International Higher Education

Louise Michelle Vital, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of International Higher Education and Co-Director of the Institute for English Language Programs Beyond Borders at Lesley University. Vital has nearly 20 years of experience in post-secondary education, including in student services, international education, teaching and academic service, and higher education scholarship. Her primary line of inquiry is related to the global dimensions of higher education. Broadly, her interests center on a country and regional focus on Haiti and the Caribbean, student experiences in higher education, scholar/practitioner preparation, and critical reflexive practice in academia. Her teaching, research, and scholarship are driven by key suppositions and questions, including how inequalities in power and privilege exist in society: What are the consequences of these realities, and how do they impact experience in educational contexts?

Professor Meenakshi Chhabra is a graduate of the Intercultural Relations Program at Lesley University, where she also completed her Ph.D in Educational Studies with a focus on youth development in protracted conflict contexts.  As a scholar and practitioner in Peace and Conflict Studies, Meenakshi has been recognized as a Fulbright Specialist in the field. She has also been awarded two Fulbright Senior Scholarships for her research and teaching related to Peace Education.

Her current research focuses on a comparative study examining teaching about historical events of conflict in India, Northern Ireland, and South Africa for which she has received a Fulbright Global Fellowship. Her research interest includes, peace education, youth leadership, and trauma and resilience, in conflict contexts. In addition to research and teaching, Meenakshi has been working with youth and educators in international conflict and post-conflict contexts.

Co-Founder and Co-Chair of Violence Against Women Initiative. 
Violence against Women: Representations, Interpretations, Explorations/Education is a call for action to put a stop to violence against women.

Dr. Amy Gooden is passionate about the intersection of language, education, culture, and inclusion. She received her master’s degree in Education from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education. She holds a doctorate in Education from Boston University with a concentration in second language teacher education and intercultural teaching and learning. Dr. Gooden has recently been nominated by the federal government to serve as an English Language Specialist for the US Department of State.

At Lesley University, she serves as Associate Professor of TESOL/ Bilingual Education and Co-Director of the Lesley University Institute for English Language Programs Beyond Borders. She teaches undergraduate and graduate courses such as Sheltered English Immersion, Intercultural Education and Communication, Writing Workshop for Multilingual Learners, and Education Abroad: Examining Human Migration at the Crossroads of Spain and Morocco. She also teaches as an adjunct in the International Higher Education master's program.

Dr. Gooden teaches courses at the Harvard University Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning and serves as Technical Advisor for global English language education projects for USAID in Morocco.  She was formerly the Academic Director of Global Academic Advantage Programs and has developed a suite of student and faculty development supports for global pathways students. 

Her research focuses on case-based pedagogy as a language teaching and intercultural awareness and education tool for educators of multilingual and multicultural learners in K-12 and higher educational contexts; inclusive and decolonizing language teacher education; and arts-based and restorative justice approaches to supporting the needs of immigrant and refugee students and families.   

For more than a decade, Amy served as a Preceptor for Harvard University’s Institute for English Language Programs, where she was awarded the prestigious Excellence in Teaching Award for her work supporting international graduate students and multilingual learners in English for Academic Purposes (EAP) courses.

Thereafter, she served as Lecturer in TESOL/Bilingual/Modern Foreign Language and Intercultural Education and Director of International Teacher Education Certificate Programs at Boston University School of Education, including a global TEFL teacher education partnership she spearheaded with the Chinese Ministry of Education. In this role, Amy also authored and was awarded Governor Deval Patrick’s Gateways Cities grant to support the creation of a multi-year university/public school district partnership. The BU/Malden School District Reach for the Stars Academy was designed to support the language and learning needs of emerging bilingual middle school students through whole-child, arts-infused approaches to teaching and learning. She was also awarded a state grant to direct the Somali Development Center’s language and acculturation program for refugee families. In addition, she served as Coordinator of Field Placements for language teacher licensure programs.   

As a licensed ESL and Spanish teacher, she has taught English as a second language and Spanish in public and private schools in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. She serves as an educational consultant and provides professional development for teachers of multicultural and multilingual learners in local school districts and universities including the Boston pathways to licensure program and Brown University-Shenzhen Institute.

She has presented her research nationally and internationally as has been invited by the US Department of State to present on the themes of inclusion and differentiation in language teaching and learning to teachers of critical languages. She has conducted field research on cultural pluralism in a Bribri indigenous and Jamaican descendent community in Costa Rica and on educational, cultural, and social barriers for Roma in Southern Spain.   

Courtney Collins is an adjunct professor in the International Higher Education Program in the Lesley University Graduate School of Education. She is also a training instructor with the Department of Defense. Her teaching and research area of focus has been on global and multicultural education, international student mobility, and transnational education in Eastern Asia.

Anne has been a panelist and workshop leader for several national and international conferences including the following: NAFSA (Association of International Educators), OACAC (Overseas Association for College Admission Counseling), and NACAC (National Association for College Admission Counseling).  She has also served on the Region XI NAFSA Board for International Enrollment Management (IEM).

