CEA Directory

Amy Conger is the Associate Vice Provost and Director of Global Engagement at the University of Michigan (U-M). In this role, she supports international platforms for multidisciplinary research, student programs (currently China, Ethiopia, and India), institutional partnerships, and legal agreements for student mobility. As a former Director of International Engineering Programs, she has extensive experience in program development for STEM education abroad, internships, and co-curricular design/service learning projects. Dr. Conger continues to teach ENGR 260: Engineering Across Cultures and co-leads research in the development of culturally informed design skills and the integration of ethnographic methods in engineering education. She also manages a large-scale assessment project for Engaged Learning at Michigan.

In terms of operations, Dr. Conger manages the U-M Global Engagement Team, a central service and consulting group for all academic units offering international programs. She co-develops and implements campus-wide policies for education abroad (academic credit and co-curricular experiences) and manages campus-wide infrastructure for education abroad and domestic engaged learning (on-line application management system, university travel registry, Global Michigan website, and internal and external reporting).

She earned her Ph.D. in higher education from the U-M, concentrating in comparative higher education and public policy. She earned her M.A. and B.S. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her prior experience includes serving as an Advisor to the Fulbright Commission for Educational Exchange in Belgium, conducting fieldwork in the Republic of South Africa, and teaching English in the U.S. and Mexico. She represents the U-M as an elected member of the Global Engineering Educational Exchange (GE3) Executive Committee and as a member of the Fulbright National Screening Committee and the Boren Scholarship Panel.

As the Senior International Officer for Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, Dr. Vanderkar serves as a strategic partner in leading university global initiatives. She is engaged with faculty and the campus community on enhancing international partnerships and with initiatives involving international student retention and success, curriculum internationalization, and diversity and inclusivity. Dr. Vanderkar has extensive experience managing study abroad, exchange, and faculty-led programming; health, safety, and risk management; program development and administration; and consortium leadership.

Dr. Vanderkar earned her Ph.D. in cultural anthropology at the University of Oregon, where she researched post-socialist transition in Eastern Europe and conducted an ethnography on Moravian village life in the Czech Republic. She has been in the international education field for over 20 years and has managed study abroad efforts for thirteen years.

Dr. Cindy Price is the Vice Provost for Academic Affairs at Seattle Pacific University and has served in this role since 2014. Under Cindy’s leadership, the Vice Provost of Academic Affairs oversees General Education, Institutional Accreditation, Institutional Research, Global Engagement, Student Academic Services, and Study Abroad Initiatives. She is also involved in areas of academic planning, academic policies, strategic planning, parent programs, and faculty development.

Dr. Price earned her Ph.D. in Sociology from Washington State University. Prior to her role at Seattle Pacific University, Cindy was an Assistant Professor in Sociology at the University of Washington.

Daniel J. May was named Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs at the University of New Haven in 2013. As the chief academic officer, he oversees the academic colleges and programs, library and information technology services, and staff members supporting high impact experiential education opportunities, including study abroad.  He also oversees academic affiliation and articulation agreements, including the School-of-Record agreement with CEA.

Provost May has overseen the establishment of satellite locations at the Orange, CT and Prato, Italy campuses; the acquisition of the Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts; and the development of the joint master’s degree program in data science with Galvanize, Inc. in San Francisco. He has guided the campus-wide review and prioritization process of its academic programs and administrative units, and fostered the use of information technology in instruction, evaluation, and assessment.

Provost May earned his bachelor’s degree in geology at Stanford University and a Ph.D. in geology at the University of California at Santa Barbara. He served on the faculty at Victoria University in Wellington, New Zealand from 1986 to 1989, at Bowling Green State University in 1990-91, and at the University of Findlay in Ohio from 1991-2003. Dr. May chaired programs in environmental, safety, and occupational health management prior to becoming dean of Findlay’s College of Sciences in 2003. He served there as vice president for academic affairs from 2004-2013, overseeing the addition of innovative undergraduate majors, online offerings, professional graduate programs, and a variety of continuing education and consulting services.

Dr. Helena Kaufman has over 25 years in the field of higher education and is currently the Director of Off-Campus Studies at Carleton College, where she has served in this role since 2000. Helena oversees all education abroad programs led by Carleton faculty and sponsored by academic departments. Dr. Kaufman also advises students on program options, works closely with Carleton faculty on the development of education abroad seminars and curriculum, conducts program and site evaluations, and ensures the academic integrity of Carleton’s education abroad programs.

Dr. Kaufman interests and ongoing research in student learning outcomes, culture identity, cross-cultural studies, world literature and student assessment align with her active board memberships, which include: the Outcomes Assessment and Research Committee of the Forum on Education Abroad , the Higher Education Consortium for Urban Affairs (HECUA), Minnesota Study Abroad Professionals, the Association of International Educators (NAFSA), and Carleton College’s Global Engagement Initiative Steering Committee.

