Dr. Sally Gomaa attends faculty development seminar in Morocco
Dr. Sally Gomaa, associate professor in the departments of Cultural, Environmental and Global Studies and English and Communications, recently attended a faculty development seminar hosted by the Center for International Educational Exchange (CIEE) in Morocco.
A grant received by Erin FitzGerald, director of international programs, together with financial support from Dr. Scott Zeman, provost, funded this opportunity.
Morocco set the tone for the seminar’s focus on how language operates within a framework of power and how language learning targets community engagement. Participants examined different strategies on how to help students move through the intercultural development process. In addition, site visits and experiential learning activities provided an overview of Morocco’s unique local and global cultures.
Dr. Gomaa said the program enabled her “to exchange ideas with colleagues from other American universities on teaching language and cultural studies and to gain a new perspective on how national identity is contested in Morocco.” She plans to integrate what she learned from the seminar into her teaching and to lead a study abroad program to Morocco in the near future.
Since 1990, CIEE has organized hundreds of faculty seminars in more than 40 countries, helping faculty and administrators from institutions of higher education gain insight into alternate worldviews, hear diverse voices from an international community and access innovative approaches to learning and problem solving.
