I have a PhD in German from Harvard University and have been teaching foreign language and culture since 1989. My research focuses on the impact of conflict and post-conflict environments on family and community relationships. I also teach on political resistance movements, multiculturalism and cinema. In 2005 I took a leave of absence from UNCA and completed a Masters degree in Applied Anthropology and Participatory Development. My graduate studies took me to Sri Lanka, Australia and India. I am now back at UNCA as the director of International Studies program. My courses include Refugees and Human Rights, Indigenous Rights and Social Justice, and Local/Global Peacebuilding. In summer of 2007 and 2008, I traveled with students to Honduras, where we worked with local indigenous groups, including women's cooperatives. I hope to offer a course in Women's Studies at UNCA on Gender and International Development. I have a passion for human rights, peace education and international experiential learning. My goal is to develop programs that bridge university and community-based initiatives and provide students with socially engaged, in-field opportunities both in the U.S. and abroad.