Maricopa Community Colleges

 

DAC Award for Excellence: Paradise Valley Community College

Michele Marion Director of International Studies Adjunct Faculty: Division of Social and Behavioral Sciences

Michele MarionMichele Marion is responsible for working with faculty, students, and staff to integrate global awareness and understanding into their experiences at PVCC. Michele’s responsibilities include managing grants, working with groups of faculty from a variety of disciplines on instructional projects, and expanding and directing the International Education program.

Michele developed international modules that became a part of all her sociology classes, including Sociology 212, Gender and Society and Sociology 270, The Sociology of Health and Illness as well as Sociology 101, Introduction to Sociology.  In addition, Michele and three other faculty participated in a Diversity Curriculum grant which they used to develop a module for their First Year Experience block.

Michele traveled on study trips to China, Korea, and the eastern region of Russia, Singapore and Malaysia and participated in an intensive Spanish language program in Mexico.  Upon her return to PVCC, Michele conducted workshops for faculty and made presentations to students about her experiences.  In addition, she developed modules for her Sociology classes that incorporate what she learned from her study trips.

As Director of International Studies, Michele focuses her efforts in the following areas:

  • Faculty Development workshops including:
    • The Role of Islam in Southeast Asia
    • International Cultural Series on Japanese, Korean, and Mexican Art
    • Cultural Mexico – on the culture, history, and politics of Mexico
    • The Pan-American Future on business, economic, and political issues of Latin America
    • The Muslim World from Tradition to Modernity
    • Sharia’a and Family Law in the Muslim World
  • Student Development – arranging speakers and workshops for students as part of a class or as an open presentation.  Some examples include:
    • “Day of Dialogue” each semester with students who volunteer to be on the panel and talk about their experiences in collaboration with Student Life staff and the Diversity committee
    • Speakers from Catholic Social Services Refugee and Immigration Settlement Office who present in a variety of classes each semester
    • Global Villages workshops from Catholic Social Services each semester covering topics such as “Day of the Dead,” “Immigration and Refugees” “Africa”, etc. (received a best practices award in 2004 for the Global Villages and Catholic Social Services Speaker series from American Council for International/Intercultural Education)
    • Carrie Kilman, writer for “Teaching Tolerance”  magazine, addressed students about immigration issues
    • Art presentations from Mata Ortiz, China, San Miguel Allende in conjunction with art faculty
    • Development of 2 academic certificates (Asia, Latin America) in International Studies and coordinating the development on one in Islamic Studies
  • Community, Faculty/Staff, Students
    • Film Festival facilitation with a different theme each year; this spring it is France; two years ago, the theme was the Holocaust; another  year is was Japanese films
    • Grants such as one in collaboration with the Maricopa County Library that brought authors to PVCC who talked about issues dealing with migration and developing a sense of community
    • Development of study abroad trips for students and for faculty
    • Fulbright Scholar Grant (helped write) that has supported a scholar from Morocco this year to work with several community colleges, present talks in classes, and is helping PV design a course on History of Islam and an academic certificate
    • Coordinator for PVCC’s role as a satellite center of the East West Center

Michele’s is passionate, humble, and dedicated to diversity and inclusion.  She does not let obstacles like resources deter her from providing the college with quality programming and learning opportunities.  She is resourceful and can give us all a lesson on what true collaboration looks like on a college campus.  Michele Marion demonstrates that she is committed to diversity and inclusion inside and outside of the classroom.  She is a teacher and life long learner.  This is why Michele Marion is PVCC’s 2007 nominee for the DAC Award for Excellence.

Strategic Directions: Creating Dynamic Learning Environments, Collaboration