MACIE in the News

MACIE Student Lyndah Naswa Wasike Green, to publish memoire - Beautiful Scars: Searching for my Smile

Febrary 2021

By Sarah Mehler

Lyndah Naswa Wasike Green graduated from Bowling Green State University (BGSU) from the Master of Arts in Cross-Cultural and International Education (MACIE) program in May 2020. During her time at MACIE, she chose to write a thesis as her culminating capstone. For this student-led major research project, she traveled home to Kenya and conducted qualitative research about women’s education in Western Kenya. This work can be found on OhioLink under the title, Actual Progress or Stagnation? Exploring the State of Women's Education in Western Kenya. While getting her master’s degree, she also earned a graduate certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) at BGSU.

After graduating she was accepted to several doctoral programs, including the Curriculum and Instruction PhD program at Louisiana State University, as well as the Higher Education and Student Affairs PhD program at Ohio State University. Due to the pandemic, she found her plans to pursue further education in the fall of 2020 deferred. Always thinking positively, she took this opportunity to focus on writing projects and spend quality time with her husband and their new daughter, who they welcomed in September 2020. In the future, she hopes to continue her studies in international education, African cultures and languages with a hope of becoming a Swahili professor in the US.

The MACIE Program

Lyndah was initially attracted to the interdisciplinary nature of the MACIE program, which allowed her to pursue her passion for languages and multicultural education in a diverse environment. After turning down a fully funded scholarship opportunity to get her masters in China, she joined the MACIE program in fall of 2018.

According to Lyndah, her favorite things about the MACIE program were the diversity of the cohorts, the support of the professors and the wide, interdisciplinary scope of the classes. “The exposure that MACIE gives students is priceless”, she reported. She particularly enjoyed studying cross-cultural psychology with Dr. Bang. This class made her think critically about her assumptions and beliefs about society. Since Kenyan society is more collectivist and the US is much more individualistic, she had some trouble adjusting at first to the new educational and social context, but by using Hofstede’s (2011) cultural dimensions framework, she gained insight into intercultural communication and came to the conclusion that Americans were not being rude when they communicated differently than Kenyans, they just thought differently.

Lyndah’s advice for current MACIE students is that “your time at BGSU is a golden opportunity, use your time well”. As she reflected back on her second year in MACIE, when she worked on her thesis every day at the library, she said that making a plan with deadlines and sticking to them really helped her stay on track and not get behind. She recommended that if students plan to pursue a doctoral degree after MACIE, they should choose their research topic wisely based on what field they want to study in the future, since having this correlation will allow them to put their best foot forward. She concluded that MACIE is a great program for international students and people interested in cross-cultural experiences and education.  Students receive a well-rounded exposure to relevant theories, participate in practical cross-cultural discussions and projects, so they are well prepared to contribute to the world as global citizens, continue their studies or pursue professional opportunities.

Lyndah’s Background

Lyndah holds a bachelor’s degree in education, with a focus on English language and literature from Kenyatta University in Kenya. She has a vast experience with foreign languages and their corresponding cultures, in addition to speaking her local language, Luhya, and Swahili, she also speaks English, Chinese, Japanese and a little Spanish. Before coming to the US, Lyndah taught international students at the ACK language and Orientation School in Nairobi. Having learned Chinese, she worked as a part-time translator of Chinese-related documents, a teacher, and a tour guide. Lyndah served as a Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant (FLTA) during the 2017-2018 academic year, as the main Swahili instructor and cultural ambassador at Brown University. During her time as a Fulbright FTLA, she was also invited to help the Townson University Department of Foreign Languages, and developed a syllabus for them to teach Swahili. While in MACIE, she presented some of her thesis research on Kenyan women's education at the Kenyan Scholars and Studies Association Conference in Atlanta, in September 2019. Also, during her time at MACIE, she collaborated with a Chinese professor in Nairobi who teaches at the Confucius Institute, University of Nairobi and co-authored a Swahili-Chinese-English language book.

Lyndah’s Memoire:

Lyndah, says that for her “writing is addictive”. When she is in the zone, she is deaf to the world, totally immersed in the ideas and feelings of the text. After graduating from BGSU, she finally had time to write her memoir Beautiful Scars: Searching for my Smile. She wants her story to inspire and encourage other young people to work hard and follow their dreams. She hopes that by sharing how she faced hardships and how “the ups and downs of life taught me that when one works hard and believes in one’s self, one can accomplish anything”.

Life was not easy, but it made her who she is today. After her mother passed away in 2003, Lyndah’s father had done his best to be both mother and father to his seven children and impressed on them the value of a good education. So, he was very proud when she graduated high school in 2009, as the first female to get high scores on the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) in her village in Kakamega County. She became bit of a local celebrity and was invited to speak at local and national schools to encourage female students to work hard at their academics. Unfortunately, her father also passed away in 2014, but she feels that her father’s teaching and sacrifices live on in her and her siblings. In in May 2018, her life story attracted more publicity when the daily newspaper, Nation, published an article on her: Dad Stories: My father was the best mother I could ever ask for. On for Father’s Day in June 2018 she was also featured in the article Daddy’s girls tell it all and was invited for an interview on a national TV program to talk about her life and honor her father. Then, in September of 2018, she was chosen as one of The 40 Inspiring, Remarkable, and Motivating Kenyan Women in America Diaspora in Eyes of Kenyans for the African Warrior Magazine.

Later, as she traveled to different schools to conduct her research, in the summer of 2019, she also told students about her life and studies in the US. When Kenyan students asked her how she had achieved her successes in the face of adversity, she always explained that with the help of family and friends, she was able to persevere and remain determined in the face of struggles. This was when she realized the inspirational impact that sharing her life experiences could have on Kenyan youth. She understood then that she needed to write a more tangible account that could continue to motivate and encourage people even when she wasn’t there to give presentations.

In her book, Beautiful Scars: Searching for my Smile, she narrates her own story to communicate life lessons and inspire her readers not to give up on life when things get tough. Using an informal tone, she aims to make the reader feel as if she is a friend who is talking directly to them. She hopes that the reader is able to visualize what she was going through and be encouraged by hearing how she overcame her challenges and struggles, such as losing her parents and moving to another country to pursue higher education. In the end, she found that this process of emptying her heart and allowing her story to take shape on the page was very cathartic and she realized that writing this book was a source of healing for her as well.

Currently the book is with the editor, but Lyndah hopes to publish it as an e-book very soon.

Future Plans

Besides publishing her memoire, Lyndah is also taking advantage of her small sabbatical from higher education to work on a few other writing projects. She plans to write a journal article which draws from her thesis and submit it to various relevant journals. She is currently working on writing a chapter for a book, in collaboration with several other Kenyan scholars, which will present various experiences of Kenyan migrants around the US and address the current racial climate. Her chapter is titled “African Immigrants and the American Dream”. It tells the story of her relentless pursuit of learning and how she overcame challenges at home and in the US as an international student, emphasizing her conviction that hard work and education would liberate her from poverty. Additionally, she plans to create a Swahili language resource book that can be used in American universities. During her time teaching Swahili as a Fulbright FTLA, she noticed the lack of Swahili language curriculum. Since the teaching methods here in the US tend to be different than in Kenya, she wants to use the skills and student-centered pedagogy that she learned in her MACIE and linguistics classes at BGSU and incorporate hands-on learning strategies and culturally relevant curriculum for teaching and learning Swahili in the US.

References:

Hofstede, G. (2011). Dimensionalizing cultures: The Hofstede model in context. Online Readings in Psychology and Culture, 2(1), 2307-0919.

Class of 2020 Success Stories: MACIE program enhances Iraqi student's leadership skills as a cross-cultural education scholar

January 2021

By Bob Cunningham 

Read the full story at BGSU News - Class of 2020 Success Stories: MACIE program enhances Iraqi student's leadership skills as a cross-cultural education scholar

Shadan Albakua’s family was displaced after hometown fell to insurgents in 2014

Shadan Albakua’s life was forever changed in June 2014 when the city of Mosul fell to Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) insurgents.

More than 500,000 Iraqi civilians became displaced because of the violence, including Albakua and her family.

“We lost our sense of belonging and, after that, we became a different family,” she said. “After 2014, every family in Mosul City lost one of their family members either when traveling outside of the country or killed during the attacks.

“It was a traumatic experience to be away from my hometown and friends. One of the sad moments was when I graduated from college without any of my friends, and most of them were in the city of Mosul. We moved to a small home, and we spent a lot of money paying rent and buying new housing stuff. In the meantime, my family had lost a lot of our savings, like any family who had left Mosul City.”

