Eddie Contreras

New Face in the Office of International Education, Diversity, and Inclusion: Rebecca Dixon

August 23, 2019

Rebecca Dixon has been hired by the Office of International Education, Diversity, and Inclusion as an administrative assistant according to Eddie Contreras, assistant provost for International Education, Diversity and Inclusion. Dixon has a bachelor of arts in English literature from the University of Tennessee where she also studied Chinese and served as the fiction editor for the Phoenix Literary and Arts Magazine. She also served in the Peace Corps in Malawi in various educational capacities. Most recently, Dixon earned a master of arts in higher education and student affairs at the University of Portland where she interned with the Office of International Student Services. Beyond her educational experiences, Dixon’s myriad talents and service have been demonstrated in her role as café manager at World Foods, an au pair in France, an ESL group facilitator at the Children’s Home Society of Washington in Seattle, and as trained advocate for victims of domestic violence.

Dawn Michele Whitehead: Global Learning and Curricular Change

January 25, 2019

Dawn Michele Whitehead is the Senior Director for Global Learning and Curricular Change at the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U). She focuses on advancing practices, strategies, and projects for integrative global learning across the undergraduate curriculum. Whitehead will deliver three 75-minute workshops at the University of Portland on Wednesday, January 30, with three different themes. All are welcome to attend one or all sessions. RSVP using this link.

Service Learning–Bringing the Global to the Local: This workshop offers participants strategies for developing service learning experiences that incorporate global learning and domestic issues in a way that supports this high impact practice. Staff, faculty, and student leaders are welcome to attend. Franz 120 at 11 a.m.
Integrating Global Learning Outcomes in Domestic Courses: This workshop is intended for those who are interested in providing students with global or intercultural learning objectives in classes they teach in the United States. Participants should bring ideas and/or syllabi for courses they would like to develop. Franz 120 at 2 p.m.
Integrating Global Learning Outcomes in Courses Abroad: This workshop is intended for faculty members who will be teaching abroad this summer, or those interested in leading study abroad programming in the future. This hands-on workshop will consider the best ways to maximize the global learning experience for students abroad. Please bring a syllabus or ideas on a specific course to develop for a specific destination. Franz Murphy Room at 3:30 p.m.

For more information please contact Eddie Contreras at x7857 or contrera@up.edu.

Aziz Inan, Shiley School of Engineering, had is article, “Carter facts add up,” published in The Columbian on October 5, 2019.

Dean of admissions Jason McDonald was quoted in an article titled “Cooperation across school lines” in the October 7 edition of the Catholic Sentinel.

Michael Prendergast, adjunct instructor in theology and music, gave five presentations at the Catholic Educators Conference in Boise, Idaho October 4-5, 2019. He delivered talks on the Eucharist, Liturgical Year, Mariology, and preparing liturgies for the sacraments of First Reconciliation, Fist Communion, and Confirmation.

Patricia Morrell, Sally Hood, and Erik Mellgren, education, had their paper, “A First-Year Middle School Science Teacher’s Experiences Navigating Science Content in a Dual Language Immersion Program,” printed in the latest edition of the online journal Heliyon (Volume 5, Issue 10).

Dawn Lee Garzon Maaks, nursing, will be inducted into the American Academy of Nursing on October 28 in Washington, DC.

Hannah Highlander, mathematics, presented “Using Agent-Based Modeling to Investigate the Existence of Herd Immunity Thresholds for Infectious Diseases on Randomly Generated Contact Networks” (with student co-presenter Owen Price) and “It Takes a Village: Delivering Education and Enabling Research in Mathematical Biology via an Organized Community Approach” (with co-presenter Olcay Atman) at the International Symposium on Biomathematics and Ecology Education and Research, La Crosse, Wisconsin, Oct. 2019. She served as Chair and Organizer for invited session “Open and Accessible Problems for Undergraduates in Mathematics,” for the International Symposium on Biomathematics and Ecology Education and Research, June-October 2019.

Update Archive