Attend the Centering Justice Institute Alongside the Annual Conference in 2025

Tuesday, March 18 | 9:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Sheraton Centre Toronto​
Toronto, Canada

At the Centering Justice Institute, hosted by º«¹úÈý¼¶Æ¬and , education abroad administrators, faculty, scholars, and practitioners will come together to place justice and equity at the heart of our work. 

To be held for the first time in conjunction with The Forum’s Annual Conference, this one-day gathering is more than an academic exchange of ideas; it’s a commitment to reimagining education abroad as a force for creating inclusive, resilient communities. By centering economic equity, mutual learning, and cooperative social change, we aim to transform international education programs and partnerships into catalysts for positive global impact. 
With guidance from the Standards of Good Practice for Education Abroad and the framework, we’ll explore how to foster genuine, equal partnerships that support mutual growth and understanding. Participants will dive deep into practical approaches for embedding transparency, sustainability, and accountability into every aspect of education abroad.

This is a powerful movement to reshape education abroad as a tool for meaningful, lasting change—one that prioritizes justice and the well-being of all communities involved. Together, we’ll learn, grow, and build a future where global learning is synonymous with positive, transformative action. 

At the Institute you will: 

• Develop strategies to co-create more equitable study abroad programs and partnerships. 
• Focus on building strong, reciprocal relationships with on-site colleagues and host community partners. 
• Gain resources to keep equity front and center in your work. 
• Connect with like-minded colleagues. 

Presented By:

GOALS OF THE INSTITUTE

Following participation in this Institute, attendees will be able to: 

• Understand our roles and responsibilities to better in relationship to our onsite partners and host communities. 
• Learn how to apply the Standards of Good Practice and in program development and assessment. 
• Initiate and enact changes to create more just policies and structures that create more equitable opportunities across all our education abroad stakeholders, especially local host community partners. 
• Consider and start to develop inclusive decolonial pedagogical approaches and practices in education abroad program development. 

WORKSHOPS & ACTIVITIES

• Overview of Key Definitions and Terms: What do we mean by justice? What do we mean by decolonial and epistemic justice in this context? Who are the members of our host communities and how are we defining partners?  
• Framing Our Goals and Challenges: Why is justice the goal? What does justice look like in education abroad programming and partnerships? What are our goals and how do we meet and assess them? 
• Presentation of Concepts, Theories and Models for Centering Justice in Education Abroad: Taking a deeper dive into host community perspectives and developing a better understanding of FTL and what it asks of us. 
• Practical Applications and Strategies for building more just and equitable programs, including program and policy review, team building, critical self-reflection, cross-functional collaboration and outreach, and the tools and resources that can help you do it. 
• Create an Action Plan for Your Own Organizational Contexts: We'll walk you through a series of exercises that will help you start putting your learning into action so that when you get back from the Institute you can put your plan in motion. 
• Networking Meals (Lunch & Coffee Breaks) where you'll share experiences and learn from like-minded colleagues.  

REGISTRATION RATES

Centering Justice Institute Only
Member	$395
Non-Member	$495
Attendee from Member LMIC* based institutions	$316
Attendee from Non-Member LMIC* based institutions	$396

Full Annual Conference + Centering Justice Institute	Early Bird	Regular	Late	On-Site
Member	$1,130	$1,185	$1,240	$1,295
Non-Member	$1,490	$1,545	$1,600	$1,655
Attendee from Member LMIC* based institutions	$904	$948	$992	$1,036
Attendee from Non-Member LMIC* based institutions	$1,192	$1,236	$1,280	$1,324

Facilitators

Chimene Nukunah, PhD.
Academic Director, SIT Study Abroad Cameroon: Development and Social Change

Chimene's Bio

​Dr. Chimene Nukunah has spent the past 17 years in higher education, teaching and managing qualifications at multiple levels. She has extensive knowledge and experience in various educational activities including research, teaching (face-to-face and online), student support, staff management, leadership development, report writing and reviewing and customer and client services. She completed her PhD in management studies with the University of South Africa (UNISA) where she presented a framework that can be used as a starting point to decolonize management education in response to calls from the #FeesMustFall and #RhodesMustFall movements.

Her master’s degree, which she completed from the same university, focused on the effectiveness of training and development on customized programs in the banking sector in South Africa. Dr. Nukunah shares her experience in research, environmental management, and sustainability with postgraduate students. She has also facilitated customized programs on women and leadership and diversity, and has supervised and co-supervised several MBA students. She has published and co-published articles in accredited journals and presented at international conferences.