After Albakua received her bachelor's degree in biology at Mosul University, she volunteered to teach biology classes to middle school-aged refugee students for two years after graduation.

That’s when Bowling Green State University piqued her interest — especially the Master of Arts in Cross-Cultural and International Education (MACIE) program.

“I chose BGSU for many reasons,” she said. “The first one was because my brother (Faisal Albakooa '18, Master of Technology Management in construction management and technology) graduated from BGSU. He always talked about the supportive and safe environment on the BGSU campus.

“I became interested in the MACIE program because it offers a strong educational foundation that includes people from different backgrounds. MACIE has also enhanced my knowledge and skills as a leader and a cross-cultural education scholar. Also, my research interests center around children's rights in education and immigrants — specifically refugee education.”

MACIE is an academic, research-oriented graduate program in the University’s School of Educational Foundations, Leadership and Policy (EFLP). The program, in the College of Education and Human Development, offers students rigorous coursework with opportunities for collaborative, community service. Its graduates are prepared to become effective leaders in cross-cultural and international education arenas. With a core curriculum in educational foundations, research methods and a minor outside of education, students examine education issues from diverse perspectives in international, transnational and global contexts. The program connects cultural and international understanding with educational theory and practice through a unique combination of courses from several disciplines at BGSU.

“The second reason I chose BGSU is my decision to expand my education qualifications and perspectives to help people worldwide to get their education,” said Albakua, who graduated in December. “The last reason is to represent my country and be an independent Muslim woman.”

She said BGSU allowed her to build friendships with people from different backgrounds.

“I love the diversity at BGSU and the respect shared among all of us,” Albakua said.

She also appreciated the program’s helpful faculty and mentors, including Dr. Bruce Collet, MACIE program coordinator and her academic supervisor.

“Dr. Collet always believed in my abilities, and he supported me during my journey in MACIE,” she said. “He provided me with excellent guidance during my graduate degree journey.”

"Shadan has been a very hard working and dedicated student in our program," Collet said. "Moreover, she is one of the kindest people you will ever meet. Her smile is infectious and lightens everyone's day. We are very happy and proud that Shadan was able to join us in the MACIE program, and are confident that she will enact positive changes in the years to come."

“Another person I would like to mention is Dr. Christopher Frey. I had two courses with him, and he was a supportive professor and a good listener to his students’ issues. Overall, I would like to mention that all the staff in the MACIE program were approachable and kind.”

For her master's degree capstone applied project, Albakua wrote about some of the challenges she faced as a refugee.

“I wanted to provide teachers in U.S. schools with a teaching guide to assist the refugee students overcome their challenges and to be successful by ensuring that the teachers know more about who a refugee is and the challenges they faced during the flee journey,” she said.

Albakua also gained valuable experience volunteering at the local and international level.

“My first experience was volunteering with Habitat of Humanity of Wood County, and they were a fantastic team,” she said. “I learned a lot from them, and I would like to thank Earlene and Mark for all the kindness and support they gave me.

“One of the fantastic moments that MACIE program helped me achieve was when I got accepted for online volunteering with the United Nations. COVID-19 had canceled my summer internship with the Cleveland Council on World Affairs organization. At least, I had the chance to visit their office and interview and accept the position. I appreciate how my interests in working with the CCWA was respected.

“Later, a public administration program at BGSU opened a summer internship for grant writing, and I applied and was accepted. I felt a closer connection to BGSU because it provided me the chance to learn something different for my future career during the pandemic.” 

Now that Albakua has gone through the MACIE program, she believes she will be able to accomplish her professional goals.

“Without studying in the MACIE program, I don't think I would be able to help people around the world professionally and recognize people's differences,” she said. “I am so thankful for all my MACIE experiences — they allowed me to expand my knowledge about subjects different from my undergraduate major. I shared some of the stories from my country with my classmates and professors, and I was so proud of sharing them.

“I hope one day that I can achieve one of my dreams of working with the United Nations and providing help for all the people worldwide. Also, I will always be thankful for the opportunity the MACIE program gave me, and I will keep in mind assisting the program as I can in any way in the future.”

Peace Corps Fellows Program Celebrates 10 Years at BGSU

April 2019

By Alex Sciranka

Read the full story at BGSU News - Peace Corps Fellows Program Celebrates 10 Years at BGSU

University marks partnership with the Peace Corps as Falcons take flight into global service

This academic year marks the 10-year anniversary of the Paul D. Coverdell Peace Corps Fellows Program at Bowling Green State University. 

The fellows program works to provide returning Peace Corps volunteers with financial assistance as they transition into graduate school. In 10 years, BGSU has hosted more than 70 Peace Corps Fellows in a range of graduate programs.

The Peace Corps Fellows Program was made possible at BGSU through the work of Dr. Margaret Zoller Booth, dean of the Graduate College. Having served in the Peace Corps herself, she saw a need for a Peace Corps program to exist at BGSU. In 2008, she founded the Master of Arts in cross-cultural and international education (MACIE), BGSU’s first Coverdell academic program.

Establishment of this program allowed BGSU to host returned Peace Corps volunteers (RPCVs) in graduate fellowships. Since 2008, Booth has continued championing the University’s partnership with the Peace Corps and has expanded fellowship eligibility to all graduate programs at BGSU. Her passion for the Peace Corps stems from her own personal experience volunteering for the organization. 

“Serving as a Peace Corps volunteer changed everything I thought I knew about life,” Booth said. 

After her undergraduate career, Booth served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Kenya from 1983-84.

“You cannot go in with high expectations,” she said. “I went in ready to do a job for two years. In that time, I was expected to teach high school English courses. But as time goes on, you quickly learn that you may also become the school nurse, the counselor or the sports coach, and you truly become a member of the community you serve.”

Upon returning to the United States, Booth was filled with questions. 

“I needed to better understand the way culture fits into education,” she said. “I knew that in answering these questions, I had to continue my education in a graduate program.” 

And so began her career in education, always maintaining a passion for the program that impacted her life so profoundly.

Students continue to experience this same passion every day as they live out the Peace Corps mission on the campus of BGSU. 

“My service has given me a chance to become an advocate for the communities I served,” said Heather Bloom, a current Coverdell Fellow who is studying for a dual Master of Arts in Spanish and history.

“I focus on Latin American issues in my studies because it is so important to educate my peers on the cultural differences that exist throughout the world,” Bloom said. “In doing so, we help limit the misconceptions that may exist regarding a particular group of people.”

Bloom volunteered for the Peace Corps in Paraguay from 2010-2013 as an environmental education and conservation program coordinator. Bloom helped educate her host community on responsible environmental practices and how to implement programs for better sustainability.

“One of the mottos of the Peace Corps is that it will be ‘the toughest job you’ll ever love,’ and I cannot stress that enough,” she said. “I wanted to make a difference in the world. But in evaluating my service, I’ve realized the true reward comes from the feeling of being accepted by a community. Being able to enhance my communication in another language to cultivate a deeper relationship with my host family is a feeling I will always cherish.”

Soon, more BGSU students will be able to experience the same sentiments. This spring, BGSU held a kickoff event for students who have been accepted into the Peace Corps and plan to begin service this summer. The event celebrated the achievements these young leaders have made, and will soon make on their journeys around the world. 

“Every community has its own unique needs and challenges, so hearing from and working with the people directly will be an extremely valuable experience,” said James Johnston, a doctoral candidate in philosophy. Johnston will be serving for two years in Zambia as a maternal and child health promoter. 

“It seems as though the world has become very divisive in recent years,” Johnston said. “I think work like this is important for me and the world because it allows both parties to see the humanity that we all share.”

While Johnston sought Peace Corps service on his own terms, BGSU is continuing to formalize these opportunities for students through the Peace Corps Prep program. This campus-wide collaborative effort works to bring the principles of Peace Corps service to undergraduates interested in becoming volunteers. The program allows undergraduate students to complete their desired degrees while incorporating courses that carry out the mission of the Peace Corps. 

“The Peace Corps Prep program adds a layer of intentionality to the course of study,” said Beatrice Guenther, co-director of PCP and director of the international studies program. “Students are less likely to select a course just to ‘fulfill a requirement,’ as connections between courses become evident without leading to a duplication of classes.”

Undergraduates take courses in intercultural competency, foreign languages and leadership development, and must complete community service work within the region. Students in the Prep program work closely with RPCVs to complete service hours, receive advice on the application process and to get a firsthand idea of the obligations and benefits of service.

