Jeff Loughary Archives - Reynolds College Blog

Missouri State University has announced its inaugural cohort of the Education Abroad Faculty Fellows program.

This year’s cohort consists of eight faculty members from a diverse range of disciplines. Among the eight are three members of the Reynolds College of Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities (RCASH) faculty.

Those individuals are Jeff Loughary from the Department of Languages, Cultures and Religions, Nikki Ferry from the Department of Theatre and Dance and Dr. William Harwood from the Department of Political Science and Philosophy.

Other selected Fellows are Dr. Benjamin Beranek from the College of Business, Clara Dickinson from the Darr College of Agriculture, Dr. Asif Ishtiaque from the College of Natural and Applied Sciences, and Kelly Dudley and Stephanie Urich from the McQueary College of Health and Human Services.

In addition, four RCASH faculty members served as content experts during the Fellows session in January. They were Joshua Albers from the Department of Art and Design, Dr. William Sandel from the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, and Dr. Leslie Seawright and Dr. Alan Tinkler from the Department of English.

“I was excited to work with the inaugural Education Abroad faculty cohort, sharing ways to weave general education goals and course learning objectives into their education abroad itineraries,” Seawright said. “It was a great conversation.”

“Study abroad is an incredible opportunity for both our faculty and students,” Sandel said. “I was happy to share some of my experiences regarding flexibility when planning and conducting a study abroad program.”

The Department of Languages, Cultures, and Religions (LCR) hosted its “2024 World Language Day—Just for Fun” recruitment event April 16 in the PSU Ballroom.

Over 400 high school students from across the Ozarks attended the event.

The organizers, Cristina Sepulveda-Hinojosa, Dr. Maria Alejandra Cerdas Cisneros and Jeff Loughary, along with LCR department head Dr. Stephen Berkwitz, started planning the event in October 2023.

“It took us almost six months to organize it,” said Sepulveda.

The purpose of the event is twofold, Sepulveda added. One goal is to encourage or motivate students to attend Missouri State University. The other is to encourage students to study languages.

“[We want to] motivate them to continue studying a foreign language and make them aware of the advantage they will have professionally by studying a foreign language,” she explained.

three teens sitting on floor doing an activity — High schoolers enjoyed foreign language activities like relays, karaoke, dances and crafting.

Interdisciplinary and community outreach key part of event

One of the early goals of the planning committee was to reach out in an interdisciplinary capacity to academic departments outside of its college home in the Reynolds College of Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities (RCASH).

“We thought about which departments could gain from prospective students who can speak foreign languages and therefore invited them to join our event,” Sepulveda explained. “Now we realize that it was a success, and we are happy to have done it that way.”

“It has been an enriching experience working with international business, hospitality and education, because we have realized that by joining forces, we also increase resources and the possibility of success. We all benefit,” she added.