Staff / Faculty

Professor Haroun Er Rashid, Director Emeritus, is Director of the School of Environmental Science and Management at Independent University, Bangladesh (IUB). For several years he has had major responsibility for IUB's "Live-in-Field Experience", which sends urban-based students into the rural villages and urban settlements to impress upon them the socio-economic realities faced by the majority of Bangladeshis. A Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and author of the definitive geographical text on Bangladesh, Rashid has graduate degrees in geography and development economics and is the founder of a private voluntary national development organization,Bangladesh POUSH, whose primary objective is to enable small-holder and landless families to generate more income for themselves from environmentally sound projects and programs.

Professor Talim Hossain, Director of Development and Community in Bangladesh, is Assistant Professor in Anthropology in the School of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences at Independent University, Bangladesh. Professor Hossain earned a Ph.D. at the University of Berne, Switzerland. His wrote a dissertation entitled "Potentials of Increasing Crop Production and Agricultural Development in Bangladesh: An Anthropological Study." His research in rural Bangladesh is extensive and he has also studied landscape and flooding as well as health centers in Bangladesh. He has worked in anthropological research for both Canadian and Swiss development agencies on development projects in rural Bangladesh, and has assisted several international scholars in their research in rural Bangladesh. Professor Hossain is originally from a village in Gazipur district, north of Dhaka.

Martha Moscoso, Program Director for all Ecuador programs, is a sociologist and historian, with an advanced degree in Sociology of Development from the Sorbonne University in Paris, France, and her Master degree in Andean History from the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences (FLACSO), Quito. Beyond leading the Ecuador program site for HECUA, she is a professor on the Human Sciences faculty at Quito's Catholic University and has extensive research in women's and gender and in indigenous communities' history. Martha has participated in numerous academic events and has published numerous articles in history in Ecuadorian and Latin American books and magazines. Recently she has done a research on education in Ecuador, sponsored by the University of Geneva, Switzerland, and the International Bureau of Education - UNESCO (IBE). This research was conducted within the framework of an international program for the construction of the political dialogue in the field of the education. Martha is member of the Institute of Ecuadorian Studies (IEE), a non profit organization that works in the area of local development and citizen formation. She participates actively in a citizen Assembly whose objective is the formation and the active participation of the local population looking for the change of the society. She is also member of the Atelier of Historical Studies (TEHIS).

Nigel Glenny, the Program Director for “Northern Ireland: Democracy and Social Change” program, is a graduate of Stranmillis University College (Queens University Belfast) with a First Class Honours degree in Education (Religious Studies, History). He began his career as a history teacher, then moved into local government as an education officer, where he designed and taught a wide range of experiential learning programs for schools, colleges, youth and community groups. Much of this work used elements of Irish cultural traditions to foster cross-community contact between Protestant and Catholic groups from divided communities within Northern Ireland. Nigel most recently worked several years at a leading non-governmental organization engaged in peace and capacity-building initiatives throughout the island of Ireland. At that organization, he developed an international Citizenship Action Project that reached across communities in Northern Ireland, across the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, and across the Atlantic to the United States. He created materials for learning about peace and reconciliation, led programs in how to facilitate student engagement, and trained teachers and youth workers throughout Ireland and the United States.

Margareta Dancus, Scandinavian Program Director, earned a Ph.D. in Scandinavian: Theory and Criticism from the University of Washington in Seattle. She is interested in questions of globalization, multiculturalism, neoliberalism, nation and nationhood, and “civic (dis)engagement” in postwar Scandinavia. She situates her work at the crossroads of critical theory, theories of affect and the emotions, anthropology, theories of social imaginary, film and cultural studies. Her dissertation entitled "Screening the Norwegian Heart: The Cultural Politics and Aesthetics of the Emotions in Norwegian Cinema 2000-2008" elaborates a genealogy of state emotionalism in Norwegian cinema through an analysis of Norwegian popular films produced between 2000 and 2008. A native of Romania, Margareta is fluent in English and Norwegian, proficient in Swedish and French, and also has some Danish, Spanish, and Italian.