“This program is great for anyone who is interested in working in an intercultural organization or nonprofit, not just Peace Corps applicants,” said Olive Bartholomew, a junior majoring in International Studies and Spanish and is one of a handful of students to be accepted into the program thus far. “I am interested in serving because I see the opportunity as a valuable cultural exchange.”

Students interested in the Peace Corps Prep program can learn more by connecting with the International Studies Program or the Center for Community and Civic Engagement. Students will be connected with Peace Corps Campus Ambassadors and RPCVs who can walk students through the application process.

Peace Corps Campus Ambassadors are selected by local Peace Corps recruiters to promote volunteerism and educate college students about the program. Olivia Romeo, a junior studying neuroscience, currently serves as the ambassador for BGSU. 

“We are responsible for connecting with the diverse groups on campus through group discussions, class presentations and social media,” Romeo said.

While participation in the Prep program does not guarantee a student will be selected into the Peace Corps, the program will provide students with a certificate from the Peace Corps detailing the student’s commitment to exercising the core values of the organization. Having this distinction sets BGSU graduates ahead of the curve when applying for positions involving international or cultural relations.

Enhancing these connections with the Peace Corps has established a unique network only experienced by a few universities in the country. This ongoing partnership is just one of the ways BGSU strives to promote local and global public good.

MACIE Student Ann Schmitt Publishes Article about the Educational Challenges of Migrant Children

March 2019

By Sarah Mehler

A 2017 graduate from the Master of Arts in Cross-Cultural and International Education (MACIE) program, Ann Schmitt is a native Ohioan. She was raised in Lima, Ohio and earned her undergraduate degree in Spanish Education at Bowling Green State University (BGSU) in 2013. After her undergraduate degree, she says that she was drawn to the MACIE program, because of her passion for language acquisition and educational research. While getting her MA, she also earned a graduate certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) at BGSU. Ann currently lives in Durham, North Carolina, where she works at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as a student services manager, which involves coordinating all of the graduate programs in the Hussman School of Journalism and Media.

While in Bowling Green, Schmitt enjoyed volunteering as an English teacher at La Conexion, a  local non-profit organization that strives to connect and represent the growing Latinx community (“Latinx” is a gender neutral descriptor for a person from Latin American descent) in the area, as well as provide valuable resources, such as English classes and other capacity building and enrichment opportunities. Ann hopes to start teaching community English courses again soon. Eventually, she would also like to continue her studies and keep doing research.

At BGSU, Schmitt’s connection to the local Latinx community and Ohio Migrant Education Center (OMEC). During her time in the MACIE program, she worked with OMEC data under the guidance of two professors, Dr. Sherri L. Horner and Dr. Matthew Lavery, to write her thesis as a culminating capstone.

In November 2019, Schmitt, Horner and Lavery published an article, which drew from Schmitt’s MACIE thesis, in the journal Literacy Research and Instruction called “The Impact of Summer Programs on the English Language Scores of Migrant Children" which is available on Taylor & Francis Online. The article deals with the educational challenges around Latinx migrant children of farmworkers, who participated in OMEC's data collection with regards to the impact of summer education programs on English learning.

From the article’s abstract: "Children of Migrant and Seasonal Farmworkers (MSFWs) in the United States face educational challenges from language barriers and disjointed schooling due to migration and other factors. This quasi-experimental pretest/posttest study investigated whether summer Migrant Education Programs (MEP) could help prevent summer learning loss in English proficiency. Kindergarten through fourth-grade Latinx migrant students who attended MEP summer programs in Northwest Ohio were assessed with the IDEA Proficiency Test (n = 246) and the i-Ready Diagnostic (n = 92). Paired samples t-tests analyzed pre/post differences, and ANOVA and ANCOVA analyzed differences in gains between school locations and grade levels. On average, migrant students attending the MEP experienced significant gains in their English speaking and language art scores over the summer. These gains did not differ significantly by grade; however, they did differ by school. Results suggest that these programs may prevent learning loss, even resulting in summer learning gains for some children of MSFWs" (Schmitt, Horner & Lavery, 2019, p. 1).

We wanted to celebrate her hard work and accomplishment, so we reached out to Ann Schmitt and asked her to share a bit about her process of inspiration, writing and publication.

How did MACIE impact you and your work?

“I learned so many amazing skills from the MACIE program. A few exceptionally relevant things I learned were how to be a good consumer of research and how to be a strong writer. Also, I learned how to look at issues in a conceptual way and apply theoretical frames to real-life issues. Learning about the social and cultural foundations of education changed the way I think about the world.”

What drew you to the topic "The Impact of Summer Programs on the English Language Scores of Migrant Children," and how did you find the data set you used?

“Throughout the MACIE program I focused on English education and bilingual education in the United States, especially social and political issues around language education. Through connections in the College of Education, I was introduced to Jose Salinas, the director of OMEC. He was extremely supportive and encouraging during the whole process, and he gave me permission to use the data. He also provided his expertise about the program in general. I was drawn to the topic because I knew there was a lack of current research on the population, and the students were particularly at-risk. I hoped that even my small work of research could help spark more studies in this area.”

How was the process of publishing?

“Thankfully, Dr. Sherri Horner and Dr. Matthew Lavery have experience with publishing academic articles! They were invaluable throughout the submission and revising process. I definitely learned a lot, and it was really interesting to see the work improve upon multiple revisions. It can be difficult to receive comments that are negative or hard to address, but overall I enjoyed the process.”

Do you have any advice for current or future MACIE students?

“This might sound cliché, but definitely take time for yourself during graduate school. There are a lot of pressures and you could easily work 12 hours a day, seven days a week. It is important to have fun outside of the academy! Don't be afraid to ask for help or to admit when you don't know something. Everyone is always learning!”

Reference:

Schmitt, A. M., Horner, S. L., & Lavery, M. R. (2019). The Impact of Summer Programs on the English Language Scores of Migrant Children. Literacy Research and Instruction, 1-16.

MACIE Student Sarah Heineken Receives German Studies Research Grant 

August 2018

MACIE student Sarah Heineken (MACIE ’19) received a German Studies Research Grant from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) for Summer 2018. DAAD invites highly qualified undergraduate and graduate students to apply for funding to conduct a short-term research project. As DAAD states, “the program is designed to encourage research and promote the study of cultural, political, historical, economic and social aspects of modern and contemporary German affairs from an inter- and multidisciplinary perspective.” We sat down with Sarah to find out more about her research.

How did you become interested in German Studies?

Initially, I became interested in German language and culture by doing a gap year after high school through the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange Program. This led me to pursue a degree in German Studies at Oberlin College, as well as complete two more academic year-abroad programs in Germany, including working a year as an English Teaching Assistant through the Fulbright Student Program in the city of Dresden.

What was your research topic for your grant project, and how did you choose this subject?

During my time as a Fulbright ETA in Dresden, Germany was at its peak of receiving refugees displaced by the Syrian Civil War. Immigration and asylum popped up in many of the conversations I had with my colleagues at the middle school where I was working. It was interesting to see how their views and opinions compared and contrasted with younger Germans, such as the student teachers and other language assistants who worked at the school.

Dresden is the capital of the state of Saxony, a region which, unfortunately, has a reputation for neo-Nazis and right-wing political parties. I was surprised at many of my colleagues’ willingness to talk about immigration and asylum speakers, often with great compassion and thoughtfulness. As I progressed in my MACIE courses, I kept coming back to my experiences in Dresden and decided to try and shed light on a region that often goes overlooked when discussing refugees in Germany.

How did you structure your research?

My study is a qualitative, phenomenological case study entitled “German Student Teacher Candidates of Syrian Refugees in Dresden: How do German student teachers of first-generation, first- and secondary-school-aged children perceive their role in their refugee students’ lives?” I chose Henri Tajfel’s Social Identity Theory and Pierre Bourdieu’s theories of cultural and social reproduction and social capital theory as my theoretical frameworks so that I could address how teachers select the aspects of German culture and language they deem as critical to pass along to refugee students. I also wanted to address how teachers perceive themselves with regards to others on both macro and micro scales (for example, how do student teacher candidates perceive themselves amongst their peers and fellow university students, versus how society at large perceives student teachers and their work).

My method originally included conducting both individual interviews and focus groups, but due to time and population constraints, I mainly focused on individual interviews. I was able to recruit 11 participants for my study. I had a fairly even gender balance among my subjects, with five women and six men. Within this group of participants, I had a few sub-populations. The first sub-population included two participants who were not teaching candidates through the TU Dresden Education (Lehramt) program, but were either studying to be classroom aides to students with special needs or studying sociology but had worked both for the German government and abroad teaching refugees. The second and third sub-populations included students who had already taught refugee students, and those who would be teaching these students in the near future or later on in their studies. Finally, the fourth and fifth sub-groups in my subjects were those teachers whose teaching specialization was German as a second language and teachers who specialized in different and/or more traditional subjects.

