While some faculty collaborate on COIL projects with international colleagues in the same field, others establish exciting and generative COIL partnerships across the disciplines. This panel will explore opportunities and challenges related to interdisciplinary COIL collaborations. Panelists from fields as diverse as business management, global studies, engineering, Black Studies, and more will showcase and discuss a range of interdisciplinary projects. Join us for a conversation about aligning goals, negotiating student needs and expectations, and learning from your partnerships.
Benita Bobo is a lecturer in the Centre for General Education at the Durban University of Technology, where she facilitates general education modules for all undergraduate students in the institution. Benita’s research interests are in ethical community engagement in higher education, internationalization in higher education, gender studies, social justice, and transformative learning.
Anthony Dandridge is a Lecturer in the Department of Black Studies at the State University of New York at New Paltz. He is an Afrocentrist who prioritizes the importance of cultural perspectives when engaging the lived reality of people of African descent. He serves as Chair of the SUNY Black Faculty and Staff Collective, Director of the Black Lives Matter at School Collective at SUNY New Paltz, a New Paltz Faculty Sustainability Fellow with an emphasis on Environmental Justice, a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Fellow, co-chair of the Faculty and Staff Contemplative Group, a core member of the New Paltz Eddy, and a member of several campus committees. He is a proud, active member of the Union of University Professionals where he has presented on Unions and Racism on several occasions. With co-author Kiersten Greene, he published an interview, “Higher Education Organizing for the Week of Action.” Black Lives Matter at School, Haymarket Books, 2020.
L. Ady Dewey is Reynolds Visiting Assistant Professor in Strategic Communications at Washington & Lee University. Ady built a career as a consultant and freelancer interviewing, writing, strategizing, and advising in several industries. Her first teaching appointment was in 2003 at Rutgers University, New Jersey, then continuing at other schools before landing at Washington & Lee University in Virginia, where she brings her experiences in public relations, leadership, and organizational development to the classroom.
Dr. Barbara Durkin is an Associate Professor of Management in the Business Department at the State University of New York (SUNY) in Oneonta. She holds a Juris Doctor degree from Pace University School of Law and a Master of Business Administration degree in Organizational Behavior from Iona College. Her research interests are interdisciplinary, focusing on emerging issues related to the future of work. Dr. Durkin is passionate about helping students succeed. Her latest initiatives involve integrating Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) and sustainability into the curriculum at SUNY Oneonta.
Atiah Abdullah Sidek is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Manufacturing and Materials Engineering at International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM), specializing in operational strategy and industrial optimization. She is actively involved in promoting global collaboration through the COIL initiative and contributes to STEM capacity-building efforts both in Malaysia and internationally.
Miki Yamashita, EdD, is Professor of the Faculty of Global Studies at Reitaku University in Chiba, Japan. Her scholarship focuses on leadership studies, intercultural communication, and using forms of service-learning, virtual exchange such as narrative exchange in a Human Library.