Prior to joining Carleton College, Helena was an Assistant Professor of Portuguese at Ohio State University. Originally from Poland, she received her bachelor’s degree in Iberia Studies from the University of Warsaw and holds an M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in Luso-Brazilian Studies.

Dr. John Peters is the Dean of International Programs at Marist College. In this role, he supports Marist students studying abroad over six continents and divides most of his time between the Marist Poughkeepsie and Florence Campuses. Some of his interests and experience include curriculum development, community outreach, intercultural communication, and program development. John is passionate about developing and helping to connect students with innovative, empowering international and intercultural experiences.

Dean Peters received his bachelor’s in Economics and Japanese from California State University, Sacramento. He also holds a M.A. in International Studies from Ohio University and a Ph.D. in Political Economy from the University of Southern California.

José B. Alvarez, Ph.D., serves as CEA’s senior academic leader and member of the CEA Executive Team. José sets CEA’s academic vision, ensuring the alignment of all academic offering and projects with CEA's School of Record and university partners. In addition, he is responsible for establishing and managing CEA’s external Advisory Board, in order to further innovate our curriculum and increase the diversity of our academic offerings. José also plays a strong collaborative role in CEA's U.S. university engagement initiatives to support the alignment of our messaging and training regarding CEA’s academic programs and expertise.

José holds a Ph.D. from Arizona State University, a Master of Arts from Colorado State University, and a Bachelor of Science from the University of Central Missouri. Prior to working with CEA, José was a tenured professor at the University of Georgia for 12 years, where he taught both graduate and undergraduate courses. His research emphasis focused on the analysis of the cultural production of Latin America, more specifically the study of films and literary texts produced in Cuba from the inception of the Revolution until the early 1990's. He directed more than 25 master's thesis and Ph.D. dissertations.

While at UGA, he created and directed UGA en España, a comprehensive set of study abroad programs with four sites in Spain, which was later expanded to Cuba, Venezuela and Peru. Prior to his time teaching, José was an Academic Dean for Latin American, Caribbean, and Europe programs for SIT Study Abroad, where he was responsible for more than 30 programs in multiple locations on two continents.

José has lived in Switzerland, Venezuela, Cuba, Spain, and Italy, and has traveled extensively across the globe. He wants to tell students to explore, live, struggle, and ultimately conquer foreign culture to the point of making it their own: "Embracing differences will only make them stronger. It is not an easy task, as being in someone's comfort zone is the easiest path, however going beyond it will enrich the experience, promote growth, and equip them with language skills and intercultural understanding that will last a lifetime and influence their perspective forever."

ORGANIZATIONAL MEMBERSHIPS

• Forum on Education Abroad (elected to the council 2012-2015)

• NAFSA: Association of International Educators

• Modern Language Association (MLA)

• Southeastern Council on Latin American Studies (SECOLAS)

• Phi Lambda Beta Portuguese and Luso Brazilian Honor Society

• Sigma Delta Pi Honor Society

PRESENTATIONS/PUBLICATIONS

— Books

• Contestatory Cuban Short Story of the Revolution. New York: University Press of America, 2002.

— Articles

• A Revision of Censorship and Resistance in Cuban Arts" International Education and Global Justice: Rethinking the Politics of Sustainability. Eds. Said Graiouid and Taieb Belghazi. Rabat: University Mohammed V (forthcoming). 117-124.

• "Cuba, Filmaking, Literatura, Havana." Routledge Internacional Enciclopedia of Queer Culture Ed. David Gerstner. New York: Routledge, 2006. 163- 165, 262.

• "El cuento cubano de 1959 a 1990: un movimiento pendular." South Eastern Latin Americanist XLIII.3 (2000): 21-36.

• "The Dialectics of Cuban Homoeroticism in Cuban Narrative." Chicano/Latino Homo-erotic Identities. Ed. David William Foster. New York: Garland Publishing, 1999 241-271.

• "Nation, Cinema, and Women: Discourses, Realities, and Cuban Utopia." Global Development Studies 1.3-4 (1998-99): 91-99. Reprinted in: Cuban Transitions at the Millenium. Eds. Eloise Linger and John Cotman. Largo, Maryland: International Devel-opment Options, 2000. 115-122.

• "Discursos de resistencia y contestatarios en los Novísimos." Romance Languages Annual 10 Tome 2 (1999): 426-431.

• "El homoerotismo en la narrativa cubana del siglo XX." Antípodas: Journal of Hispanic Studies of Australia and New Zealand 11-12 (1999-2000): 25-48.