Currently, Anne is the Director of International Admissions at Boston University. During her tenure at BU, she has worked with one of the largest international student populations in the United States, with student representing more than 100 countries.  While her primary responsibilities include managing the recruitment and selection of First-Year students at Boston University, her role also encompasses the initial immigration process for First-Year students.  Her recruitment travels have taken her around the world, with a special focus on India.

Sarah DeMott is a research librarian specializing in Global Research Literacy in the Middle East and North Africa. She has worked in various capacities in the fields of international higher education, cultural heritage exchange, study abroad design, international student services, as well as educational programs for migrant youth.

Currently, DeMott coordinates library outreach through instruction in middle east research, anti-racism film series, and global archival digitization partnerships. She offers research workshops in qualitative methods, oral history, digital scholarship, international field work design, and decolonial approaches to social sciences.

DeMott's areas of research publications include gender and migration studies, familial economies of reproduction, international education, and post-colonial border studies in Africa, Italy, and the Mediterranean Sea. Her research is conducted in Arabic, English, French and Italian.

Aja currently works facilitator and coach for the Center for Leadership and Educational Equity in Providence, RI. She also is an instructor and coach for the Teacher Leadership program at Brandies University. After graduating from Simmons College with a BA in Sociology and concentration of Social Policy, Aja began her career in education by working in various non-profits and community-based organizations in the Boston area. She later received a Master’s Degree from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education with a concentration of Administration, Planning and Social Policy (APSP) and a certification for elementary teaching from Wheelock College. 

Aja became a middle school classroom teacher for the Boston Public Schools in 2003. Over a period of 10 years, she developed her commitment and passion for equitable teaching and school leadership and in 2011, Aja became an Aspiring Principal in the Center for Collaboration’s Principal’s Residency Network, where she was trained in facilitative, and transformative leadership models for adaptive change in schools.

As the District Instructional Coach for Cambridge Public Schools Social Sciences Department,  Aja led teams of teachers to ultimately create K-8 curricula and model assessments, provided one-on-one coaching to K-8 teachers and facilitated monthly professional development for Aspiring Teacher Leaders. 

Aja’s areas of interest and expertise include:  [Culturally Sustainable] Teaching and Learning, Authentic Assessment, Curriculum Development, Instructional & Facilitative Coaching, Sociology and Cultural Studies within a Global Context, Collaborative Leadership and Transformative [School] Culture Building.

Ann Moritz is a management consultant with over 30 years of experience in HR management and training. She specializes in issues of social, racial, and economic diversity and inclusion, in communications and organizational management.  Ann is principal of Moritz Advisory Group, founded in 1989, where she has consulted to both corporate and non-profit organizations in diversity and inclusion assessment, plan development, executive coaching, communication skills, training, and team-building.  She co-designed the ongoing workshop program: Building Alliances Across Race for Women Leaders.  Ann chairs the Boston Cultural Council,  served on the Executive Committee of Commonwealth Compact, the Steering Committee of Boston Busing/Desegregation Project, and chaired the Trustee Committee on Diversity of Outward Bound/Thompson Island.  The 25 years of Gospel Night at the Boston Pops began with the initiative of a BSO Diversity Committee that she helped design.  She formerly headed Human Relations, Training and Development for the newsroom of the Boston Globe.  She also has served as Director of the Management Training Center at the Northwestern University/Kellogg Graduate School of Management.

Dr. J. Cody Nielsen serves as Director of the Center for Spirituality and Social Justice in the Office of Equity and Inclusivity at Dickinson College. He is as well the founder and Executive Director of Convergence Strategies (formerly Convergence on Campus), which seeks to dismantle long-standing issues of religious, secular, and spiritual identity-based discrimination as a part of larger intersectional frameworks of anti-racism and decolonialism.

A scholar and researcher as well as frequent speaker on systems-related areas of higher education and nonprofit work, Dr. Nielsen adjunct instructs at a variety of institutions around the country and is known for his passionate presentation style. He is as well the co-founder and lead planner of the new Conference on Higher Education Values, Identities, Belonging, and Purpose. He also serves as Associate Editor of the Journal of Student Affairs on Campus.

Dr. Nielsen’s research focuses on two core area of consideration within higher education and societal systems:  First, areas of concern related to religious, secular, and spiritual equity within campus and organizational climates through a lens of policies and practices.  Second, a focus on larger questions of institutional climate, organizational structures, and systems work is a current topic.

Dr. Maisha Grant Rounds is an adjunct professor at Lesley University and has worked in public leadership as a K-12 teacher, principal, and school leader for 22 years. She was featured in The Dash Podcast and blog posts by Corwin Press. Dr. Grant Rounds has also received accolades for her contributions to scholarly publications about leadership, including Stories of Caring School Leadership and Caring in Crisis: Stories to Inspire and Guide School Leaders.

Committed to culturally responsive, data-driven transformational leadership, she has also led grassroots organizations and nonprofits while teaching aspiring leaders in higher education settings in South Carolina and Massachusetts. More recently, she has been appointed as the Director of the Center for Public Leadership Programs at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. She is also an educational consultant and musician.