Jennifer Goff, Program Teaching Assistant for HECUA’s Scandinavian programs, is an alumna of the 1997 Scandinavian Urban Studies Term, who graduated with a bachelor's degree in Political Science and Sociology from Hamline University. The year after her graduation, she volunteered in Dublin, Ireland in a community organization for the homeless. Jennifer served as an AmeriCorps leader in Washington state, and worked with youth experiencing homelessness, before becoming a full-time community advocate for homelessness policy. She received a master's in public administration from Hamline, and a second master's in International Social Welfare and Healthcare Policy from Oslo University College. Since moving to Oslo in 2008, Jennifer has focused her energy on integration policies impacting non-western immigrants into Norway. She is a leader of the international volunteer group at the Oslo Red Cross, and a volunteer at the Oslo Anti-Racism Center. Jennifer teaches English and works as a facilitator at Oslo University College in the masters program from which she graduated.

Phillip Sandro (Ph.D., Economics; M.A., Economics; B.A., History, tel: 651-287-3314 / Email), has taught experiential urban studies programs for over 20 years, including the Metro Urban Studies Term, which he began directing in 1994. His background also includes community organizing, and public administration. He also provides faculty development workshops through HECUA. Sandro has an impressive record of involvement in urban public policy including a policy making position for the City of Chicago under reform mayor Harold Washington. He has also served on numerous boards of community development corporations and has been active in educational reform issues. He holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the New School for Social Research with emphasis on urban and regional economics, political economy and economic history. Besides teaching, Sandro is currently doing research in conjunction with the Carnegie Foundation for Teaching and Learning’s “Political Engagement Program.” He is currently the Vice President of the Board at the East Side Neighborhood Development Company, an active member of the East Side Prosperity Campaign and serves on the Beacon Bluff Advisory Board.

Deirdre Hinz (tel: 651-287-3318 / Email), Metro Urban Studies Term (MUST) Teaching Assistant, holds a degree in religion and Latin American studies from Saint Olaf College, an M.A. in Religion and Theology (with an emphasis on liberationist theologies) from United Theological Seminary, and is currently working toward a Master of Divinity degree, with a concentration in anti-racism leadership, at United. She is an alumna of HECUA’s South American Urban Semester program, and during her graduate work has participated in immersion trips to Mexico, Guatemala, and the Philippines. Deirdre has worked as a page in the Minnesota Senate and as a research associate at Wilder Research, where she researched local issues such as the juvenile justice system, housing, culturally-specific counseling, immigrant services, and sexual assault. In August 2008, Deirdre led a tour to Nicaragua as part of a congregational relationship between Second Baptist Church of Leon, Nicaragua and University Baptist Church of Minneapolis, where she served as an intern.

William Reichard (tel: 651-287-3304 / Email), City Arts and Writing for Social Change Program Director, holds an M.A. in creative writing and a Ph.D. in contemporary American poetry from the University of Minnesota. A longtime member of the Twin Cities arts community, Bill has worked with artists from a wide variety of disciplines, creating collaborative projects that push the boundaries of individual genres. He is the author of five collections of poetry: An Alchemy in the Bones (1999), To Be Quietly Spoken (2001), How To (2004), This Brightness (2007), and Sin Eater (forthcoming 2010) and the editor of The Evening Crowd at Kirmser’s: A Gay Life in the 1940’s (2001).

Molly Van Avery (tel: 651-287-3302 / Email), is a writer, director, and maker of short movies.  In addition to teaching at HECUA, Molly has made original performance work in venues throughout the Twin Cities including the Bedlam Theatre, Bryant Lake Bowl, Open Eye Figure Theater, Pantages, and the Walker Art Center.  She has received the Minnesota State Arts Board grant, the Blacklock Nature Sanctuary Grant, and the grant for emerging book artists administered through MN Center for Book Arts, and won “Best Performance Art” from Lavender Magazine for her show “My Never Being Loneliness.” Molly also administers the Naked Stages Grant for emerging performance artists administered through Pillsbury House Theater.  She is currently enrolled in Hamline’s MFA program in Creative Writing.