Samantha Brandauer
Associate Provost and Executive Director, Center for Global Study and Engagement, Dickinson College

Samantha's Bio

Samantha has devoted her career to international education. She is a graduate of Dickinson College with a Bachelor of Art’s degree in German and Anthropology. She earned a master’s degree in International Communication with a focus on intercultural communication from the School of International Service at American University. She has studied and lived in Cameroon, Germany and France and has worked in Denmark and Austria. Samantha’s professional experiences in international education include working at the Institute of International Education; the University of Maryland; Brown University; Study Abroad in Scandinavia- Copenhagen, Denmark and Gettysburg College. Her research interests lie in the study abroad gender gap, intervention in student learning abroad, building equitable, sustainable and inclusive global communities, and the intersection of diversity, equity and inclusion and intercultural/global learning and development . In addition to numerous conference presentations for organizations such as NAFSA, the Forum on Education Abroad, Global Engagement in the Liberal Arts and AIEA, she has been interviewed for her study abroad gender gap research in the Chronicle of Higher Education, Times Higher Education and the Atlantic. She has published on experiential learning theory and intervention in learning abroad in the Journal of International Education in Business .  She is also a co-editor and contributor to the Interdependence: Global Solidarity and Local Action Toolkit an online, open access teaching resource. 

As Associate Provost and Executive Director, Samantha leads campus internationalization efforts and is responsible for all global learning programs, operations and services at the College, including Education Abroad and International Student and Scholar Services. She currently serves on API’s Strategic Academic Advisory Council, the Steering Committee of the Community-based Learning Collaborative, SIT’s Partnership Council, the GAISA Board and on the Forum on Education Abroad Board (ex officio). She also served on the 2020 NAFSA Paul Simon Campus Internationalization Award Committee and chaired the 2021 Committee. She is committed to global diversity, equity, and inclusion and at Dickinson co-chaired the President’s Commission on Inclusivity and currently sits on the All-College Equity, Inclusivity and Belonging Committee. 

In her free time, she enjoys eating and cooking global cuisine utilizing locally sourced agricultural products, cycling through the rolling hills of southern central Pennsylvania, anything Austrian, and traveling with her family.

Julie Ficarra, PhD.
Senior Lecturer, Cornell University: Cornell Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy

Julie's Bio

​Julie Ficarra’s research focuses on international education policy through the lens of globally mobile groups; specifically, students and refugees.

She is particularly interested in education for democracy and global citizenship and how this can be achieved through cross-cultural exchange programs. Ficarra specializes in critical approaches to partnership development centered on mutuality, reciprocity, and solidarity-building across sectors, cultures, and geographic scales. She is a founding co-director of the Cornell & Universidad San Francisco de Quito Spring Break Exchange, which brings students from both universities together to explore comparative approaches to addressing global social policy challenges through the work of community-based organizations in Ithaca and Quito.

Ficarra received her Ph.D. in Cultural Foundations of Education from Syracuse University and an Ed.M. in International Education Policy from Harvard University.

Amelia Dietrich, PhD.
Senior Director for Research & Publications, The Forum on Education Abroad

Amelia's Bio

​Dr. Amelia Dietrich is the Senior Director for Research and Publications at º«¹úÈý¼¶Æ¬and Managing Editor of Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad. She joined The Forum in 2015 as a Mellon/ACLS Public Fellow. Amelia’s work focuses on leading original research initiatives and supporting the publication of others’ scholarship on best practices in education abroad, maximizing the impact of education abroad for students, institutions and communities, and identifying promising practices on the leading edge. Amelia also facilitates professional development workshops on the Standards of Good Practice for Education Abroad in a variety of venues and lends her expertise to project-based consultancies and comprehensive reviews. She serves on the IIE Open Doors Study Abroad Working Group and the Advisory Board for the Center for Research on Abroad
and International Student Engagement.

Previously, Amelia taught Spanish and linguistics at Penn State University, and led students on a research fellowship to Spain. Amelia holds a B.A. from Moravian University and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Spanish and Language Science from The Pennsylvania State University. She is a Certified Professional in Education Abroad.

Registration is Open Now!

The 2025 Centering Justice Institute will take place on Tuesday, March 18 at the Sheraton Centre Toronto before the Annual Conference begins on Wednesday. You can register for the Centering Justice Institute on its own, or combine it with your registration for the Annual Conference!

To receive the member rate, please log in before registering. ​Not sure if your institution is a member of The Forum? Many are! 

Sponsorship Opportunities

The Forum offers unparalleled opportunities for visibility to audiences across the education abroad and global learning space. To sponsor this or one of our other events please visit our Event Sponsorship Opportunities page.