August brings TESOL conference, capstones

August 8th, 2018   |   SIT Graduate Institute

SIT TESOL conference, capstone presentations kick off August 8

August 7, 2018

Image of a woman with dark hair holding books dressed in a blue long sleeve button up shirt and a red, yellow print designed scarf.

Capping their academic experiences at SIT Graduate Institute, students this month will hold a professional development conference for teachers, while others present their final research projects.

SIT’s fifth annual low-residency, student-run TESOL conference takes place August 8-9 on the Brattleboro campus. The event, called the Sandanona Conference, is organized by students of SIT’s low-residency MA program in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages).

Keynote speakers at this year’s conference are Jake Bennett, PhD., exploring “whiteness as a universal concept in his presentation, “Something Whitish This Way Comes”; and Loren Intolubbe-Chmil, PhD, on “Becoming & Belonging: Transformation and Citizenship Through/Within Global Education Contexts.”

The Sandanona Conference is an important professional development experience for SIT TESOL students, according to TESOL program chair Leslie Turpin. “Students leave the TESOL program feeling confident that not only can they present their work, they can be part of organizing a professional conference.”

The Sandanona Conference starts at 9 a.m. and runs through 4:30 p.m. on both days.

The August 2018 Capstone Seminar is August 14-16. Presentations will cover a wide range of research conducted by SIT Graduate Institute students in the final phase of their International Education master’s degree programs. Among the presentations will be an exploration of the community-building work of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency in Palestine; a comparison of restorative justice programs in Vermont and Rwanda; and a study of African American girls in the school-to-prison pipeline.

Both the Sandanona Conference and capstone presentations are free and open to the public. For accommodations, please contact Kate Casa at [email protected] or 802-258-3527.

The full capstone presentation schedule, including presenters and locations, is as follows:

1-2:30 p.m.Maslow & Mezirow in Pre-Departure Orientation, by Elizabeth Monroe, International Center 101 The Kiwi Way: Marketing in New Zealand, a Program Design for Johnson & Wales University, by Rachael Peters, Lowey International Center 2018:30-10 a.m.Transforming Identity Conflicts, Post-Resettlement, by Sara Jeckovich, International Center, Lowey International Center 2018:30-10 a.m.Transforming Identity Conflicts, Post-Resettlement, by Sara Jeckovich, International Center, Lowey International Center 201

Tuesday, Aug. 14

3-4:30 p.m.Integrating Student Development Theory into Education Abroad Advising, by Amanda Lentz, Lowey International Center 101
From Theory to Curriculum, A Best Practices Model for a New International Student Cultural Acclimation Court, by Denise Leinonen, Lowey International Center 201

Wednesday, Aug. 15

10:30 a.m.-noonThe Effectiveness of a Boys for Positive Change Program at Changing Attitudes and Behaviors toward Gender Equality, by Bethany Grupp, Lowey International Center 101
Facilitating Community Participation with Palestine Refugees: An Exploratory Study of UNRWA, by Tiffany Baccus, Lowey International Center 201
1-2:30 p.m.Comparing Community Restorative Justice in Bellows Falls, Vermont and Gacaca Processes in Rwanda, by Dora Urejini, Lowey International Center 201
Changing Donor-NGO Relations through Viable Alternatives to Conventional Grantmaking, by Kio Okawa, Lowey International Center 101
3-4:30 p.m.Bridge to Her Education: Black Girls and the School to Prison Pipeline, by Otasha Clark, Lowey International Center 101

Thursday, Aug. 16

8:30-10 a.m.Education Provision to Internally Displaced Children in Burma, Nang Thwe, Lowey International Center 201
10:30 a.m.-NoonExploring the Influence of the African Diaspora in Spain: A Short-term Program Design, by Stephanie McCreary, Lowey International Center 101
1-2:30 p.m.Hide and Seek: How and Why Peace Corps Panama Volunteers Conceal and Reveal Parts of their Social Identities and Perceived Impacts on their Cultural Integration, by Sara Sweeney, Lowey International Center 101
3-4 p.m.Connecting Cultural Ties with Latinx Identity: An Explorative Semester in Mexico City, by Margaret Musty, Lowey International Center 101