Professor Luciani holds degrees of Doctor in Theology and Licenciate in Dogmatic Theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University of Rome; Baccalaureatum in Philosophy and Baccalaureatum in Theology from the Pontifical Salesian University of Rome; and Licenciate in Education (with mention in Philosophy) earned from the Jesuit`s Catholic University Andrés Bello in Caracas. He has been engaged in postdoctoral activities at the Julius-Maximilians Universität in Würzburg, Germany.

During a recent private audience with Pope Francis, School of Theology and Ministry Associate Professor of the Practice Rafael Luciani had the opportunity to present the pontiff with a couple of publications and talk about ways Boston College can help promote the pope’s message throughout the Church. Read more about this story here.

I am a doctoral candidate of higher education at the Lynch School of Education, and a research assistant at Center for International Higher Education (CIHE). Before coming to Boston College, I completed a Master’s Degree in Public Administration in my home country, Ethiopia, and a
Master’s Degree in Research and Innovation in Higher Education (MARIHE), an Erasmus Mundus program organized by four universities in four different countries (Danube University – Krems in Austria; University of Tampere in Finland; Beijing Normal University in China; and Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences in Germany).

Besides woking as faculty at Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia, I have also worked for the World Bank in Washington, DC, as a consultant for higher education in low-income countries.

My decision to come to Boston College was inspired by the international composition and prolific scholarship in international higher education at CIHE. Here, I get to work with top experts of higher education from around the world through the broad network of the center.

My research interests include policy and governance of higher education in developing countries, internationalization of higher education, diaspora engagement and “brain circulation,” and transnational institutional partnerships. Besides my involvement in different research projects, I am currently working on my dissertation, which explores the use of diaspora engagement as a means to “brain circulation.”

Author of over two dozen articles, several book chapters, and some 100 book and video reviews, Kwasi Sarkodie-Mensah of Boston College Libraries, has a passionate interest in international students, adult learners, and library users with various types of abilities. His groundbreaking dissertation on library use by international students in the United States opened up the conversation of how American library staff personnel can understand issues students from various parts of the world experience, as they navigate the complicated education system in a foreign land. Kwasi taught the Research Methods and Data Analysis class at the Woods School of Advancing Studies for over 20 years. He now teaches one of the Applied Research Project (Capstone) sessions final year WCAS students take before graduation. He has led and accompanied Boston College students on service trips—twice to Belize, once each to Jamaica and the Dominican Republic, and eight times to his hometown in Ghana, Ejisu, the birthplace of the brave and powerful Ashanti queen Yaa Asantewaa (mid-1800s-1921).

SELECTED PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

1992 - Present, Manager, Instructional Services, Boston College

1996 - Present, Adjunct Faculty, Woods College of Advancing Studies, Boston College

1986 - 1989, Library Instruction Coordinator, Xavier University

1992 - Present, Ghanian Language Consultant, United States State and Federal Government

Maria Amelia Paiva Abrao is a PhD scholar at the ESPM Graduate Program in Communication and Consumption Practices (ESPM-SP, Brazil). She has been awarded a scholarship from the CAPES Foundation, an agency under the Ministry of Education of Brazil, in order to conduct part of her doctoral research as a Visiting Scholar in the Communication Department (Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences) at Boston College, from September 2018 to February 2019.

She has a master’s degree in Communication and Consumption Practices and an EMBA in Marketing both from ESPM and a bachelor’s degree in Communication from Pontifical Catholic University of Campinas. Her research field are telenovelas, women’s and gender studies, and consumption practices. Her PhD research aims to investigate the women-related discourses woven into Brazilian telenovelas and the cultural consumption that emerge both from the narratives and from day-to-day lives of female receivers/ consumers.

Adrienne has over 34 years of experience working in international higher education as an administrator, professor, trainer, and consultant. She has worked at Boston College with international students and scholars for the past 30 years and has also worked at Harvard University and Lesley University. Adrienne’s teaching experience includes 16 years in the Global Studies Department at Bentley University, as well as courses at Tufts University, Lesley University, and, for the past 4 years, at Boston College. She has facilitated trainings for schools and organizations both in higher education and at the K-12 level, as well as given numerous presentations at regional and national conference of NAFSA, NASPA, and the International Careers Consortium. 