Julia Frost Nerbonne (tel: 651-287-3308 / Email), Environmental Sustainability Program Director, (B.A. Vassar College; M.S., and Ph.D. in Conservation Biology, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities) Julia has taught numerous courses in both natural and social science focusing on aquatic ecology, conflict management of natural resources, and environmental ethics. She has extensive experience in community education, field research, and community organizing. When she is not at HECUA she is conducting research on the role of scientific knowledge on citizen empowerment, teaching in the department of Fisheries, Wildlife and Conservation Biology at the University of Minnesota, and working to create a better future as a "commoner" in her community.

Erin Walsh (tel: 651-287-3305 / Email), Environmental Sustainability Teaching Assistant, comes to HECUA after recently completing a M.A. in geography at the University of Minnesota. During her graduate work she designed a qualitative research project on environmental citizenship, social movements, and water justice in the San Joaquin Valley of California. Before starting graduate school Erin worked for a community-based social development organization in Peru and has been a public speaker and writer for the National Institute on Media and the Family, a Minneapolis-based non-profit that conducts advocacy and research on the impact of media on youth engagement and children's health and development. Erin received her B.A. in sociology and environmental studies from the University of Wisconsin - Madison. During her undergraduate career, she spent three semesters off campus studying with the Audubon Expedition Institute, an experiential education program where she had the opportunity to study environmental and social issues in Alberta, Canada, the southwest United States and Louisiana.

Lena Jones directs HECUA´s summer Civil Rights Movement: History and Consequences program.  She is a full-time political science faculty member at Minneapolis Community and Technical College, where she has been teaching since 2002. Lena is active in several civic engagement initiatives and is part of a core team that received a 2006 Minnesota Campus Compact/Minnesota Office of Higher Education grant to create a Center for Civic Engagement at MCTC.  In addition to her interest in and experience teaching about civil rights and social change in the US context, Lena has also participated in research projects exploring racism, immigration, and social movements in Western Europe and South Africa.  In 2004, Lena received a fellowship from the University of Minnesota's Human Rights Center to support a residency with the Institute for Democracy in South Africa (IDASA) where she participated in IDASA's efforts to institute civic engagement projects in the Gauteng province. While in South Africa, she also took part in grassroots democracy-building efforts aimed at gaining access to water and fighting xenophobia and discrimination.  During Spring Semester 2009, she led HECUA’s Divided States of Europe: Globalization and Inequalities in the New Europe program in Oslo Norway.

Jenny Keyser (tel: 651-287-3315 / Email), Executive Director, brings 28 years of teaching, program development, and nonprofit leadership to HECUA. With a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a B.A. in English from Hanover College, she began her career by teaching literature at colleges in Louisiana and Minnesota, and subsequently left teaching to direct programs and provided leadership to educational and community-based nonprofit organizations, including the Minnesota Literacy Council, Minnesota Humanities Commission, and the Children, Youth & Family Consortium.

The Executive Director serves as Chief Executive Officer (CEO), accountable to the HECUA Board of Directors for the HECUA organization and its operations as a nonprofit educational institution. With the President of the HECUA Board, the Executive Director assists the HECUA Board of Directors to fulfill its policy-making and governance function. Jenny also provides leadership and management for the formulation, articulation, and achievement of HECUA’s general philosophy, mission, and strategies. She is a steward of HECUA’s history and helps formulate HECUA’s future. Questions should go to the Executive Director when they cannot be addressed by the Director of Operations and/or Director of Programs.

Patrick Mulvihill (tel: 651-287-3306 / Email), Director of Operations, brings with him 15 years of experience in nonprofit management and international programming. Prior to HECUA, he worked with Global Volunteers, serving first as the organization’s director of European programs and subsequently as the chief operating officer. Earlier in his career, he taught English and American studies for the Central European Teaching Program in Nyìregyhàza, Hungary. He also co-founded a program for overseas graduate internships at the University of Minnesota. Pat holds a B.A. in history from St. Olaf College and an M.A. in international economic development from the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey Institute.

