Educator Fellows’ projects

Community College / Minority Serving Institution Education Advisor

Bryan Shuler

Bryan Shuler is the Community College / Minority Serving Institution Education Advisor for ACOR. He is an Assistant Professor in Cultural Studies, Curator for the Dr. Anthony L. Griffon Research Library, and both a Fulbright Scholar and Fellow in African and Afro-Brazilian Studies. 

2023 Cohort

Breanna Hooks

Breanne Hooks is a professor of mathematics at Santa Fe College.  Her work focuses on internationalizing and humanizing mathematics.  She is interested in the cultural influences on mathematics and education.  

Dr. Monika Bachmann

Dr Monika Bachmann (BA, MA, DA) holds degrees from Franklin & Marshall College (PA,) the University of Toronto (Canada,) and George Mason University (VA.) She has been an Instructor of History and Geography within the community college system since 1995, and Professor of Geography at Prince George’s Community College (MD) since 2011.

Rebecca J. Johnston

Rebecca J Johnston is an assistant English professor at Santa Fe College where she teaches at a rural college center. She leads study abroad trips to Ireland for the college and is a doctoral candidate at the University of Exeter. She serves as the President of the Florida Hemingway Society, and she has researched along the Italian Front of WWI through grants from the Hemingway Society. Her debut novel, Not to Keep, was published in January of 2022, and it recently won a first place Firebird Award for US Historical Fiction and second place for Southern Fiction. In March of 2023 she served as Writer in Residence at the Key West Literary Seminar. www.Rebeccajjohnston.com

2022 Cohort

Dr. Silvio Gaggi – Visual Art Unit: HUM 2020

Silvio Gaggi is Emeritus Professor of Humanities and Cultural Studies at the University of South Florida, serving a total of 15 years as Department Chair. Additionally, Dr. Gaggi has written numerous articles and books dealing with various aspects of modern art, literature, film, and music which has been a lifelong hobby of his.

Lori Merlak – Connecting Intercultural Studies

Lori Merlak currently serves as the Associate Dean on the Iowa City Campus at Kirkwood Community College in Iowa. Prior to taking on this role at Kirkwood, she was an Associate Professor and Coordinator for the Management Program at Kirkwood.  She is passionate about global learning and has facilitated several global virtual exchange projects connecting her students with students from around the world including Iraq and Jordan. 

Cassandra Farrell – Incorporating ACOR Photographs into Story Maps

Cassandra Farrell is Senior Map Archivist at Library of Virginia with extensive experience in teaching History at Thomas Nelson College, and is currently completing her Doctorate in Digital History at George Mason University. Cassandra is renowned for her curatorial work with antiquarian map exhibitions.

Cassandra’s project, Photographs from the American Center of Research, Amman, Jordan , utilizes StoryMaps to highlight various sites and photographers in the Digital Archive.