• "(Re)escritura de la violencia: el individuo frente a la historia en la cuentística Novísima cubana." Chasqui 26.2 (1997): 84-93.

• "La generación literaria sin trauma: mirada socio-histórica a los Novísimos narradores cubanos." La Chispa 97: Selected Proceedings. Ed. Claire J. Paolini. New Orleans: Tulane University, 1997. 17-27.

• "Mujer transparente (1990): contrapunteo entre el viejo y el nuevo orden social cubano." Romance Languages Annual 8 (1996): 368-71.

• "Miguel Otero Silva." Encyclopedia of Latin American Literature. Ed. Verity Smith. London: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, 1997. 608-09.

• "José Kozer." Latin American Jewish Writers: A Critical Dictionary. Ed. Darrell B. Lockhart. New York: Garland Press, 1997. 321-25.

• "La narrativa cubana de la revolución: el Quinque¬nio Gris y sus con¬secuencias." Mester 23.2 (1994): 129-56. [issue published in March, 1996].

• "Un texto a favor de la libertad marxista: lec¬turas contestatarias de Retrato de Teresa y Plaff." Confluencia 10.2 (1995): 111-23.

• "Ruptura en la narrativa social cubana: Novísimos y Novísimas." Torre de papel 4.4 (1995): 61-75.

• "Literatura cubana de los 80: una visión sin censura." Torre de papel 3.3 (1993): 85-98.

• * (et al)"Un motivo etnoliterario andino: la deslealtad." Escritos 8 (1992): 85-101.

PAPERS AND ACADEMIC LECTURES PRESENTED

• 2012:"Standards for Programs Serving Pre-Health Students Experiences." Forum on Education Abroad. Denver, Colorado. March 20-23.

• 2012:"Cinema, Memory and Human Rights in Argentina." Conflict, Memory, and Reconciliation: Bridging Past, Present, and Future. SIT and the Center for Conflict Management. Kigali, Rwanda. January 10-13.

• 2011:"Cuba Study Abroad: New Opportunities, Responsibilities, and Challenges." Council on International Education Exchange. New Orleans, Louisiana. November 16-18.

• 2009:"Utopia and Dystopia: Lunes and P.M. in the Outskirts of Revolutionary Culture." Invited Lecture at Occidental College, California. February 26.

• 2008:"Comentario de investigación: Una mirada a la situación de la diversidad sexual en Managua." Primer seminario centroamericano: una mirada a la diversidad sexual. Centro de Estudios Internacionales. Managua, Nicaragua. December 9-11.

• 2008:"Revolution, Images, Jean Paul Sartre and Cuban Identity." Identity, Multiculturalism and the Arts. University of Ghana-Legon. Institute of African Studies. August 7-10.

• 2008:"To Fight and to Play: Music and Destiny in Venezuela." Invited Lecture at Phoenix College Latino Film Festival. March 29.

• 2006:"Reel Cuba: Documenting the Island." Shoemaker Lecture. Westtown School. September 24.

• 2006:"Storied Havana: from Euphoria to ‘Reel' Blues." Invited Lecture at University of North Carolina, Asheville. October 12.

• 2006:"Havana Blues in Context." Invited Lecture at Furman University. May 9.

• 2006:"PM, Lunes de revolución, and the ICAIC: The Revolution and its Conflicting Cultural Policies (1959-1961)." Cuba Politics and Culture. Cuban Research Institute, FIU. February 6-7.

• 2005:"Cuba en 1960 en la mirada de Jean-Paul Sartre y Simone the Beauvoir." Evento internacional Sartre visita a Cuba: Huracán, surco, semillas. Casa de Altos Estudios Don Fernando Ortiz. Havana. November 22-26.

• 2005:"‘Reel' Cuba: Dispelling the Utopia through Film." Spring 2005 Center for Humanities/Georgia Museum of Art Lecture. UGA. April 20.

• 2005:"Reel Cuba: Castro, Utopia, Film and Censorship". Invited Lectured at Temple University's Dissent in America Teach in Lecture Series. September 23.

• 2003:"Fidel Castro is Dead." Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies. UGA. Oct. 8.

• 2003:"Memorias del subdesarrollo: Paradise in 68?" Key Note Lecture at Georgia Southern University. Fourth International Film Festival. March 4-6.

• 2003:"Cuban Film and Teaching Film." Invited Lecture. Georgia Southern University. March 6.

• 2002:"Cuban Post-Revolutionary Culture: True or False" Honors Program Invited Lecture. Oct. 2002

• 2001:"CHA Provocative Conversation: Promotion Standards in Literary Studies." A roundtable discussion. Center for Humanities and Arts. UGA, September 26.

