990s. Our faculty is actively engaged with some of the key centers for plurilingual and multilingual studies, including The Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto, Georgetown University’s Initiative for Multilingual Studies, and McGill University’s Plurilingual Lab, to mention just a few.

Elka made a presentation at the Georgetown University Round Table in 2020, whose theme was “Multilingualism: Global South and Global North Perspectives.” In addition, with a colleague from the Basque Country, Elka is the co-editor of a book entitled The Multiple Realities of Multilingualism: Personal Narratives and Researchers’ Perspectives. The book offers much-needed emic data that shed critical light on many key findings to complement existing language development studies.

Diane, SIT professor emerita, has explored language and teaching through the prism of CDST since 1997. She continues to make presentations on CDST at domestic and international forums including just last month for online conferences in Mexico and in Brazil and for an in-person seminar series at Boston University. Her book with Lynne Cameron, Complex Systems and Applied Linguistics, won the Modern Language Association’s Kenneth Mildenberger Book Prize. The chapter we co-authored for the Routledge Handbook of Plurilingual Education is one of our latest publications in this area.

Most recently, Elka was invited to submit a paper for a special issue on plurilingualism for a TESL Canada Special Issue, “Plurilingualism and Translanguaging: Pedagogical Approaches for Empowerment and Validation.” (October 2021). The paper is entitled “Plurilingualism and Multimodality: The metanoia within reach.” Elka co-authored this article with her former student, Riah Werner, a doctoral student at OISE, which is just one indication that the torch is being passed to the next generation of SIT students and alumni who are spreading the ideas and practices that the MATESOL Program has been working on for over 50 years!

References

Larsen-Freeman, D. & Todeva, E. (2021). A sociocognitive theory for plurilingualism: Complex Dynamic Systems Theory. In E. Piccardo, A. Germain-Rutherford, & G. Lawrence (Eds.), The Routledge Handbook of Plurilingual Language Education. Routledge

Ruiz, R. (1984). Orientations in language planning. NABE: The Journal for the National Association for Bilingual Education, 8(2), 15–34.

Senge, P. M. (2013). Give me a lever long enough … and single-handed I can move the world. In M. Fullan (Ed.), The Jossey-Bass Reader on Educational Leadership. (3rd ed., pp. 3–16). John Wiley & Sons.

Werner, R. & Todeva, E. (forthcoming). Plurilingualism and multimodality: The metanoia within reach. TESL Canada Special Issue: Plurilingualism and Translanguaging: Pedagogical Approaches for Empowerment and Validation.

Three students completing their master’s degree programs at SIT Graduate Institute will present their final capstone projects Dec. 14-15, 2021. Times listed below are EST. Members of the public are invited to attend these virtual presentations. Please email [email protected] to RSVP and receive a link.

Tuesday, December 14, 10-11:30 AM

Stephen Okoth – MA in Sustainable Development: Motivators and Barriers in Grant Seeking

Tuesday, December 14, 12-1:30 PM

Nadeen Black – MA in International Education: Columbia Intercultural Study Abroad

Wednesday, December 15, 10-11:30 AM

Jessica Vowell – MA in International Education: Using Social-Emotional Learning to Support Academic Achievement in the Wake of COVID-19: A case study in Boone County schools

SIT alumna Linda Sukarat was named College ESL Instructor of the Year 2021 at the annual New York State TESOL conference on November 4. Awards are given both to students and teachers in the state of New York who have contributed to the field of English language learning.

Sukarat has been teaching at Binghamton University since 2009 and is currently director of the English Language Institute (ELI), a support program for matriculated students under the provost’s office.

With a background in English Literature and TESOL, she spent most of her adult life teaching abroad. After graduating from the University of Pittsburgh, she became a Peace Corps volunteer in Thailand. She then attended SIT Graduate Institute, taught in Mexico, and conducted research in Indonesia before returning to Thailand.

… the philosophies of education that the SIT learning community instilled in me are what have made my teaching career stimulating and fulfilling.

From 1989-2009, she was involved in international development as a teacher trainer at Silpakorn University, where she taught elementary and high school EFL teachers incorporating music, culture, poetry and literature in foreign language teaching pedagogy. She also participated in NGO work as well as after-school EFL programs there.