Born in Baltimore, MD and raised in Charleston, SC in a Gullah Geechee community on James Island, her family can trace their roots back to slavery and they now own the land her ancestors once worked as slaves. Dr. Grant Rounds’ most memorable leadership experience was serving as the Charleston County School District Teacher of the Year and South Carolina Teacher of the Year Nominee from 2009-2011. During this time, she had the opportunity to influence educational policies and affect systemic change through transformational leadership. In collaboration with the district leadership and local government, she catalyzed a cadre of 3,500 teachers to close achievement and opportunity gaps for 40,000 students in the state's second largest school district. She learned that building strong coalitions and empowering educators and key stakeholders was essential. Teamwork makes the dream work!

Bennett Savitz has practiced exclusively in the area of immigration law since 1994.  Prior to forming Savitz Law Offices, P.C. (ImmigrationOptions.com), he was with the firms Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris Glovsky & Popeo, P.C. in Boston; and Pampanin Law Offices in Cambridge.

Since 1994, he has been an active member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), serving on several local and national AILA committees, helping shape policies and procedures for the entire Immigration Bar.  He has also served as the Chapter Chair of the New England Chapter of AILA. Since 2008, Bennett has been selected as one of Boston's Best Lawyers in Immigration Law by Best Lawyers of America.  

Bennett speaks frequently and writes numerous articles on various aspects of Immigration Law.  He also authors articles in AILA's Immigration & Nationality Law, a nationally distributed handbook published annually at the national conference, where he is frequently a speaker.  Bennett was also the Chairman for a series of Immigration Law seminars sponsored by Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education.  Additionally, he was the editor of their two-volume reference set entitled, Immigration Law Primer.  He is currently teaching a Graduate School course on Immigration Law and Policy at Lesley University.

Bennett also presents immigration information annually to thousands of attendees at the BIO international biotechnology conferences, and has also presented at the Pacific Rim international biotechnology conferences, and the INTERPHEX international pharmaceutical conferences.  He also presented immigration information to thousands of Human Resource professionals at the SHRM Global Forum and SHRM World Congress.

He has published a chapter on Immigration Law in Legal Aspects of Doing Business in North America, Juris 2011.

Franklyn Taylor is an adjunct professor in the International Higher Education Program at Lesley University. He is currently the Associate Provost at Bunker Hill Community College (BHCC), Charlestown Campus, supervising four deans in the areas of Academic and Student Affairs, and one associate dean. Franklyn is currently leading an institutional-wide effort of Internationalizing BHCC.

Throughout his career, Franklyn has developed programs and services that meet the needs of students. He has a passion for student diversity, equity and access, and International Education, and continues to be engaged in the research, practices, and issues in higher education and student affairs. Over the last twenty-four years, Franklyn has taught in the areas of Foundations of Education, Higher Education Administration, and Student Affairs at the undergraduate and graduate levels.

Arlene retired in May 2018 after teaching at Lesley for 23 years. Her teaching and scholarship have been focused on examining sociology and feminist theory and pedagogy from a cross-cultural perspective.

Her areas of academic focus and expertise include: sociology, qualitative methodology and ethnography, diaspora and transnationality, gender and globalization, and film and advocacy. At Lesley, she has taught the following courses: Sociology of Family Gender and Globalization Global Social Change Film, Media and Advocacy Dimensions and Methods of Cultural Exploration II. 

Arlene holds a BA from Tufts University, and a MA and PhD from the University of California Los Angeles. 

Dr. Cowan has more than 30 years of experience working in the field of education and professional development with educational institutions and the intersection with private and public sectors. She has taught and provided professional development seminars to more than 2000 educators. She directed training services and developed an international network of trainers for two major intercultural consulting firms serving Fortune 500 companies. She conducted a major international development training project for 492 professionals—university professors and business owners/managers in a variety of industries—and led international projects on conflict resolution and multicultural understanding for leaders in human services, education, and government. 

Dr. Cowan has worked with educators and private sector professionals in program and curriculum development and evaluation. As Director of Faculty and Curriculum at the Emmanuel College Advancement Program in Business Administration, Dr. Cowan worked with faculty to develop, modify, and adapt curricula for 37 courses in business management areas; she supervised 80 experienced faculty in this accelerated adult degree completion program for working professionals and managers. As Program Director for Babson College’s Executive & Management Programs, Dr. Cowan designed and oversaw delivery of programs for entrepreneurs, small businesses, and Fortune 500 companies. At the Multicultural Institute for Change at Regis College, Dr. Cowan worked with faculty from six Boston-area colleges to develop multicultural curricula. Her recent research focuses on Cambodian immigrant communities in Massachusetts.  

Dr. Cowan served as Director for the Master's Program in International Higher Education and Intercultural Relations at Lesley University for 15 years prior to her retirement from full-time teaching in 2015, and holds the title of Esteemed Faculty.