Staff and Adjunct Faculty Profiles

Alice Dungan Bouvrie, Faculty, holds a Master's in Film Production from Boston University and a Master's in Intercultural Relations from Lesley University. An ethnographer and filmmaker, she has over 20 years of film and documentary experience. Her co-production, Living Under the Cloud: Chernobyl Today won the Special Jury Award in the Environmental Category at the San Francisco International Film Festival in 1994. Her film, Iditarod...A Far Distant Place, (2000) won Best Cinematography at the New England Film Festival, and First Place Audience Award for Documentary at Film Fest New Haven. A recent film, Prison Pups, (2006) has won several awards including the Audience Award for Best Documentary at the Asheville Film Festival, Best Featurette and Best Made In Mass at the Plymouth International Film Festival, and Best Documentary at the Bucks County Film Festival. Her most recent film, Thy Will Be Done (2010) is currently screening in festivals around the country.

Holly Carter, Faculty, is Dean and Director of Educational Opportunity Programs and Service Learning of the Northeastern University-Tobin School Scholars Project. Among the courses she has taught at Lesley are Intercultural Training and Consulting and Past and Present Realities of Racism. Since 1978, she has been an Associate in Research at the Fairbank Center for East Asian Research at Harvard where she has conducted research on Asian political development. Carter also served as Senior International Affairs Officer/Policy Planner East Asia in the Policy Planning Office in the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C. Carter holds a B.A. in Political Science and Philosophy from Boston University and a Ph.D. in Political Science, with concentrations in Asian politics, international relations, and political development, from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Meenakshi Chhabra, Faculty, is an Assistant Professor in the Graduate School of Arts and Social Science in Lesley University, Cambridge, MA. She has a PhD. in Educational Studies and a Masters in Intercultural Relations from the same University. Her Undergraduate degree is in Political Science from Lady Sri Ram College, New Delhi, India. She has been a scholar and practitioner in the field of Peace and Conflict Studies since 2001. The focus of her research has been around youth development in conflict zones with an emphasis on South Asia. She has written and published in national and international journals. She was awarded a Fulbright teaching fellowship to Indian in 2007 and a second Fulbright Research fellowship for 2011. Her research interests include Peace Studies, Adolescent Development and Citizenship and Civic Engagement among youth.. Meenakshi has also taught at the United Nations University of Peace in Costa Rica and at the Lesley University, Israel campus. In addition to teaching and research, Meenakshi has consulted with Open Circle, a nationally known program that trains educators to enhance social and emotionally competency among elementary school students. She has also consulted facilitated several workshops between youth and educators from conflicting countries with the Seeds of Peace Program, an internationally known organization working to build peace through youth interactions.

Sylvia Cowan, Core Faculty and Program Director, is also principal of Cowan Associates, a consulting firm specializing in intercultural and international management training, intercultural teams, professional and organizational development. Dr. Cowan has more than 25 years of experience consulting and providing training for educators, business leaders, and other professionals in the U.S and around the world. She directed Training and Consulting Services for two major global consulting companies. She has managed large international development projects, worked in both private sector and non-profit organizations, and has taught at university, secondary, and primary levels. She has provided training for more than 900 international managers and more that 1800 educational administrators, counselors, and teachers. She has also worked with a variety of organizations on organizational change, and directed numerous curriculum development projects. Cowan earned her Doctorate in Organizational, Humanistic, and Developmental Studies at Boston University, and her M.A. in Linguistics/TESOL at the University of Hawaii. She graduated magna cum laude from La Grange College with majors in Spanish and English. She has also studied at the University of Spain in Madrid and was awarded a Fulbright for study at the University of Costa Rica in San Jose.

Arlene Dallalfar, Core Faculty, has been teaching courses in women's studies and family studies at Lesley since 1995. Her areas of specialization are gender, immigration and diaspora, women and work, and feminist theory from a cross-cultural perspective. Dallalfar earned her Ph.D. in sociology at the University of California in Los Angeles. The paradigms in sociology discourse surrounding gender roles and the family, inequality in the capitalist world economy, and immigration studies have been Dallalfar's areas of specialization. She is also a documentary filmmaker, addressing issues of ethnography.

Jane Etish-Andrews, Faculty, is the Director of the International Center at Tufts University, a position which she has held since 1983.  She holds an adjunct faculty position at Lesley University’s graduate program in Intercultural Relations where she teaches classes and supervises internships.  Etish-Andrews served as Regional Chair for NAFSA:  Association of International Educators from 1999 to 2000 and 2001-2002, and received the Sally M. Heym Award in 2001 from NAFSA Region XI for her leadership and mentorship to colleagues.  She has been a frequent presenter and speaker at conferences such as NAFSA on the national and regional level, the Massachusetts Association of Financial Aid, and the National Association of College and University Attorneys.  She has published articles with the Association for Institutional Research relating to the experience of the undergraduate international experience at Tufts as well as a comparison of undergraduate experiences from different countries world-wide.  She has been a consultant to Dartmouth College and Lesley University in assessing the needs of the International Student Office.  Etish-Andrews holds a master’s degree in Teaching English as a Second Language and a bachelor’s degree in French language and literature, both from Boston University.