At Binghamton University, she teaches courses that revolve around ESL teacher training, pronunciation for bilinguals, and a writing course that explores cultural identity.

How did your time at SIT inform your approach to language teaching and learning?

SIT’s experiential philosophy directly influenced my view of teaching and learning. I firmly believe that students learn best by doing, that qualitative research is important and that the relationships formed between students and the speakers of a language/culture are vital to the process. 

I love that I have never stopped being a student.

I also learned from SIT that we can and should be lifelong learners. I attended SIT when Earl Stevick and Caleb Gattegno came to campus. We students sat around brainstorming ways to use our wooden rods, and I still use them to this day to teach certain grammar points and to get students talking conceptually.

When I was in Thailand, Donald Freeman came as a guest to my Thai university to demonstrate “Learning Centered” teaching and this also stuck with me. I still believe that the philosophies of education that the SIT learning community instilled in me are what have made my teaching career stimulating and fulfilling.

What is your favorite aspect of being a teacher?

For me, teaching is learning. I love that I have never stopped being a student: I love learning more about many different subjects, learning various methods of teaching, and most of all, learning new perspectives from my students.

What is your advice for new students and new teachers?

Always be curious and never think you already know all there is to know about something. If we stop asking the why and how, we become stagnant. Students shouldn’t just sit back, waiting for teachers to “give” them some knowledge, and teachers shouldn’t think they are the only knowers in the classroom. We all have to be continually asking questions, and as soon as we know an answer, we should move on to the next question. That’s how we keep both learning and teaching vibrant.

By Eric House

In the new virtual age, where could teachers go to chat with their peers?

When the COVID-19 pandemic upended the way many of us live and work, the challenge of forging and maintaining connections became considerably more difficult. As an educator, Jeff Puccini knew this all too well.

Pre-COVID, teachers were able to come to the teacher’s lounge, not just to grab coffee or eat lunch but to sit and chat with colleagues. It was a sanctuary of sorts, but it was also a place of connection, where teachers could talk face-to-face about their days, including their challenges and successes. In the new virtual age, where could teachers go to replicate the same need?

Enter the Online Teachers’ Lounge, a new project led by Puccini as part of his work as executive director of INTERLINK International Institutes, an organization dedicated to intensive English language training, academic preparation, cross-cultural orientation, and professional training. Puccini has an extensive background in teaching English as a second language (ESL), earning both his TESOL certificate and Master of Arts from School for International Training (SIT).

Puccini says his “DNA as a language instructor comes from the TESOL certificate course.” He was first drawn to it when he was in Chicago, where he was craving an immersive, international educational experience. With his TESOL certificate, he taught abroad, loved it, and knew that a master’s degree was the next step to further solidify his career in ESL. Through it all, Puccini says, both the TESOL certificate and master’s program provided him the experiential, reflective nature of education he desired.

Teaching, ironically, can be very lonely for a lot of teachers, because being with students is not the same as interacting with peers.

Puccini also remembers the in-person connections he was able to cultivate with his fellow teachers while teaching ESL in California. He and his colleague would ride their bikes to work together every day, sharing ideas for teaching and reflecting on lessons, something Puccini describes as “invaluable and rare.” When COVID-19 hit, “There were fewer opportunities for teachers to interact with one another,” he says. “I personally felt disconnected and isolated from peers and students.”

By connecting teachers in a venue they’re familiar with, the teacher’s lounge, Puccini and his fellow educators hope to rekindle their bonds in the online environment. When thinking of the lounge, Puccini points to in-person book clubs. “They can work, but some don’t,” he says, citing examples of situations where extroverts dominate the conversation and introverts don’t find space to share. With the technology of breakout rooms in the online teacher’s lounge, he hopes to strike a balance, enabling more satisfying conversations for all participants, no matter their personality.

One of the joys Puccini finds in teaching ESL is connecting with people from different cultures. An unexpected benefit of the Online Teachers’ Lounge has been connecting with English teachers, native and non-native English speakers, from different countries.