The interviews were conducted predominantly on the campus of TU Dresden (some were conducted off campus to accommodate participants’ schedules). Interviews were planned as two, 50-minute sessions; often the interviews ran over or well under time, mostly depending on the subjects’ amount of teaching experience or lack thereof. During the interviews, most subjects seemed relaxed and at ease, I believe in large part due to the interviews being conducted in German. This lead to very data-rich interviews, often not only answering all the questions on the protocol, but raising further question and points of conversation that came organically through the interview process.

How did you hear about this grant, and what was the application process like?

One of my Graduate Assistantships is with the Education Abroad Office. On their website, they have many links to funding opportunities for students at all levels, and I was browsing through the many options when I came across DAAD. I had actually known about this organization from my undergraduate studies, but didn’t realize at that time that they also had grants available for research in addition to German language courses. I decided to apply for the German Studies Research Grant, which is a short-term grant for students of any major wishing to conduct research on a topic related to German culture, society, or literature.

The application process was very rigorous. I had applied for scholarships and smaller grants, but it was my first time writing a research proposal. I met many times with my advisor and my research methodologist, who very kindly let me use some of their successful grant proposals as a template. I also had to read a lot of primary and secondary literature to help me build a strong case for why my study filled a gap in the existing research on similar topics. I also had to submit a host of documentation, including recommendation letters, a German language assessment, transcripts, and a letter of support from a potential subject.

What advice do you have for students wishing to conduct research abroad or applying for grant funding?

Plan as far in advance as you can! I wish I had looked into funding options much earlier, as I decided to apply for the grant in early October, and the due date was November 1. Be sure to start searching for scholarships and grants as soon as you have a great research idea (and be sure to look at BGSU’s Education Abroad Scholarship webpage). I would also recommend asking your professors and advisors to see some of their grant writing, to get a feeling both for the structure as well as the writing style. Finally, do not be afraid to try! I was very intimidated by attempting to apply for a grant without much experience, but with a little faith and guidance, I was able to get funded to return to a city that meant so much to me, and that I got to know even better through the lens of academic research.

Dr. Bruce Collet's Book Explores Schools' Potential for Helping Immigrants Assimilate

March 2018

Read the full story at BGSU News- Collet's Book Explores Schools' Potential for Helping Immigrants Assimilate

As the Western world sees a new influx of immigrants, many with strong religious affiliations, countries are grappling with how to help them acculturate into their new societies.

Dr. Bruce Collet, associate professor in the School of Educational Foundations, Leadership and Policy and coordinator of the Master of Arts in Cross-Cultural and International Education program in the College of Education and Human Development, sees the important role public schools have in this process. In his new book, "Migration, Religion, and Schooling in Liberal Democratic States" (Routledge, 2018) he lays out recommendations on how these institutions can help facilitate immigrants' integration.

Drawing from political philosophy, the sociology of migration and the philosophy of education, Collet argues that public schools in liberal democratic states can best facilitate the pluralistic integration of religious migrant students through adopting policies of recognition and accommodation that are not only reasonable in light of liberal democratic principles, but also informed by what we understand regarding the natural role religion often plays in acculturation.

Collet posits the question of how public schools in liberal democratic states — those that place a high value on freedom and autonomy — can help immigrants and refugees create a "sense of belongingness" to their new homes.

"It really is about how educational policymakers and teachers can better understand the connection between religion and acculturation," he said.

Collet's interest in this issue stems from a combination of scholarly work and personal experience.

"My parents were emblematic of the 1960s," he said. "They wanted to throw off the constraints of the '50s. We moved to Madison, Wisconsin, when I was 7, and the journey for them was spiritual in a way not available to them when they were growing up. At a very early age, I saw the connection between migration and faith, as my mother, who was involved in the Quaker movement, worked with Central American refugees. Later, for my dissertation, I worked with Somali immigrants in the Toronto area on the relationship between the migration experience and perception of a national identity. Working with the Somalians, generally a religious lot, I found that religion surfaced as an important element of the diaspora and it piqued my curiosity."

For his current work, Collet found that religion can sometimes be front and center, either as an impediment or facilitator of integration into a new culture.

"Schools in liberal democratic states have a vital role to play in helping migrant students integrate into their new society, and it is important that they begin by understanding how and where migrants feel they 'belong,'" he said.

"Religion, not always, but often, will play a positive role in selective acculturation of new immigrants," he said. "One way is through institutions—such as churches, temples, and mosques—as points of entry for social networks and employment, and to provide an anchor or sense of security for immigrants."

But how can public schools become part of this integration process in which religion is so important? According to Collet, one thing policymakers can do is begin to truly understand the importance of a child's religion, and not just accept it.

"Take, for example, a first-generation Muslim girl from Yemen who wears a hijab," he said. "We may allow her to do so, as our society values the free expression of religion. But we don't have an understanding as to why it is important to her identity, why it gives her a sense of security, so I'm hoping that the book will contribute to the conversation and why it matters for many children."

Better understanding of the religion of new immigrants can steer policy leaders toward addressing issues that are important, such as praying spaces, dress codes and even instruction about religion to help non-immigrant students better understand their immigrant and refugee peers.

In the book, Collet also looks at how autonomy and independence impact immigrant students.

"One of the grounding principles of a liberal democratic state is freedom — which could include the ability to question, and sometimes leave, a religion," he said. "We value that as a core facet of being a member of a democratic state. We can ask: Can one be religious and autonomous? When given the opportunity to learn about other religions, it can give migrant students a chance to examine their own religion more objectively."

"This is all part of the American story," he said. "So many American families have been through this. Migrant are frequently a religious group, and we need to understand that religion and integration are not incompatible. We also need to address the mythology that immigrants who hold fast to their cultural and religious identities will fragment American society — we have to look at the evidence, which often points in the opposite direction. Integration does not mean giving up one's cultural, religious and linguistic backgrounds. However, integration does require the participation of migrants in their new society, which in this case means embracing the fundamental principles of equality, key individual freedoms and the freedom to realize one's autonomy."

While working on the book, Collet served as a Visiting Research Fellow at the Refugee Studies Centre at the University of Oxford, and has discussed his findings at universities in the United Kingdom and China.

"It has been so interesting to hear how audiences from different parts of the world and cultures have different concerns," he said. "Just fascinating to hear the variety of questions people have based on where they are located."

He'll have a chance to put some of his recommendations into play a little more locally, as he is working with the North Olmsted City Schools on a grant to fund a teacher professional development project drawing from several ideas presented in his book.

"It will involve a series of workshops, including student storytelling in a district that has a large immigrant community," he said. "The teachers are working hard, but it is often out of their wheelhouse. This work will inform the workshops and put the recommendations into practice."

Dr. Luis Macías Forges New Paths of Understanding Undocumented Youth 

January 2018

By Andrew Peper

Dr. Luis Fernando Macías is a MACIE graduate, and is now an assistant professor in Chicano and Latin American Studies at Fresno State University, California. Topics he examines include Latino studies, immigration studies, and ethnic studies.

Dr. Macías grew up in El Paso, Texas on the border between the U.S. and Mexico. His mother moved his family there so that they would have the opportunity to pursue their education. Growing up, he was enrolled in an ESL program. He then went on to pursue a degree in Spanish/Translation at the University of Texas at El Paso.

After his undergraduate studies he joined the Peace Corps, serving as an ESL teacher in Kazakhstan.

Following his return, he worked as a Board of Immigration Appeals Accredited Representative for an immigration non-profit organization in El Paso, Texas.

Coming to Bowling Green State University and the MACIE program

With these immigrant advocacy and international ESL teaching experiences, Macías applied for the MACIE program through the Peace Corps Coverdell Fellowship program.

Reflecting on this, Dr. Macías states, “MACIE stood out for several reasons; it seemed to really take into consideration the skill set that I had and how I would be able to contribute to the classroom and what I would be able to learn as well.”

Before entering the MACIE program, Macías never really saw himself as being able to contribute to scholarship, but said that through the guidance and mentorship of MACIE faculty he realized that research and scholarship needs voices like his and that he could participate. As he states, “MACIE helped me figure out that I had a unique contribution to make to scholarship, [and] I had a voice that reflected the experiences of many people like myself, but without speaking on their behalf.”

Unique aspects of the MACIE program

Speaking on some of the aspects that make the program and the students that are enrolled in it special, Macías states, “They have an organically diversified the student body in such a way that it reflects the mission of MACIE….. You have students that have very important international experience, bringing that to the classroom here.”