The Director of Operations manages a range of internal organizational operations, including financial systems, budgeting, contracts, membership services, human resources, and information systems. The Director of Operations supervises the marketing and recruitment manager, office manager, and part-time accountant, and handles all financial questions, including billing and payment plans, along with all legal/contract queries.

Sarah Pradt (tel: 651-287-3307 / Email), Director of Programs, formerly on the faculties of the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities and Macalester College, has eleven years of experience in undergraduate teaching, academic administration, grant-writing, graduate advising, and cross-cultural and interdisciplinary program development. While a faculty member at Macalester College from 1998 to 2005, Sarah created and led an Asian Studies program, expanded the Japanese language program, worked with Macalester and the University of Minnesota to coordinate offerings in Chinese language, and helped to write and later administered a $1.77 million foundation grant to support the study of China. Sarah holds a Ph.D. in East Asian Literature, M.A. in East Asian Studies, and B.A. in English from Cornell University, and was a Fulbright researcher at Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto in 2002-03.

The Director of Programs provides leadership and oversight to all HECUA programs while ensuring consistently high standards in curriculum and pedagogy. The position supervises program directors and various program and support staff. The Director of Programs also tends to member relations within specific academic departments and organizes the Academic Program Committee, a committee that provides oversight and assessment for all HECUA programs. The Director of Programs answers questions and/or concerns about the content or curriculum of a program, and reviews grade disputes in consultation with the program director, and the student’s home institution.

Stephanie Clausen (tel: 651-287-3301 / Email), Office Manager, joined HECUA in 2000 and brings over ten years of experience in database and office management. At HECUA, Stephanie coordinates the office systems, manages the database, and is the go-to person for equipment and other office trouble-shooting. Previously, Stephanie had worked for the Radisson Hotels in Saint Paul, as well as Global Language Institute, a non-profit that provides intensive English language training to non-native speakers. Stephanie holds a degree from St. Norbert College (De Pere, WI) in International Business and French Language Area Studies.

Gifty Akofio-Sowah (tel: 651-287-3303 / Email), Office and Program Assistant for HECUA, is a 2009 graduate from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities with a Bachelor of Science in Urban Studies and Global Studies. She continues to be active on campus as a member of the 2010 diversity committee for the Department of Geography. This committee is charged with encouraging diversity in the department’s holistic approach to student learning, the hiring and promotion of faculty and staff, and organizing outreach opportunities that nurture understanding. As the Office and Program Assistant at HECUA, Gifty assumes the responsibilities of providing general logistical and administrative support to the Director of Programs and office and clerical support as determined by the Office Manager. In addition to her work at HECUA, Gifty is an active staff member and volunteer at North Minneapolis-based Hospitality House Youth Directions, an after school program for inner-city students. She is also a volunteer at the Minnesota Council of Churches Refugee Services. Gifty has also spent significant time living and learning in Ghana, West Africa.

Vernon Sowell (tel: 651-287-3309 / Email), Bookkeeper, joined HECUA in April of 2008 and brings with him a vast amount of nonprofit financial accounting experience, with such local organizations as Phyllis Wheatley Community Center, Project For Pride In Living, African Health Action Corporation, Account Ability Minnesota and Northern Voices. He has a genuine love for “crunching the numbers” and is drawn to nonprofit organizations by the invaluable services that they provide to the diverse communities that they serve. He graduated from Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, IL with a BBA in Accounting and an MBA in Finance.

Emily Seru (tel: 651-287-3313 / Email), is the Manager of Internships and Community Partnerships for HECUA. Her work experience includes development, grant making, and capacity building with the Headwaters Foundation for Justice as well as managing the internship program for Milkweed Editions. Since joining HECUA in 2004, Emily has managed the Partners Internship Program and the Graduate Fellowship on Philanthropy & Human Rights, and continues to manage the internships for all HECUA domestic programs including the Central Corridor Internship Program. Emily also provides leadership for HECUA's broader community partnership and anti-racism work. She holds a BA in English and History from Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon.

