Several Michigan State University scholars are set to be honored by the Comparative and International Education Society (CIES) for their research and expertise. The honorees include faculty and alumni from the College of Education, who will be officially recognized during the CIES annual conference in Mexico City in March 2018.
Leading in research—and on the Board of Directors
Riyad Shahjahan, associate professor of Higher, Adult and Lifelong Education (HALE), was elected to the CIES Board of Directors for a three-year term, beginning after the 2018 conference. The Board of Directors helps lead the organization’s mission to “foster cross-cultural understanding, scholarship, academic achievement and societal development” through research. In this role, he joins Associate Professor Amita Chudgar, who currently serves on the board.
Riyad Shajahan
Shahjahan will also be awarded the Best Article award by the CIES Higher Education special interest group. Co-written with Clara Morgan from United Arab Emirates University, the 2016 article, “Global Competition, Coloniality and the Geopolitics of Knowledge in Higher Education,” was selected as the top article from a CIES committee.
In their award-winning research, Shahjahan and Morgan focus on how global higher education spaces are influenced by and tied to coloniality and competition. They analyze contemporary examples of how and why many countries, faculty and students participate in the global competition across higher education, and raise questions on how these factors stifle creating a more inclusive environment for all.
Shajahan has written about similar topics in the past. In a 2016 report from the Center for Higher and Adult Education (CHAE), Shajahan’s research on global university rankings (GURs) examined from decolonial perspectives was highlighted.
Flagship recognition
In addition, the CIES Board of Directors recently awarded editorship of Comparative Education Review (CER) to scholars at several universities, including MSU. Chudgar and Associate Professor Dongbin Kim will represent the university. Chudgar has been working with CER for the past few years; in spring 2018, Kim will join her as she begins the five-year term.
Amita Chudgar
Considered the flagship publication in the field, the journal will be helmed by a team from the University of Massachusetts (both the Amherst and Boston campuses) and MSU, with additional co-editors from the University of California-Los Angeles and the University of Bath.
Dongbin Kim
Celebrating research
HALE graduate Yeukai Mlambo will also be recognized with the Dissertation of the Year Award from the CIES Higher Education special interest group. MSU Associate Professor Brendan Cantwell served as chair for Mlambo’s dissertation: “Why not Academia? The Streamlined Career Choice Process of Black African American Women Engineers: A Grounded Theory Study.” Mlambo, who graduated in spring 2017, is now a post-doctoral fellow at the Center for Advanced Studies in Global Education at Arizona State University.
Related information
The Center for Higher and Adult Education (CHAE) shares stories and research from HALE faculty, students and alumni. Learn more on their website.