While talking about the focus of the MACIE program and its curriculum he spoke about how the program itself had a curricula that reflected the student body, a direction relation to “the issues that are going on in global education.” Dr. Macías goes on to say; “You are not only living in theory, in curriculum, but able to connect the dots in a program that has produced scholars, advocates, administrators, and educators. MACIE has really gotten a hold of what they want to produce; a variety of globally and socially conscious minded individuals.”

Current areas of work and research

Dr. Macías has been doing research on the experiences of DACA students and related issues pertaining to equity. DACA was an executive action take in 2012, approved by President Obama. It is a deferred action from deportation. It did not exempt recipients from deportation, but Immigration & Customs enforcement deprioritized eligible people. DACA allowed eligible people to apply for work permits that they could renew every two years.

Much of Dr. Macías research has taken place in the Ohio area; “Ohio is an emerging immigrant state, and North West Ohio has very rich historic and emerging immigrant communities.” Much of his research has been specifically on how DACA residents in Ohio are effected by legislation and how they affect legislation. As he puts it; “I am researching how DACA recipients in Ohio have changed [toward] state tuition legislation to be inclusive of them, that they continue to advocate for themselves and for the group as a whole to be admitted equally into institutions of higher education, and how it is that they are able to continue their education even though they are excluded from federal financial aid, from U.S. citizenship, and residency, and what does that perseverance look like without feeding into the narrative of ‘exceptional dreamer’.”

He believes that all students should have equal opportunities; “Why can’t you be an average student and still have the foundation to reach excellence through the support of institutions?”

With recent legislation, DACA has been effectively canceled and this has left many unsure if they will be able to keep their current jobs and be able to still afford schooling as well as the worry about their current documentation status. One of the most important things Dr. Macías wants us all to remember is that migrants “are economically, socially, and culturally are all part of the fabric of the United States.”

Fulbright Fellowships to Send MACIE Graduates to Mexico and Rwanda

May 2015

Read the full story at BGSU News- Fulbright Fellowship to Send Graduates to Mexico, Rwanda

Two BGSU students will be trading their American classrooms for others in Mexico and Rwanda this August as recipients of Fulbright English Teaching Assistant Fellowships. For both, it will be the next step in a series of international experiences.

Samantha Boss will be headed to Mexico after her August graduation, and Jessica Batterton will teach in Rwanda; she graduated May 8. Although they do not yet know their exact assignments, both are eager to go abroad again. Both women were Peace Corps volunteers, and both received their graduate degrees through BGSU’s Master of Arts in Cultural and International Education program (MACIE), a Peace Corps Fellows program.

The Fulbright U.S. Student Program is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Recipients of Fulbright grants are selected on the basis of academic or professional achievement, as well as demonstrated leadership potential in their fields.

Although they chose different areas of specializations in their graduate program, Boss and Batterton share a love of language and literacy that they hope to bring to others.

Samantha Boss

Boss, from Solon, Ohio, spent her Peace Corps service in in Guatemala, where she was a municipal health coordinator focusing on health and hygiene for 14 elementary schools in and around Zunil, a highlands town of about 20,000. Fluent in Spanish, Boss also learned the local language of K’iche’ and became interested in trilingualism, common in Latin America. At the end of that assignment, she extended her stay another year to work in literacy efforts.

In her MACIE program, she concentrated on Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL). “The TESOL classes balance the MACIE coursework in theory with practical learning,” she said. “Eventually, I’d like to work in book publishing with indigenous populations, mentoring local writers and helping provide a way for them to publish in their own languages.”

Boss will gain additional teaching experience during her MACIE required internship this summer, as a paraprofessional with the Fremont schools’ Ohio Migrant Education Center.

Jessica Batterton

Batterton, from Vienna, Va., as a Peace Corps volunteer worked in Mozambique teaching English in the district capital of Inhassoro, a fishing town on the Indian Ocean.  “I taught English to students in eighth, ninth and tenth grades, which was the highest level in Inhassoro at that time,” she said (today classes go up to 12th grade). “I had students from 14 to 50 years old. The older ones were in the night classes I also taught.”

Batterton’s MACIE concentration was in Educational Development and Marginalized Populations, and included classes in political economy, ethnic studies and history.

“I gained a lot of knowledge that will help me understand the local context and how policies affect local populations,” she said. “I’m able to think more critically now about why things are happening.”

She enjoyed her graduate assistantship during her first year of graduate school as a writing consultant at BGSU’s Learning Commons tutoring center, and said she is eager to get back into one-on-one teaching. In Rwanda, she plans to start a theater club that would combine English and Ikinyarwanda to help students improve their English and to enable people of different generations to connect. She also has an interest in national language policies and how they affect populations. In 2008, Rwanda changed its language of instruction from French to English. English is currently the language of instruction in secondary schools.

“I’m curious to see how that process has unfolded,” Batterton said.

International adventure

Their love of international culture began early, said Batterton and Boss, with family trips here and abroad. As a high school student, Boss traveled to Ecuador, and as an undergraduate majoring in international studies and development at American University in Washington, D.C., she participated in study abroad in Argentina and Nigeria.

Batterton’s “love of travel and sense of adventure” developed from a young age, she said. She majored in history and Spanish at the University of Virginia, and studied in Peru. Her Spanish skills translated fairly well to Mozambique, she said, where the national language is Portuguese.

Fulbright at BGSU

BGSU has been successful in recent years in helping graduates obtain student Fulbright awards, whether in research or teaching. Boss and Batterton give a lot of the credit to BGSU Fulbright Program Adviser Jenifer Chambers, director of education abroad and international partnerships in the Office of International Programs and Partnerships, who shepherded them through the process. “Jenifer Chambers is amazing!” they agreed.

The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and those of other countries. The program operates in over 155 countries worldwide.

Class of 2014 Success Stories: A Deeper Understanding of Global Needs

December 2014

By Pete Fairbairn

Read the full story at BGSU News- Class 2014 Success Stories: A Deeper Understanding of Global Needs

Kevin McClellan ’14 is a Paul D. Coverdell Peace Corps Fellow who just received his MA in Cross-Cultural & International Education (MACIE) — including a public health cognate — that builds upon his education and food security work with the Peace Corps and Red Cross in West Africa.

The Toledo native came to the MACIE program as a returning Peace Corps volunteer and a Coverdell Fellow. McClellan had served in Burkina Faso between 2006 and 2009, adding a third year to the normal two in order to work with both the Peace Corps and the Red Cross.

Following that, McClellan re-upped to become a part of Peace Corps Response Mali in 2010. This assignment took him to Bamako, Mali, to work on a food security program supported by USAID.

“The Peace Corps Response program is designed for Peace Corps veterans to provide another volunteer opportunity, but with a little more responsibility, said McClellan. “I was able to apply what I had learned in Burkina Faso, working in a shorter time frame but at an accelerated pace.”

Education and food security in West Africa

McClellan started out in education with the Peace Corps during his volunteer service in Burkina Faso. He was responsible for running afterschool programs, study tables and various other ideas to get kids studying outside of school.

The village had no running water or electricity; so much of his time was spent finding different ways to carry out the Peace Corps’ educational mission with very few community resources.

“Throughout that experience, I began to see that you can’t really deal with educational issues in a vacuum,” recalled McClellan. “There are a lot of other issues going on around it — nutrition, health and hygiene — and those issues need to be addressed as well.”

It was a turning point for McClellan, and the intersections between education and food security in West Africa would soon lead him to the MACIE program at Bowling Green.

Coverdell and MACIE offer the perfect fit

After spending some more time in Bamako as a consultant, McClellan returned to Toledo and began considering what might come next after his international service experiences.

“I was working in Toledo in late 2011 at Kids Unlimited — an after-school and summer program for under-served kids — and recalled hearing about the MACIE program at BG, as well as the Coverdell Fellows program,” said McClellan.

It turns out that BGSU is one of about 80 universities across 33 states and the District of Columbia that partners with the Paul D. Coverdell Peace Corps Fellows program to offer financial assistance to returning Peace Corps Volunteers. Bowling Green has sixteen graduate degree programs and three graduate certificates designed to build upon the volunteers’ service and to help apply the many skills they have acquired in the field.

As McClellan looked more closely at MACIE, he realized that it encompassed the key areas he had already worked in — namely, education and public health, the latter being one of five cognates offered within the program.

“In my case, the combination of education and public health aligned perfectly with my education background as well as my work with nutrition and agriculture issues.”