Mary Delorié (tel: 651-287-3310 / Email), Marketing and Recruitment Manager, joined the HECUA team in 2004 with extensive experience in promoting, supporting, and managing international volunteerism. Mary left Cross-Cultural Solutions, based in New Rochelle, NY, as the Director of Program Management. During her tenure with the organization she was a lead recruiter, led the start-up of new departments, oversaw alumni development projects, and advised marketing efforts. Mary has a BA in Liberal Arts from Sarah Lawrence College, Bronxville, New York. She studied abroad during her junior year with the International Honors Program (IHP) which took her to England, India, the Philippines, New Zealand, and Mexico doing comparative study of environmental and social justice issues. At HECUA, she carries out overall management and coordination of recruitment, student services, and marketing activities. She organizes the Scholarship Committee, Application Review Committee, and new Marketing Advisory Committee. She also trains and supports the Recruitment and Student Services Associates.

The Marketing and Recruitment Manager provides overall management and coordination of the recruitment, student services, and marketing activities carried out at HECUA. This position supervises recruitment and student services associates and supports pre- and post-program activities. Mary serves as Phil’s back up should he be unavailable to respond to pressing questions.

Phillip Romine (tel: 651-287-3312 / Email), Student Services Associate, came to HECUA in 2007 with a BA in Sociology/Anthropology and German from St. Olaf College. He spent a year studying abroad in northern Germany before college. He also studied and worked abroad as part of HECUA’s 2006 Northern Ireland: Democracy and Social Change program. Before arriving at HECUA, Phil had tutored in Germany and the U.S., conducted research with St. Olaf’s German department, done copy editing and survey work in Northern Ireland, and worked various labor jobs in Northfield and Brainerd, MN. During Phil’s time at HECUA he has had first-hand experience visiting and participating in every semester-length program HECUA offers. In addition to serving students, he is also a member of HECUA’s Anti-Racism Leadership Team. Phil is active at House of Hope in St. Paul, MN, where he serves on the church’s missions and hiring committees. He is also a tenor in the church’s choir, which regularly performs free music events for the community.

First round questions regarding pending applications, required paperwork, travel/visa arrangements, medical insurance, international program orientations, grades and transcripts, and other general program logistics go to Phil Romine who serves as support to all enrolled students and their families.

Kari Pederson Behrends (tel: 651-287-3317 or 651-216-1368 / Email), Recruitment Associate, is both a 2009 graduate from Macalester College and a 2007 alumna of HECUA’s Scandinavian Urban Studies Term. Kari’s undergraduate career melded together HECUA’s themes of social justice and multiculturalism with her work in psychology, art history and educational studies. Her capstone course in the Psychology and NeuroScience Department, “Cultural Psychology,” dealt with contemporary complications of multiculural-inclusion in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) published by the American Psychiatric Association. Kari rounded out her college experience with 4-years membership in The Macalester Choir and Women’s Choir, Macalester Democrats, and Psi Chi Psychology Honor Society. Kari continues her involvement in the current campaign of Mayor Chris Coleman of St. Paul, and previously worked as canvassing associate for Representative Tim Walz of Minnesota’s 1st District.

Lauren White (tel: 651-287-3311 or 651-216-1369 / Email) Recruitment Associate, joined HECUA in August 2009, as a recent University of Minnesota graduate with a Bachelor of Individualized Studies in mass communication, global studies, and art, with a French minor. Lauren participated in City Arts in spring ’08 as one of HECUA’s first Scholarship for Social Justice recipients. In addition to Lauren’s varied academic pursuits at the U of MN she was also the president of the women’s Ultimate Disc Club, a Community Engagement Scholar, and participated in Student Project for Amity among Nations (SPAN) researching environmental education based in New Zealand. Lauren also enjoys working with children. She was an after-school tutor through the U-YMCA for students at Woodson Institute for Student Excellence (WISE) in North Minneapolis, and was a teacher at Kidventure Camp in St. Paul. Lauren grew up in New Zealand and has experience studying and traveling in Europe and the South Pacific.