Acknowledgments

Producing this work came with challenges, but also with many rewards. We are thankful for the expertise and support from many colleagues at the University of Waterloo who provided leadership, created research-based and practical content, steered online development, ensured quality assurance and accessibility, and translated the final product.

We acknowledge the intense dedication of our culturally diverse team and are grateful for the contributions of all involved. We have been thoroughly invested in creating a high-quality tool to advance the development of intercultural competencies across contexts within Canada and beyond.

With thanks,
The Team

Project lead, Dr. Christine McWebb

Dr. Christine McWebb is professor of Digital Humanities and French Literature at the University of Waterloo, currently serving as the Director of the University’s Stratford School of Interaction Design and Business and teaching at the Stratford School and the Department of French Studies. Dr. McWebb has longstanding experience in developing and expanding study abroad programs and has led many student groups on educational trips abroad. As interim Assistant Vice-President, International Operations in Waterloo International (2020), McWebb brought operational and institutional expertise in international program development to this project.

Author, Dr. Sandra López-Rocha

Sandra López-Rocha (Ph.D. University of Bristol, Ph.D. University of Maryland Baltimore County) is Intercultural Learning Specialist at the University of Waterloo, Canada. She is responsible for the development and support of intercultural learning initiatives within the Student Success Office and across campus. She contributes to content and programs related to intercultural learning and projects centered on internationalization on campus while leading the strategic direction of the Global Experience Certificate. Her prior roles at the University of Bristol, UK, include Teaching Fellow at the School of Modern Languages and Senior Associate Teacher for Research Methods in Intercultural Communication and Virtual Ethnography. Her research encompasses sociolinguistic and socio-cultural adaptation of forced and voluntary migrants, ethnic identity and identification, and the critical and practical integration of intercultural competence for the internationalization of the curriculum.

Author, Dr. Elisabeth Arévalo-Guerrero

Elisabeth Arévalo-Guerrero (Ph.D., MA University of Maryland Baltimore County) is Senior Lecturer of Spanish and Intercultural Communication and director of the Intercultural Living Exchange program at UMBC, USA. She has taught in Spain and the US and was faculty and course designer in the inaugural voyage of The Scholarship, an academic program onboard a vessel combining travel with learning objectives supporting international students’ development of intercultural competence. Her work also includes student advising and working with students in collaborative online international learning projects. Her research interest focuses on the development intercultural communicative competence, intercultural learning and training, study abroad, and online collaborative international learning.

Student Success Office

Dr. Sacha Geer, Manager, International Mobility and Intercultural Learning

Centre for Extended Learning

Christine Zaza, Online Learning Consultant
Sanja Ivanov, Online Learning Consultant
Aliyah d’Gama Rose, Course & Technical Support Assistant
Antonina Joukova, Instructional Digital Media Developer
Henry Nguyen, Instructional Digital Media Developer

Translation into French

Maxime Batiot, Translator
Dr. Nicole Nolette, Translation Support

A further note of appreciation

Special thanks to Pamela Charbonneau, for your invaluable support, and to Dr. Norah McRae, Tanya Missere-Mihas, Shabnam Surjitsingh Ivković, Chris Peace, and to our colleagues from the University of Calgary, Dr. Cheryl Dueck and Colleen Packer, for your feedback.