While McClellan had not originally planned to go back for his master’s degree, he had come to realize that many of the job opportunities that interested him either preferred or required a master’s degree. And so he enrolled in the MACIE program as a Coverdell Fellow in the fall of 2012.

High expectations and flexibility

“There are so many different avenues to take in the program,” observed McClellan. “The faculty tends to be flexible, allowing you to pursue the research that interests you while completing the program’s requirements.”

“There are so many different avenues to take in the program,” observed McClellan. “The faculty tends to be flexible, allowing you to pursue the research that interests you while completing the program’s requirements.”

This approach has allowed the Peace Corps veteran to build upon his experiences in West Africa. In addition, McClellan was able to take consulting jobs during the last two summers with myAgro Farms in Bamako, further reinforcing his graduate school experience.

“I’ve been able to take some of the things I saw while overseas in a sort of informal way and then go back and get a greater understanding through the coursework and research,” said McClellan. “The quality of the faculty here has been outstanding.”

He cited Drs. L. Fleming Fallon and Hailu Kassa for their excellence within his Public Health classes, as well as the entire MACIE faculty, including Drs. Christopher Frey, Bruce Collet, Hyeyoung Bang and Sherri Horner. He also wanted to recognize the valuable input and support he received from Dr. Brian Campbell and Amanda Vrooman during his time as a graduate assistant in the Office of Assessment and Research.

“My program has a rigorous curriculum to be sure, and faculty members have very high expectations, which is great,” said McClellan. “I had the opportunity to work very closely with them on their research.”

He pointed to the IREX program as a great example, which brings educators from all over the world to Bowling Green.

“These teachers come in from all these different countries with different cultural backgrounds, different religions, different beliefs and attitudes,” said McClellan.   “MACIE students come from working or living internationally for the most part, and we were able to put all of that together and to understand a little bit better where this diverse group of teachers was coming from.”

Sense of community

“I’ve had a great experience here at BGSU in the MACIE program,” said McClellan. “The program allowed some flexibility when I needed it, and the combination of getting the educational foundation with my public health cognate was the right combination for me.”

He also pointed to BGSU’s participation in the Northwest Ohio Consortium for Public Health, which allowed him to take public health classes both at BG and at the University of Toledo Medical Center in order to earn a certificate in Global Health.

Perhaps one of the greatest aspects of his time at BGSU was the sense of community among his fellow Peace Corps volunteers.

“I really enjoyed having all of these other people around me with similar experiences,” said McClellan. “You don’t get that very much elsewhere. You know where they are coming from and that ‘they get it’ … even about readjusting to life in the U.S., which can be a sort of reverse culture shock.”

Peace Corps Gives Students Opportunities to Help Others

October 5, 2014

By Myah Lanier 

Read the full story at BG Falcon Media- Peace Corps Give Students Opportunities to Help Others

The Peace Corps is a two-year commitment that promotes traveling, diversity and helping different cultures around the world.

The organization has been in Bowling Green for quite some time.

One aspect that can determine the Peace Corps’ success is the volunteers, which are usually graduating students.

They usually get an average of ten thousand volunteers a year, according to Peace Corps Recruiter Annabel Khouri.

“We get such a great turnout because we have great recruiting,” she said. “We give information on campus at the career fairs, at Campus Fest and we partner with different organizations who want to make a difference.”

Striving to make a difference is something they strive for and in order to do so they offer a variety of programs for volunteers.

“There are many sectors. [Volunteers] can be an education volunteer, a health volunteer or agriculture and environment volunteer,” Volunteer Jessica Batterton said.

The beginning process usually takes about a year before volunteers are even in another country.

“It was a very long application process. I had to [have a] medical examination to be able to go and do the job,” Batterton said. “Once I was done with that, I got a letter saying where I was stationed and I went there to start my education training.”

Not only is the experience to be worth it, she said, but it’s also one that students can afford.

In order for students to afford to participate, the government funds it.

“We get about $200 a month to cover all expenses,” Volunteer Lindsay Goldberg said. “It’s enough money to live off of because we are going into another country and their cost of living is different from the U.S.”

Some volunteers say the reason for joining the organization is for the learning experience, both culturally and academically.

“This was a way for me to go abroad and take on different challenges with a long commitment,” Goldberg said.

Professor Sherri Horner, a former volunteer, said the opportunity was great and one that made her who she is today.

“After I graduated, I wanted a job that was meaningful and where I could be in the position to help others and travel, so this was a great way to do so,” Horner said.

Horner said the goals of the organization have been successful and provided students with new culture perspectives.

“[The Peace Corps] helps you build a lot of personal development, I think it provides you with great opportunity to go overseas and do volunteer work. Students should really consider becoming a peace Corps Volunteer,” Batterton said.

Traditional Healing in a Modern World: Martin Named Fulbright Student Scholar to Indonesia

August 2014

By Bonnie Blankinship

Read the full story at BGSU News- Traditional Healing in a Modern World

As graduation speakers are fond of saying, the commencement ceremony does not represent an end, but a beginning. That is certainly true for Samantha Martin, an August graduate in the Cross-Cultural and International Education (MACIE) program at Bowling Green State University.

For Martin, commencement was the next steppingstone in her evolution as a scholar. She is preparing to return to Indonesia in early September, this time as a Fulbright Student Scholar. She served in the island nation as a Peace Corps volunteer in 2010-12. Backing her at BGSU has been a campus-wide support team of faculty and staff.

Martin with some of her students at the Islamic High School of Panekan, in East Java, during her Peace Corps service.

Martin's will conduct research in Indonesia

Martin will conduct a case study of traditional healing practices on Java, the most populous of the thousands of islands that make up Indonesia.

“I have been approved for my research permit from the Indonesian government and am now waiting for my visa to be processed,” she reported. “I have been doing some preliminary research. I received some great help from Dr. Jeremy Wallach and Dr. Esther Clinton in the popular culture studies department at BGSU, who directed me to some great materials and books on Indonesian culture and history. They both have experience in Indonesia, and Dr. Wallach in particular has done quite a bit of research there himself.

“I've also been starting to connect with the existing Peace Corps network in Java, and hopefully those connections will help me learn about communities that may be interested in hosting me and participating in the research project.”

Fulbright grants

Student Fulbright grants are very selective; this year there were only 12 research grants and about 30 English-teaching assistantships given. The application process is difficult. Martin said she’s grateful for the support she received from BGSU’s International Student Services.

“They were wonderful. They helped me refine my proposal and tailor it. Having their advice and experience was invaluable.”

Martin with neighborhood children who studied English with her after school most days.

Martin said she also received important advice and assistance from Dr. Nancy Patterson in the School of Teaching and Learning, who had been a Fulbright scholar, and MACIE director Dr. Christopher Frey, who had also worked with the Navajo people, as Martin did in her undergraduate program. “We shared the same experience, around 10 years apart,” Martin said.

Patterson, who has worked with Martin on two grant submissions related to Indonesia, said, “Sam is a singular person who is the perfect mix of compassion and initiative. Whenever I work with her, I learn about myself, which is the sign of a true teacher and humanitarian. Most impressive is her command of Bahasa Indonesia, which I have seen her use with fluency and grace on our Skype calls with her good friends at Universitas Muhammadiyah Malang. Sam Martin will continue to elevate BGSU’s reputation in Indonesia, and I relish hearing about her work in years to come.”

The Indonesian context

Indonesia is the fourth most populous country in the world, and an important trading partner. Yet, like most U.S. citizens, Martin knew almost nothing of the country until she served there with the Peace Corps. She was part of the first cohort to serve there since 1964 following President Barack Obama’s 2009 re-opening of relations with Indonesia.

The complex culture of the island nation resonated with Martin.

After having personally experienced traditional healing practices both while on Java in the Peace Corps and while she was a student teacher in the Navajo Nation as an undergraduate at Indiana University at Bloomington, Martin became interested in how a person in today’s world becomes a traditional healer, and what their status is in their community. And, in the case of Java, how contemporary Indonesian Islam overlaps with secular Javanese healing arts, and how traditional practices have evolved.

“In rural areas, people may identify as Muslim, but the elements of traditional culture may be a little stronger,” Martin said. “I’d like to know which traditional cultural practices are still being held onto and why. And whether young people are still becoming healers and what their path is toward that.”

“I want to be contributing something, not just taking information from them and leaving”Martin’s master’s thesis is a case study of women healers in south-central Indiana. “The possibilities for a comparative project on healers’ experiences in the U.S. and Indonesia are exciting to me,” she said.

In addition to her research, Martin also will do volunteer teaching in local schools during her Fulbright stay. “I want to be contributing something, not just taking information from them and leaving,” she said. “I like teaching and working with kids.”