Above all, his goals with the Online Teachers’ Lounge are to allow teachers to connect with new people, reconnect with previous peers, and bring the water cooler conversations back. It’s these conversations and collaboration between colleagues that help teachers learn what’s working and what’s not working in their practice, an aspect that motivates Puccini as a licensed teacher-trainer and trainer-of-trainers.

“Teaching, ironically, can be very lonely for a lot of teachers, because being with students is not the same as interacting with peers,” Puccini says. Out of the pandemic, new ways to interact and connect have emerged. As teachers go back to in-person classes, Puccini hopes that the Online Teachers’ Lounge can continue to provide a space for educators to connect.

The Online Teachers’ Lounge launched this fall and meets monthly on Saturdays. To learn more, visit: https://interlink.edu/online-teachers-lounge/

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By Tiffany Padilla

Study abroad experiences can be expensive endeavors to undertake, and sometimes it’s hard to find thousands of dollars lying around. Thankfully, there is an option for funding that is not only feasible and available for anyone to apply, but it can cover anywhere from $1,000 to $5,000 of your study abroad costs, depending on your financial need.

Focus on finding a program you will genuinely enjoy, and the application will come naturally to you.

The Benjamin A. Gilman Scholarship helped me attend a study abroad program of my own this past summer! If you’d like to read more about my experience, I wrote a blog post about it here. 

Some info about the Gilman:

• The Gilman is a U.S. State Department scholarship that wants you to go out into the world, sharing your values, traditions, and culture with others, all while exploring the values, traditions, and culture all around you in your host country. Doesn’t that make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside?
• A huge part of this scholarship is completing a project of your choice following your study abroad experience (due six months afterward, to be precise). This can be anything from blog posts (like this one!), to presentations, to community outreach, to a documentary of your time abroad. Feel free to get creative, or explore the Gilman website for examples of previous projects.
• To apply, you need to write three essays: one about your personal motivations for applying to this study abroad program and this scholarship; the second about how you will build mutual understanding abroad (see the first bullet point to understand that better); the third detailing your follow-on project (see the second bullet point to understand that better). Easy peasy! Just kidding. But you can do it. I know you can!
• The Gilman is a need-based scholarship more than merit-based. Yes, you need to be in good academic standing with your university to apply. But do you need a 4.0 GPA to get one? Take it from me: Nope. However, you do need proof of Pell eligibility to apply.

Talk to your friends, your family, your mentors, and your study abroad advisors. These people might tell you things about yourself that you never even thought of.

Now that I’ve surely convinced you to apply, here are some tips for your Gilman Application.

• Take baby steps. I know that three essays and a follow-on project can feel like a lot to take on, and it is. But I know you’ve written three essays, all while cramming for two exams, participating in classes, and leading your intramural Powderpuff team (Go Baker!) because college is just like that. Take it easy. You have time. There are two cycles every year for Gilman programs, so if one deadline seems too close, you might be able to wait for the next one. Or, do what you always do and pull one or two all-nighters. (I’m kidding, please don’t do that. Even though this one’s worth it!) In all seriousness, though. 
• Start as early as you’re able. Your application will be better, you will have more time for people to look at it, more time to think through your study abroad program choice, and less stress overall.
• Pick the right program for you. I can’t stress this enough. I didn’t get the Gilman on my first try, and my hunch is that it was because I picked a study abroad program that didn’t fit my interests. (I just really wanted to go to Belgium with my best friend.) I tried to force my essays to seem interested in whatever subject that program offered, and that was obvious in my application. And, it was miserable to write those essays, let’s not forget that. Just focus on finding a program you will genuinely enjoy, and the application will come naturally to you.
• Lastly, talk to other people about your Gilman ideas. Talk to your friends, your family, your mentors, and your study abroad advisors. These people might tell you things about yourself that you never even thought of. Your people can tell you if you’re actually a good fit for the program you’re applying for (“You’ve never even mentioned an interest in sustainability before. Are you sure you’re applying to the right program?” – My mother). Every new perspective you get on your essays, your program, and your project will help you along in some way or another.

I hope this has helped get the gears whirring about funding your program with the help of the Gilman Scholarship. Just apply. There’s nothing to lose, and priceless experiences to gain.

Good luck with your next adventure!

Tiffany Padilla was enrolled in the SIT Tibetan language program in summer 2021.