Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

Meet our Faculty Mentor and 2024 Ed Abroad Faculty Leader

Ericka is an EARC member and faculty mentor who is preparing to lead an Ed Abroad program on Human Sexuality in Amsterdam during summer 2024. We asked Ericka a few questions about her role on the EARC and her upcoming Ed Abroad program.

You are one of our longest-standing EARC members. Can you share a bit about the committee’s work and what you enjoy about it?

I’ve happily been serving on the EARC for eight years and I just love it. We have a few tasks that ultimately serve students by supporting the Education Abroad Office (EAO). Our primary tasks include reviewing/recommending the annual selection of Ed Abroad course offerings, scholarship awards, and generally supporting and championing the stellar work of the EAO.

Our main priority is reviewing incoming proposals from PCC faculty who are interested in running a class with an Ed Abroad element. One of the best parts of this process is that we get to learn about fellow colleagues’ work, their course offerings, their enthusiasm for their subjects, and why/how they envision a particular class as an Education Abroad opportunity for students. What consistently emerges is how committed PCC faculty are to providing the best educational experiences for our students, which is incredible to support. Indeed—support is a key tenet here. Ultimately, we are not the decision-makers in whether a program runs, but rather a recommending body that sends our recommendations on to PCC administration for final approval. This role allows the EARC to work with faculty on building a solid program with consideration toward student accessibility, course and curriculum objectives, diversity in program offerings, feasibility, and other goals. It is collegial in nature and has a focused eye on enhancing students’ learning experiences.

What I appreciate and enjoy most about this committee is that it is visionary, in the very best way, for students. Everyone who serves in this group is enthusiastically dedicated to creating opportunities for PCC students to experience learning in real time, both here and throughout the globe.

You went through the faculty proposal process in 2022-2023. What are your top tips for faculty considering proposing their own Ed Abroad program at PCC?

To borrow from a local giant…Just. Do. It.

Okay—maybe that’s not super helpful, but I can’t emphasize enough how rewarding the process of completing an Ed Abroad Program Proposal is. It’s a hugely beneficial professional development experience. Indeed, my first tip—go to an Ed Abroad 101 to learn about the process and the potential opportunities that come with it.

My second tip, which can be done anytime, is to pick a course you teach (it does need to be a class you have experience teaching) and really review the course objectives. Think about how you are meeting those objectives in the classroom AND how those goals could be met by having that course “come to life” in very experiential, global ways. This process, alone, is helpful in terms of teaching approaches. Next—consider areas of the world in which individuals or groups are impacted by the daily, lived experiences of those topics and what could be gained from going there. If, like many faculty, you have a hard time narrowing down a location—that’s all right! The Education Abroad Office and EARC can help with that. So—my final tip really loops back to the first tip—connect with us for support!

You are scheduled to lead PCC’s Human Sexuality in Amsterdam program (PSY 231 & 232), along with your colleague Emerson Wolfe, in summer 2024. What are you and Emerson most excited about as you look forward to leading students on this opportunity abroad?

Wow—to stay succinct in response to this question is a challenge because we are so thrilled for this experience for our students (and for us, too)! We chose Amsterdam, the Netherlands because they are a pioneer in addressing a myriad of sexuality topics in historically progressive ways. Indeed, we are excited to compare approaches to topics like sexuality education, public health approaches to STIs/HIV, legalization of sex work, gender identity, queerness, and so much more.

Emerson and I have ongoing conversations about optimizing our course design to encourage students to apply class content in both personally and professionally developmental ways. We are enthusiastically predicting many “A-HA!” moments for all of us in the cohort as we spend 2-weeks in Amsterdam and in processing all we learn. We’re excited to experience and facilitate a life-impacting, educational, and growth-promoting event.

Finally, we’re eagerly anticipating a thoughtful, diverse, fun, and committed cohort of students who represent a variety of professional goals/interests and who all have a passion for these topics. And—who am I kidding? We are SO excited to bike, sight-see, eat, and celebrate Pride when we’re there (did you know they have a Pride parade on the canals?! Squeee!).

Many of our PCC students have never traveled abroad; did you travel abroad as a student?

When I was growing up, we never had the financial means to travel. Even though we only lived 1.5 hours from the coast, I didn’t even get to go there until I was 10 (and that was with a friend’s family). My family was too busy making ends meet for the basics to afford traveling beyond an occasional camping trip. I believed that traveling was only something that “rich people” did, so that immediately excluded me. Later, when I started attending community college, my social-economic background, combined with my own imposter syndrome, kept me from even considering that I could complete an Ed Abroad experience. Honestly—this makes me so sad—because everyone deserves to explore the world! I’ve been trying to make up for lost time and say yes to any/all chances to experience a new place. I think that’s also why I love the Ed Abroad group—we all believe that travel can be for everyone AND—we aim to increase access to this opportunity throughout the entire PCC community.