Indonesia is a rich mix of all the influences over the centuries from the various traders who came through, bringing with them their religions and cultures. Among them have been Arab, Indian and Chinese traders, Buddhists and Hindus, and 300-plus years of Dutch colonialism. Two typical dishes, meatballs and fried rice, reflect the multicultural background of the country.

“It’s been 65 years since independence from the Dutch and now there are burgeoning markets and a lot of money there, although there are huge income gaps,” Martin said. “The country is also very wealthy in natural resources. Technology is booming, and they’ve effectively skipped over landlines and now everyone communicates by cellphones. They access the Internet daily from their smartphones. Indonesia is quickly becoming globalized and more prominent on the international scene.”

Martin will be based during her 10-month sojourn at her host university, the Universitas Muhammadiyah Malang, and will travel to rural communities to interview from eight to 15 traditional healers and their clients in depth. She expects to draw on her connections in several areas and then, through them, meet others, staying with local families at times.

Getting around on Java is not nearly the challenge it can be in some countries, Martin said. “Java is the most densely populated island in the world and there’s so much public transportation that it’s easy. It’s not the two-hour bike ride to even see anyone that is often associated with Peace Corps service.”

Matin's background led her to this point

Reflecting on her life so far, she said, “I never thought when I entered the Peace Corps and was assigned to a nation I knew nothing about that Southeast Asian Studies would turn out to be so interesting to me. But MACIE helped give me some direction, and helped me develop my thesis project. That’s what’s so special about MACIE: you have a group of really neat people with such diverse experiences and it’s still small enough to be very intimate.”

Before learning she’d been accepted into the Fulbright program, Martin was accepted by several U.S. universities’ doctoral programs. Her Fulbright experience on Java is sure to enrich and inform her future educational and professional choices.

Global Education on a Personal Scale 

February 2014

Read the full story at BGSU News- Global Education on a Personal Scale

They come from around the globe, from rural areas and cities. Many have never been outside their own countries. And while all teach English, only a few are from countries where English is spoken regularly — making for an interesting variety of accents, dialects and perspectives, noted Dr. Christopher Frey, co-director of the BGSU Teaching Excellence and Achievement (TEA) Program in the College of Education and Human Development.

The bond of shared experience being forged among the 17 outstanding secondary language arts teachers, who have converged on BGSU for a six-week, intensive learning experience, and their hosts will make it hard to say goodbye, said Zahra Ailane, a high school teacher from Algeria. “I’ve already been wondering about how we’ll do that. We’ve learned a lot from each other,” she said.

Six area schools are also partnering with BGSU to welcome the visitors to observe and teach classes and interact with teachers and students. The international teachers have had home stays with partner-school teachers, BGSU faculty and the Bowling Green and Marion communities, and have visited Chicago, Columbus and Detroit. Their visit will culminate in a post-program debriefing in Washington, D.C.

The University and community will have the opportunity to meet and chat with the group at International Educator Night from 6-8 p.m. this evening (March 3) in the Multi-purpose Room at the Bowen-Thompson Student Union. Hosting will be the BGSU International Democratic Education Institute (IDEI), the Office of Multicultural Affairs and the Northwest Ohio World Affairs Council. Another get-together will be held at Eastwood Junior High School on March 11.

This is the second time BGSU has hosted an International Research and Education Board (IREX) group; last year focused on science and English teachers. This year, BGSU is providing the experience with the overarching theme of “Gender Equity and Gender-inclusive Approaches to Teaching and Learning.”  The theme is embedded throughout the series of workshops and seminars, said Dr. Sharon Subreenduth, a School of Teaching and Learning faculty member, co-director of IDEI, and director of the IREX-TEA Program at BGSU.

“We have developed a customized program for our TEA fellows,” she said. “Also, we are the only institution that is offering this specific focus on gender, so we are serving as a pilot for the IREX organization as they will likely utilize this focus for future TEA programs.”

TEA fellows utilize multiple readings and engage in activities as a way to reflect on and analyze their own experiences related to gender dynamics in their classrooms, educational and societal culture in general as well as educational policy and social media.

“Bringing a diverse group of seasoned educators onto campus to interact with faculty and students has been invaluable for us to learn more about what is possible and good about education here and abroad,” said Frey, School of Educational Foundations, Leadership and Policy Studies.

The group has movingly heard from one of the teachers about the duress schools in his country face when confronted by drug gangs demanding extortion money, about the challenges facing both girls and boys in some countries over being able to continue attending school, and the danger of even teaching English in some places, where some see it as an unwanted foreign presence. Or simply about having to teach 60-100 students with few of the materials an American teacher would take for granted.

“And yet they work around obstacles and continue being very good teachers,” Frey said.

There have been overturned assumptions in the other direction, as well. Ailane said she was surprised to learn that not all children in the U.S. have Internet in their homes, as in Algeria they do. But there is greater use of technology in local classrooms here, she said, while it is mainly available to science and math teachers in her school. And though she finds U.S. classrooms to be “much noisier,” the teaching methodology is very similar.

The collaborative TEA Program is sponsored by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. Department of State and administered by IREX, a nongovernmental organization. It is implemented at BGSU by IDEI.

The goal is for the teachers to adapt what they learn here, not only from BGSU but more importantly from each other, and find culturally authentic ways to share and implement when they return to their home countries, Subreenduth said.

The 2014 IREX-TEA Cohort consists of English educators from Yemen, Vietnam, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, Senegal, Nigeria, Nepal, Jordan, Iraq, India, Honduras, Ethiopia, Côte d’Ivoire, Colombia, Cambodia, Bangladesh and Algeria.

Bringing it back home: Coverdell Fellows at BGSU

October 2013

By Kristen Bunner (MACIE)

Read the full story at BGSU News "Bringing it Back Home"

Bowling Green State University is attracting a new set set of graduate students who have skills in adapting to other cultures, developing and managing projects, dealing with language barriers and leveraging limited resources. These assets to classrooms across BGSU are Returned Peace Corps Volunteers who have opted to pursue the government's Paul D. Coverdell Fellows Program. Coverdell offers lifetime eligibility for financial assistance toward education through partnerships with over 70 schools throughout the country, including BGSU.

The University's Fellows program is expanding this fall with the addition of five new programs to the roster, which began over five years ago with the Master of Arts in Cross-Cultural and International Education (MACIE).

The new master's degree offerings are in business administration, Spanish, public administration, food and nutrition, and American culture studies (which is also available in conjunction with graduate certificates or as a doctorate).

Steve Hagerman, 27, of Berkley, Mich., was accepted as the first Fellow this fall, in the Master of Business Administration (MBA) program. Hagerman, who served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Puerto Armuelles, Panama, from 2010 to 2012, said he was attracted to BGSU for its outstanding scholarship package and the intensive, one-year MBA program.

The hallmark of the Coverdell Program is that Fellows are required to complete internships in underserved American communities, allowing them to bring home, and expand upon, the skills they learned as volunteers. Hagerman said he's looking forward to the internship opportunity as a chance to be productive and make an impact.

"Another attraction of doing the Fellows program at BGSU was in some way a continuance of the Peace Corps experience, as the summer internship will involve working with an underserved community here in the area," he said.

As a community economic/youth development volunteer in Panama, Hagerman worked as a counselor in an urban public high school, focusing on teaching life skills and sexual health education. He also integrated leadership development into athletic activities and English education.

MACIE students and faculty contribute to IREX-TEA Project at BGSU

March 2013

By Kathleen Lawry

Read the full story at BGSU News- Finding Common Ground

Although the languages they speak and the classrooms they use may be vastly different, when you put teachers from around the globe together they all want to focus on one thing-how to become better teachers.

For the past six weeks, 20 teachers from 17 countries have immersed themselves in professional development workshops and American culture. The holistic program has enabled them to learn more about themselves as teachers and the way of life in the United States, but has also presented the BGSU community and several local schools the opportunity to learn about their cultures.

The State Department Teaching Excellence and Achievement (TEA) Program brings outstanding secondary science and English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers from abroad to the United States to further develop expertise in their subject areas, enhance their teaching skills, and increase their knowledge about the U.S. IREX, who administers the State Department TEA program, is an international nonprofit organization providing thought leadership and innovative programs to promote positive lasting change globally.

The core of the BGSU program titled, "Empowering Teacher Leaders for 21st Century Teaching and Learning," focused on the academics and field experience. Because the 20 TEA fellows are experienced educators and viewed as leaders in their communities, social studies education faculty member Dr. Sharon Subreenduth, principal investigator (PI) of the grant, pulled from the strengths of BGSU's master's degree programs in curriculum and teaching as well as classroom technology when conceptualizing the grant proposal.

