Author: Melissa Whatley

Melissa Whatley is currently a doctoral student in the Institute of Higher Education at the University of Georgia. Prior to beginning her doctoral studies, Melissa taught both Spanish and French for eight years at a variety of institutions and worked with study abroad programs in both France and Spain. In addition to spending a year in Coria del Río, Spain as an English teacher, Melissa has traveled extensively in Europe, Latin America, and Africa. Her research interests include the organization of study abroad programs, access to and opportunities for international experiences among underrepresented student populations, and minority language education. She currently serves as the graduate assistant for the Center for Undergraduate Research Opportunities at the University of Georgia.

Creating Access to Global Education 2015 @ UT-Austin

Posted on October 14, 2015May 2, 2016 by Melissa Whatley

The 2015 edition of the University of Texas at Austin’s Creating Access to Global Education Symposium, which took place on September 25, 2015, focused on opening up student access across Latin America. While difficult to believe, the most recent Open Doors Report for the 2012-13 academic year indicates that 26,281 students from U.S. institutions of…

Ten Lessons I’ve Learned while Teaching Abroad

Posted on September 30, 2015May 2, 2016 by Melissa Whatley

This post is authored by Dr. Timothy Gupton, an Assistant Professor of Spanish linguistics at the University of Georgia. He shares ten lessons that he has learned as a faculty member working with students abroad in Costa Rica. Did you ever have the chance to study abroad? Have you ever dreamed of it? More university…

Five Ways to Help Students Deal with Culture Shock

Posted on September 15, 2015May 3, 2016 by Melissa Whatley

As students and travelers, we’ve all been there — dreading the moment when class would end and we’d have to go back to our host family’s house where nothing (absolutely nothing) was comforting or even familiar, spending hours on long-distance phone calls with our moms/dads/friends/boyfriends/girlfriends back home, crying because the internet disconnected us from our…