Jay Jones, Core Faculty, has professional experience teaching at various institutions, including Boston College, Southeastern Massachusetts University, the University of Western Ontario in London Ontario, Canada, and, since 1980, Lesley University, where he has been a major contributor in the initial planning, execution, and continued success of the master's program in Intercultural Relations. He is currently Associate Professor teaching courses such as Conceptualizing Intercultural Relations, Intercultural Negotiation, and Global Interdependence. Jones received a B.S. in Economics from the University of Maryland (College Park) and a Ph.D., also in Economics, from Boston College.

James E. Leck, Faculty, began his career as an international educator over 20 years ago with AFS Intercultural Programs in New York. He later spent four years in South Africa teaching and working with youth on leadership and race relations. He was the founding board chairman of Interculture South Africa and helped pioneer domestic exchanges between cultural groups during the apartheid era. He is currently the Associate Director for Student Services at Boston University's international Students & Scholars office which advises one the largest international student populations in U.S. James served on the regional team of NAFSA: Association of International Educators from 1999 to 2003 as liaison to federal immigration agencies, and continues to hold member-leader positions with NAFSA at the national level. He is member of NAFSA's Trainer Corps and has presented numerous professional development workshops regionally and nationally. He holds a Master's degree in International Administration with concentrations in Exchange Management and Advising as well as Intercultural Training from the SIT Graduate Institute.

Erika Richards, Faculty, is currently a U.S. based Director of Programs Development for the foundation of International Education in London, England. She teaches International Education Exchanges, and is experienced in all aspects of international exchanges. Richards established, directed, and managed the Study Abroad Office at Drexel University . She created a six-month study and co-op program in London, and was responsible for the design and creation of all accompanying promotional materials and budgets. At Boston University, she significantly increased the off-campus applicant pool and management of programs in Beijing, Dresden, Haifa, London, Madrid, Moscow, and Oxford.

Branca Telles Ribeiro, Core Faculty, teaches Intercultural Communication and Dimensions and Methods of Cultural Exploration I. She received her Ph.D. and M.S. in Linguistics from Georgetown University, and her M.A. in Portuguese Linguistics from the Catholic University in Rio de Janeiro. She directs a research team on an interdisciplinary project on Brazilian Immigrant Women: analyzing conflicting needs and expectations in clinical settings. The results of this research have been published in the U.S. and overseas and papers presented at national and international conferences. In Brazil, she works with a team of sociolinguists, psychologists and psychiatrists that investigate doctor-patient communication in psychiatric settings. Currently, she holds the position of Associate in Research at the Institute of Psychiatry of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. Her major publications are Coherence in Psychotic Discourse (1994), Frame Analysis (2009) co-authored with Dr. Susan Hoyle, The Psychiatric Interview (2005) co-authored with Dr. Diana Pinto, and Sociolinguistica Interacional (2002) co-authored with Pedro M. Garcez. She is currently working on a book on Latino narratives of health and illness: Voices from the Brazilian community. She has lived in Europe, Asia and her native Brazil. She has traveled extensively and is fluent in French, English and Portuguese.

Bennett Savitz, Faculty, received both his M.A. in International Relations and his J.D. from Boston University in 1993, where he graduated as an Edward F. Hennessey Scholar. He has practiced exclusively in the area of Immigration Law since 1994, and founded Savitz Law Offices, P.C. (ImmigrationOptions.com) in 2000. He has served as the Chapter Chair of the New England Chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), as well as on several local and national AILA committees, helping shape policies and procedures for the entire Immigration Bar. He is a frequent speaker and writer on various aspects of Immigration Law. Since 2008, Bennett Savitz has been selected as one of Boston's Best Lawyers in Immigration Law by Best Lawyers of America.

Lucinda Viator, Faculty, has over 35 years' experience in human services. She is a licensed social worker and has worked for the state of Massachusetts as a child advocate, the Department of Child and Family as a social worker, and was a psychometrist for the Department of Mental Health. Lucinda is a consultant for Danya International as a national Head Start reviewer monitoring quality and compliance with federal regulations and diversity integration in all program service areas including: family services, education, health/nutrition, and parent involvement. She has been a Portuguese translator throughout her professional career. She is currently the Deputy-Director for the Head Start Program on Cape Ann, Massachusetts and provides diversity training for Head Start and other social service programs.

Andrea Walgren, Faculty, has over 30 years' experience in educational administration, college admissions, and international program development. A graduate of Mount Holyoke College, she spent 20 years as a senior administrator at The School for Field Studies (SFS), a provider of environmental field study programs. She has served as the New England Regional Representative for the NAFSA: Association of International Educators Section on U.S. Students Abroad and has presented national workshops and advised programs on such issues as marketing and increasing participation of science students in study abroad. Since 2004 she has represented Boston University's International Programs to advisors and students on campuses around the country. Andi has taught in the Lesley program since 2003.

Jana Van der Veer, Assistant Director, Advising and Student Services, has her M.A. in Intercultural Relations from Lesley University, and earned her B.A. from the Friends World Program of Long Island University. She has extensive experience studying, working, and traveling in Europe and Asia. Prior to becoming the Assistant Director, she was the Program Coordinator for the Program on US - Japan Relations at Harvard University. She also holds an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Lesley.