Adrienne’s areas of expertise include: international student and scholar services administration, intercultural competency programs and assessment, cross-cultural studies, diversity and inclusion issues, and student affairs. She is also a Qualified Administrator for the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI). Adrienne received her BA in French and Psychology from Tufts University, where she studied In Paris her junior year, and her MA in Intercultural Relations from Lesley University.

For more information about her work, click here.

Caitriona Taylor, Director of Campus Recreation, believes in Boston College’s commitment to global engagement and through her office works towards internationalization of the informal curriculum. Irish herself, Caitriona understands the opportunities that come with interacting with those that are different than oneself.

Caitriona’s work in internationalization includes developing an intercultural competence training program for the men’s club crew teams’ competition in China, summer 2018 (link to China blog). Working with the Assistant Director of Club Sports Emily Charnowski and Graduate Student Kelber Tonzi, this 10 day trip with pre- and post- workshops was the first ever trip abroad for a club team.

In addition, her passion extends to researching the intersectionality of student health and well-being to further the internationalization of an institution. She has written an article for University World News about the role of Universities in tackling the world’s obesity crisis and is currently working on an exploratory study of the role of recreation in US higher education internationalization. She is also an Anti-defamation league Campus of Difference facilitator and works with the BC AHANA office in leading sessions for students on campus. 

Specializes in Irish literature and culture, especially contemporary narrative, and cultural studies. His graduate seminars include "Contemporary Irish Fiction," "Twentieth Century Irish Fiction," and "Ireland: The Colonial Context." His undergraduate electives include "Reading Irish Childhood," "Family and Kinship: Reading the Adopted Child," "Major Irish Writers," and both 19th and 20th century surveys of Irish literature. His book, Ireland's Magdalen Laundries and the Nation's Architecture of Containment, focusing on representations of institutional care in post-independence Ireland, won the Donald Murphy Prize for Distinguished First Book awarded by the American Conference for Irish Studies in 2007. He is currently engaged in a project examining the place of the child in Irish society and how the meaning of childhood in Ireland has changed over time. He continues to be interested in recent scandals in the Irish Catholic Church and the manner in which these affect relations between Church, state and society.

Read more about his bio here.

Susan has worked in the field of International Education since 1998. Prior to joining OISS in 2003, she worked at EF International Language Schools where she both managed programs sending American students abroad and worked with international students in the U.S. Susan earned both her BA in Human Development, with concentrations in Spanish and Human Resources Management, and MA in Higher Education Administration from Boston College. 

She studied abroad in Seville, Spain and spent time visiting and working at multiple EF schools abroad. Susan is an experienced trainer with NAFSA (Association of International Educators), providing advising and immigration trainings regionally and nationally, and is a member of the NAFSA Government Regulations Advisory Committee.

I came to the STM in the fall of 2016 after spending some time in diocesan seminary. My desire to come to the STM was fueled by my desire for deeper and more critical academic theological study. 

I am most grateful for Fr. John Baldovin, SJ, who through classes and conversations has enhanced my understanding and love for the Sacred Liturgy. It is not surprising, then, that the STM tradition most meaningful to me is the Thursday noon liturgy, followed by repast.

It is amazing to see how the liturgy brings together people of all different cultures and political persuasions, united in Christ. I am especially grateful for the music ministry at the STM and Lynn Burns, director of the choir, who helps prepare beautiful music for our worship.

For more student portraits from STM, click here.

Interim Vice President for Student Affairs Joy Moore has announced the appointment of Michael Davidson, S.J., as director of the Thea Bowman AHANA and Intercultural Center (BAIC), effective August 27.  He succeeds Ines Maturana Sendoya, who accepted a position at Wellesley College earlier this year.

Fr. Davidson, who served as a resident minister in Campus Ministry for the past six years, has worked closely with the AHANA community during his tenure at Boston College, leading the Jamaica Magis service trip and the Magis Civil Rights Immersion trip to Atlanta and Birmingham, Alabama and serving as co-chair of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Scholarship Committee. He also teaches a popular section in Courage to Know for first-year students.  

Read further about his work and appointment here