Cross-curricular interdisciplinary general pedagogy sessions served as the base of the program. Technology classes started midway through before the group dived into content-specific pedagogy, which were accompanied by content-specific technology workshops.

"Our technology sessions move beyond the basics to a more in-depth and intensive focus on effective classroom technologies that actively engage students in content development. We actually have content-specific technology workshops that IREX has not seen included before and were pleased with," said Subreenduth.

One of the main goals for TEA fellow Manjula Sivakumar of India was to implement technology in the classroom to handle large groups of students while giving them individual attention. After completing the program, Sivakumar said, "The technology classes helped me learn multiple technology tools to make my teaching-learning environment interesting and provided methods to assess large classes effectively and quickly."

Even though for some it may be difficult to integrate technology in their classrooms when they return home, for Subreenduth, it's important that the teachers now have another avenue of professional development and can incorporate technology into their own planning and preparing in order to be productive in the classroom.

In addition to the pedagogy and technology workshops, the teachers actively participated in inquiry-based discussions and curriculum. They also engaged in multi-disciplinary methods of teaching EFL and science, including hands-on exercises, roundtable discussions and small-work technology seminars.

"We wanted them to examine and develop authentic curriculum materials, because they have to develop and submit at least two lessons before they leave," said Subreenduth. "We also wanted to deepen their beliefs and reflections on teaching through inquiry-based activities."

With these goals in mind, the academics and the field experience are closely connected. "We were hoping that they would make better sense of what they learned while they were here with what they're seeing in the classrooms or even the gaps they're seeing in the U.S. classrooms," Subreenduth said. IREX provided a reflection guide for the TEA fellows to use with their partner teacher, which allows them to reflect on differentiations such as classroom management, assessment or planning.

The field experience was positive for both the TEA fellows as well as local schoolchildren. "I think it was good for my students to see someone of a different culture in the teaching perspective to understand that a lot of our strategies are the same," said Cynthia Blubaugh '03, seventh grade English language arts teacher at Perrysburg Junior High School and partner teacher for Salam Saleh of Jordan.

"A lot of the ways we approach the class are the same even though we are from two very different backgrounds, especially visually when you first see her, dressing differently with the head dress and everything, it was very good for them to understand that we're all human beings. The only difference is that we may believe a few different things or might dress differently or speak a little differently, but basically the principles are the same," added Blubaugh.

Saleh taught two sessions in Blubaugh's classroom - one on Jordan and another on stereotyping. "It was a really cool, hands-on lesson where she talked about how we're alike, how we're different and how people are more alike than different throughout the world," said Blubaugh. "That was a great opportunity for the students."

"Although people are of different races, ethnicities or cultures, they can get along successfully if they focus on their similarities rather than their differences," Saleh said when asked what she will take away from this program.

Birgy Lorenz of Estonia shared a similar reaction to the field experience. "Now I see that children are children and teachers are teachers as mothers are mothers all over the world," she reflected. Despite differences in some methodical approaches, schedules, lesson planning and management, as well as compulsory curricula subjects and how they are implemented in schools, she recognized a lot of similarities.

Experiencing firsthand the "real" student and teacher life in the U.S. was a highlight for

Manjula Sivakumar of India. "I could share lot of things like our culture, school community and parent community, as well as the education system and society with the U.S students, and also had an opportunity to learn theirs," Sivakumar said.

"In addition to the academics and field experiences, the program included significant cultural activities. It's quite holistic," Subreenduth said. When conceptualizing the grant proposal, she thought it was important to have a cross-cultural component that engaged faculty and graduate students from the School of Teaching and Learning as well as the Master of Arts in Cross-cultural and International Education (MACIE) Program.

The teachers were immersed in a variety of activities to get a more authentic sense of American culture. In fact, the TEA fellows became so familiar with current trends in the U.S. that they joined the Harlem Shake phenomenon and created their own video.

Dance seemed to be a favorite interest among the group, given that they also had an impromptu two-hour dance party following a dinner hosted by Dr. Savilla Banister, a classroom technology faculty member. Organized trips and activities were planned by Dr. Christopher Frey, co-PI and MACIE graduate coordinator, and his team of six graduate students. The TEA fellows visited Toledo, Detroit, Columbus and Chicago or New York City, exploring Toledo's Cherry Street Mission and landmarks and attend sporting events.

Local families also hosted the teachers for two weekends. During the homestays, the teachers experienced a wide range of activities from a hockey game to a radio talk show to visiting places of worship and joining in family dinners. "I think for some people who come from cultures where staying or visiting in someone's home is not very common, that might have been a new experience for them … It's good for them to see beyond the public buildings and museums to see how people really live," said Frey.

The teachers seemed to agree with Frey. "The homestays were unique opportunities to experience the American way of living," said Serge Pacome Yao Pre of Cote d'Ivoire. "I noticed that beyond their busy days, Americans have time to care. Thanks to all these wonderful families who didn't only open the doors of their houses, but also the doors of their hearts."

Frey believes that over time, it's the personal relationships that people build across national borders that help to sustain peaceful, friendly relationships between countries.

"So that might seem like a bit of a stretch, but I really do believe it's these kinds of interactions where people can see each other in their everyday lives … they can see that there are a wide range of people in societies around the world," he said.

He explains that the way that the grant is conceptualized some of these teachers may have another 20 years in their career impacting tens or hundreds of thousands of students in the future. "So hopefully if we are able to give them a good experience here and show them some of that complexity of the United States, it doesn't allow for easy 'America is like this' or 'America is not like that.' It will help young people abroad to better understand what the United States is like, and I think the same thing can be said at a smaller level here with the TEA fellows working in the local public schools."

The State Department TEA Program was sponsored by the Bowling Green State University International Democratic Education Institute.

Peace Corps Coverdell Program expansion approved for BGSU

BOWLING GREEN, O. (January 29, 2013).—Peace Corps and Bowling Green State University are expanding the degree opportunities available through the Paul D. Coverdell Fellows Program, which provides significant graduate school scholarships to returned Peace Corps volunteers. The expansion gives BGSU one of the largest Coverdell fellows programs in the country.

The new master’s degree offerings at BGSU will be in Business Administration, Food and Nutrition, Public Administration, and Spanish, in addition to a Ph.D. in American culture studies. BGSU’s existing Coverdell Fellows partnership is a Master of Arts in Cross-Cultural and International Education (MACIE).

“The Peace Corps is delighted to have Bowling Green State University as a partner in the Paul D. Coverdell Fellows Program,” Acting Peace Corps Director Carrie Hessler-Radelet said. “This new partnership enables returned Peace Corps volunteers to continue their work in public service through meaningful internships in underserved American communities. Experience overseas and graduate studies position Peace Corps Fellows to launch a career by combining coursework with service.”

For the complete story, please see: http://www.bgsu.edu/offices/mc/news/2013/news126401.html

MACIE Students Recognized at 2011 Graduate Student Awards Ceremony

MACIE students were recognized at the BGSU Graduate Student Senate's 29th Annual Graduate Student Awards Ceremony, held on April 21, 2011. Leslie Pacheco ('11) and Conor Harmon ('12) both received the Outstanding Research Assistant Award in recognition of their contribution to a longitudinal study of adolescent achievement in Fremont, Ohio schools, a project directed by Dr. Margaret Booth. Oluwadamilare Adeyeri ('12) was recognized as one of two Outstanding International Students, and Benjamin MacKenzie received first place in the Colloquium Presentation and Poster Contest. Several MACIE students were also nominated for awards, including Natasha Truong for Outstanding Graduate Student, A'ame Kone for Outstanding Administrative Assistant from the Women's Center. Congratulations to our outstanding students!

BGSU Recognized for Peace Corps Efforts

16 March, 2011

See story at Toledo Free Press- BGSU Recognized for Peace Corps Efforts (page 9)

For the first time, Bowling Green State University has made the Peace Corps list of the nation’s top colleges and universities for producing volunteers. BGSU appears at No. 25 in the Medium Colleges and Universities category with 21 active undergraduate volunteers in 2010. The list also counted down the top large and small colleges and universities, as well as graduate schools. Leadership and Policy Studies Professor Margaret Booth thinks BGSU’s appearance on the list is connected to her Peace Corps Fellow Program.

“I think it has brought notoriety to Peace Corps on campus,” Booth said. “It’s very active on campus. It’s very active in the community.”

MACIE News Archive:

MACIE is initiated as a Peace Corps Fellows program (2008): http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081001/NEWS21/810010379