NU Immerse

Lucy is an assistant teaching professor in the NU Immerse and Global Pathways Programs at Northeastern University. She teaches English and service-learning courses for international students, develops curriculum, and conducts classroom-based research. Her research interests include intercultural communication and language learning through service-learning. Her practice-oriented presentations and publications support educators who work with linguistically and culturally diverse communities. She earned her PhD in educational studies at Lesley University and has taught English for speakers of other languages in community, private, and university-based programs in the United States, Kenya, and Rwanda.

Ilka is an associate teaching professor in the NU Immerse and Global Pathways Programs in the College of Professional Studies at Northeastern University, where she teaches English to international students. Her research and pedagogical interests include source use in academic writing, technology in language teaching and learning, and service-learning with international students. She is an active member of TESOL International Association as managing co-editor of SLW News, the official newsletter of the Second Language Writing Interest Section. She is also a member of the Editorial Review Boards of TESOL Journal and The Electronic Journal for English as a Second Language. She completed her PhD in bilingual education at New York University and has taught in the United States and in China.

Dr. Maliborska is an assistant teaching professor in the NU Immerse and Global Pathways Programs. Her research interests include second language writing, the learning potential of writing, and teaching pronunciation, prosody, and vocabulary to international teaching assistants. Her recent research focused on the pedagogical potential of individual conferences in a composition course for international students. She is a member of Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages and the American Association for Applied Linguistics, where she presents her research findings.

Previously, Dr. Maliboska was a graduate instructor in the English department at Purdue University. She taught writing courses in the ESL Writing and ICaP programs; worked as an instructor, tutor, and rater in the Oral English Proficiency Program, preparing international graduate students from various majors to become teaching assistants; and developed ESL content for the Purdue OWL website. She was also an instructor at the EF Englishtown’s online English program and a graduate instructor and writing tutor at Minnesota State University, Mankato.

Edward H. “Ted” Miller is associate teaching professor at NU Global in the College of Professional Studies at Northeastern University. He is a historian of American politics, political culture, and capitalism. His first book, “Nut Country: Right-Wing Dallas and the Birth of the Southern Strategy” (University of Chicago Press, 2015) argues that while the first scholars of American conservatism wrote off the far right as paranoid and suffering from status anxiety, and more recent scholarship writes them out in favor of emphasizing moderate conservatives, ultraconservatives played a vital role in the development of the modern GOP. Dr. Miller has published articles in the Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era and Cities in American Political History. He is currently at work on his second book, “Sugar Daddy: A Life of Robert H. W. Welch” about the founder of the John Birch Society.

Lin Zhou is an assistant teaching professor at the College of Professional Studies. She earned her PhD in Second Language Studies at University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, and has taught in the USA, China and South Korea. Her teaching philosophy revolves around experiential learning, project-based instruction and game-supported pedagogies. Her expertise lies in pedagogical game design and innovative course design using new online technologies. She believes that game design and course design empower educators as the designing process not only gives educators the opportunity to understand students’ learning needs, but it also generates more catered teaching methodologies and resources.

Lin Zhou has created multiple game-supported courses for second language learners. In these courses, she created an interactive computer-assisted game in which students could work with peers and non-playing characters through gameplay to explore socio-political issues that they did not relate to in real life. As an educational game designer, her philosophy is that learning is not a linear process, instead it is a complex meshwork in which all the exciting learning occurs and all the elements in the learning ecology were carefully designed and utilized.

Dr. Heidi Liu Banerjee is an assistant teaching professor in the NU Immerse and Global Pathways Programs in the College of Professional Studies at Northeastern University. Her research and teaching interests include developing game- and scenario-based assessment and implementing learning-oriented assessment in language classrooms. Her dissertation work has received multiple grants and awards, and her research has been published in Language Assessment Quarterly, Sage Open, Studies in Applied Linguistics & TESOL, and as book chapters. Dr. Banerjee is an active member of the International Language Testing Association (ILTA), where she currently serves on the nominating committee. Prior to joining Northeastern University, Dr. Banerjee has worked at Educational Testing Service, Pearson, New York University, and Columbia University. She received her Ed.D. in Applied Linguistics with a concentration on second language assessment from Teachers College, Columbia University.

Balazs Szelenyi received his PhD from UCLA in 1998 and teaches classes on philosophy, globalization, sociology and history for Northeastern University. His first major area of research was on urban history and urban development. Based on that research he published his first book, “The Failure of the Central European Bourgeoisie” (2006) and an article on the dynamics of urban development in the early modern period in the American Historical Review. His second area of research was on the origins and causes of genocide, for which he received fellowships from the National Endowment of Humanities, the American Council of Learned Societies, the Fulbright Commission, and the German Marshal Fund.

In 2003 he was named a Fulbright New Century Scholar for his research on genocide and the Holocaust. He has published articles in the academic journals Past and Present, Theory and Society, Social History, and the Austrian History Yearbook. Balazs has also co-edited a book called “Cores, Peripheries and Globalization” (2011). Currently Balazs is finishing his book on the Holocaust called “From Minority to Übermensch”, and he is developing a new interest in the impact of technology on society and the moral dilemmas involved in the evolution of transhumanism.

Vincent Capone is an academic advisor for the NU Immerse Program. He assists students throughout the program with their transition to Northeastern’s campus, coursework, and long-term goal setting and planning. He encourages students to explore Northeastern’s student organizations, attend NU Immerse-led events and excursions, and explore the many degree programs available to undergraduate students at the university. Vincent earned his master’s degree in history with his research focusing on modern Chinese history. He’s worked for four years teaching English as a foreign language both in Boston and abroad in Beijing, China.

Dr. Beth Smith is the director of Boston-based Pathway Programs at Northeastern University. In her role, she oversees advising and programming of both NU Immerse and Global Pathways. She works closely with faculty and staff to ensure connectivity between program curriculum, advising, and co-curricular activities. Beth completed her master’s degree in international law and diplomacy at the Fletcher School at Tufts University, and she received her doctoral degree in international higher education administration from Northeastern University. Her research focused on the transition of Chinese students to American higher education through an extended summer bridge program. Beth also teaches in the Global Studies and International Affairs program within the College of Professional Studies and has led sections of NU Immerse discussion groups.

Jeff is orientation and student event manager of NU Immerse Program. He supervises a team of Global Student Ambassadors who support the transition experience to Northeastern University and Boston. He also coordinates an array of social events to assist international students to bridge the cultural difference in the U.S. Jeff earned his master’s of education, higher education at Merrimack College. He is also a Northeastern alum. Jeff has a great deal of experience and knowledge helping and supporting international students deal with transitional challenges. Jeff is excited to meet all future NU Immerse students at orientation.