• 2001:"Testimony in Documentary: The Case of 90 Miles." Invited panel participation on the film 90 Miles. Center for Latin American Studies. Arizona State University, September 10.

• 2001:"Reel Cuba: Revolutionary History Through Film." Invited Lecture for the Spring Focus Lecture Series. Valdosta State University. Valdosta, April 9.

• 2001:"Reel Cuba: Gender (Re)Presentation in Film." Lunch in Theory Series. UGA. February 14.

• 2000:"Virtual Literature: Removing the Panic out of HisPanic Literature." American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. Boston, November 16-19.

• 2000:"Beyond Hollywood: The Beauty and Power of International Cinema." A roundtable discussion. Center for Humanities and Arts. UGA, October 20.

• 2000:"His-panic? U-SA Panic? Who is Moving to your Neighborhood?" Key Note Lecture at University of North Carolina at Asheville. Hispanic Heritage Month. October 9.

• 2000:"Bitter Sugar: Reel Cuba from the Other Shore." Invited lecture at Berry College. April 17.

• 2000:"Reel Cinema: Cuban Political and Social Crises through Film." Invited Lecture at Furman University. April 10.

For more than 20 years, Lisa Chieffo has been involved with international education at the University of Delaware (UD): first as Study Abroad Coordinator in UD’s Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, then in UD’s Institute for Global Studies. As Associate Director, Dr. Chieffo oversees over 100 study abroad programs and supervises program coordinators. She has led multiple research projects with a focus on student learning abroad, presented at international education conferences such as NAFSA and Forum, and published in professional journals.

Dr. Chieffo’s areas of expertise include short-term education abroad programs and faculty leadership; education abroad assessment, adjunct instruction in education abroad; and educational leadership. Dr. Chieffo is co-editor of NAFSA’s The Guide to Successful Short-Term Programs Abroad (3^rd edition forthcoming in 2018). She earned her Ed.D. in Educational Leadership, M.A. in German, and bachelor’s degree in Languages at UD. As a student, Dr. Chieffo studied abroad in Tübingen and Bayreuth, Germany and Vienna, Austria.

Dr. Martha McGivern is the Director of Study Abroad at DePaul University and is responsible for directing the strategy and implementation of study abroad programs across DePaul’s 10 colleges and schools. She oversees crisis and emergency responses for 80 annual programs. Her current priorities are program assessment, term-long program development strategies, and team leadership.

Prior to DePaul University, Dr. McGivern managed faculty-led study abroad programs at New York University and center- and hybrid-based programs at IES Abroad. She earned an M.A. and Ph.D. in International Education from New York University, with research focusing on issues of gender and cultural learning in study abroad, particularly as it plays out in cross-national relationships among peers. She regularly teaches a course on international partnership, project management, and proposal writing in the Master’s of Global Health program at Northwestern University.

Dr. McGivern’s international experience is strongest in Latin America, including doctoral research in Mexico, volunteer teaching in Ecuador, and undergraduate study abroad in Argentina.

Samantha Potempa is the Assistant Director for Study Abroad at Illinois State University. Ms. Potempa leads the Study Abroad Unit and serves as the External Communications Coordinator for the International Educators of Illinois. Some of her primary responsibilities involve study abroad risk management and program development. Previously, she worked as a Study Abroad Coordinator at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, where she served on the Latin American Studies Committee. Samantha enjoys sharing knowledge with the education abroad community and presents at national, regional, and state conferences. She is particularly interested in providing training and professional development guidance to those new to the field.

Ms. Potempa received her bachelor’s degree in International Studies and her master’s degree in Latin American Studies from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She also holds a Master Certificate in Human Resource Management from Cornell University.

Vannessa Kramer has been in the field of international education for 10 years. As the Assistant Dean of Global Programs for the Eller College of Management at the University of Arizona, she is responsible for designing and implementing study abroad opportunities and programs for Eller undergraduate students. She approaches her position in an entrepreneurial way, recognizing that business students seek out international experiences that enhance both personal and professional development. In addition to this businesslike approach, she has great respect for the student experience and strives to deliver a high-quality, memorable, well-coordinated international student experience.

Ms. Kramer manages a diverse portfolio of study abroad options including faculty-led programs, international internships, international service experiences, and study abroad partnerships. She advises for the Global Business Program, coordinates the annual Global Perspectives Conference, and is the club advisor for the Eller Global Business Association. She also teaches a Topics & Careers in the Global Environment course, in which she applies a critical global perspective pedagogy.

Her areas of expertise include program development, partner collaboration, faculty training and development, risk management, comprehensive program management, marketing and promotion, cross-cultural communication, co-curricular development, pre-departure and post-return programming, study abroad advising, and student development. Ms. Kramer is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in sociocultural studies with an emphasis in global perspectives.