People

The insights contained in Building a Better World: The Pedagogy and Practice of Global Service-Learning were developed through many conversations, among many people, from various backgrounds. We are deeply indebted to the communities with which we’ve interacted, which came in large part though the nonprofit organization Amizade Global Service-Learning. The four people who pulled these conversations together into book form are Christopher Boettcher, Jessica Friedrichs, Eric Hartman, and Richard Kiely. Their bios, along with others involved in the continuous maintenance and production of this website, follow.

Building a Better World Forum Editor, Eric Hartman

Eric Hartman is Visiting Assistant Professor of Global Studies at Providence College. As a writer, educator, and nonprofit executive director, he has worked for many years to advance efforts that are “rooted in the reality we have, but visionary in terms of imagining then creating a better tomorrow.” His publications on global service-learning, global citizenship, and fair trade learning have spanned edited volumes, peer-reviewed journals in service-learning and international development, and popular and trade magazines such as International Educator. As Executive Director of Amizade Global Service-Learning (2007-10), he advanced university-community engagement in more than a dozen communities around the world. He was selected as the recipient of: the Cabot Dissertation Award for Commitment to a Just Society, The University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public and International Affairs 4 Under 40 Impact Prize, and as a representative of the United States in the State Department-Funded Water Here & There International Fellows Exchange Program with China.

Building a Better World Co-Authors and Forum Contributors

Christopher Boettcher is an Assistant Professor of English at Castleton State College in Vermont. He specializes in general education courses in literature and writing as well as general education administration and assessment. A committed practitioner of Global Service-Learning since his first course in 2001, Chris has led numerous GSL programs on five continents. As a curricular consultant for Amizade Global Service-Learning, Chris helped to design and implement the Amizade GSL model. When he isn’t teaching or working in civic engagement and community development, Chris pursues an active research interest in nineteenth century intellectual history.

Jessica Friedrichs is a faculty member in the Social Work Department of the School for Social Change at Carlow University in Pittsburgh, PA. She also serves as Coordinator of Carlow’s Service-Learning Center and as Co-Director of the Honors Program. She holds a Master’s degree in Social Work and a Master’s degree in Public Administration from the University of Pittsburgh. She has published in the journal Social Justice and presented at service-learning conferences for the past decade, focusing on service-learning pedagogy, both in the U.S. and global context. She is part of a research team studying the impact of service-learning on students from diverse backgrounds, particularly those who are first-generation college students. She has co-taught global service-learning courses in Bolivia, Tanzania, Northern Ireland, Jamaica and the Navajo Nation through the Amizade Global Service-Learning Center and served on Amizade’s Board of Directors. In Pittsburgh, she teaches service-learning classes with an emphasis on exploring social media as a community organizing tool. Before her academic position, she worked in the Pittsburgh non-profit sector with local and global service-learning, the refugee population, in a community-based foundation and with a variety of AmeriCorps programs.

Richard Kiely serves as the Director of Engaged Learning + Research at Cornell University. In 2002, he received his PhD from Cornell, and in 2005 was recognized nationally as a John Glenn Scholar in Service-Learning for his longitudinal global service-learning research that led to the development of a transformative service-learning model. In 2006, Richard co-taught a graduate/undergraduate service-learning course in City & Regional Planning as part of the New Orleans Planning Initiative (NOPI). The participants in this course developed with their community partners a comprehensive recovery plan for the Ninth Ward in New Orleans. Richard also served as the Faculty Director of the Cornell Urban Scholars Program (CUSP) and the Cornell Urban Mentor Initiative (CUMI), two university-wide, interdisciplinary service-learning programs. Richard is interested in learning about the different ways people work together to have a positive impact on the world and the potential role of higher education in facilitating that process. He continues to be an active scholar in the area of service-learning and engagement in higher education and regularly conducts seminars and workshops for students and faculty on course design, experiential learning, service-learning, community-based participatory action research, assessment and program evaluation.

Social Media & Wiki Managers

Lusine Mehrabyan - Originally from Armenia, Lusine has spent the last 10 years living and studying in the United States. She is currently enrolled at Cornell University, pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Biology and Society with concentrations in Global Health and International Relations. Growing up in the Caucus region she travelled to Republic of Georgia and Russia as child. Her first international experience outside of the region was in Venezuela as part of a food sovereignty delegation. The trip inspired a passion for food security, global health, human rights, and international development. Actively seeking to share her passion for her work, Lusine has gone on service learning trips to Nicaragua, volunteered in Peru, and conducted research work in Argentina. She is currently working for Cornell’s Engaged Learning and Research in advancing academic service learning and community based research.

Laura Stokes is a senior at Cornell University majoring in Policy Analysis & Management. She has completed minors in Global Health and Inequality Studies and is now exploring fellowship opportunities that will allow her to begin a career in international development and/or social justice work. Laura recently received the Florence Halpern award, which recognizes outstanding commitment and accomplishments in leadership toward addressing the needs of others beyond the Cornell community. She spent summer 2011 in rural Tanzania implementing a village-wide HIV/AIDS awareness campaign and founding a peer education club for secondary students. Throughout her time as an undergraduate student, Laura has been heavily involved in volunteer and outreach activities, Greek life, and has held several leadership positions in student organizations. She is now a student ambassador at Engaged Learning + Research where she is helping to “spread the world” about service-learning at Cornell.

Annie Wendel, a senior Public and Community Service major at Providence College, assists in the maintenance of the website and social media. After spending time in global service-learning programs while abroad, she looks to be involved in sharing resources on these practices. Annie spent a summer in Australia and the Solomon Islands on a service fellowship, followed by community engagement work in a primary school in South Africa during a semester abroad. As she completes her undergraduate degree, she is currently researching and completing a study on the impact of curriculum in alternative spring break trips for college students.