About Me

Trained as an anthropologist, I have spent the last thirty years working as a researcher and faculty member in the field of higher education. My research has concentrated on ways that students transition to and through college, how credentials are (or are not) valued, and policies regarding student success. I’ve been interested in the development of American general education curriculum and how co-curricular programs like undergraduate research and education abroad enhance the college experience. In all these areas, I ask: “Who has access and who doesn’t”?

Since 2006, I’ve led over a dozen study abroad groups to Europe based (loosely) on the anthropology of tourism and education. We’ve studied the history of student mobility and the rise of western universities (From Bologna to Bologna). We’ve followed the beaten track studying a cultural history of travel and education (Navigating the Grand Tour). I’ve checked students into hotels, showed them how to buy tickets and navigate maps, waited with them outside hospitals and consulates following various mishaps, and guided them through more or less interesting tours of European cities. The emphasis of my education abroad teaching has been on developing student agency, helping them become travelers and (hopefully) more cosmopolitan citizens of the world.

Why Campus Context?

A couple of years ago, I was asked to give a talk about the history and structure of American higher education for a group of administrators and faculty from German universities invited by my university’s International Center. I organized the talk around the cumulative nature of American higher education, starting with colonial colleges in the 18th century and building to today’s stratified system in the United States. I then answered questions and our discussion ranged from how students pay for tuition to the influence of the American “Greek” system. I gave a similar talk last year for a group of European education abroad providers employed by an American company. I enjoyed these encounters and realized that what is very familiar to me—the American college campus—can be strange to those who work with American students abroad. How can we provide this information more easily?