The American College of Thessaloniki (ACT) selected to host Greek diaspora fellow

THE AMERICAN COLLEGE OF THESSALONIKI (ACT) SELECTED TO HOST GREEK DIASPORA FELLOW

Collaborative Project on English Language Teaching

Greek Diaspora Fellowship Program Selects 20 Projects at 12 Greek Universities

Thessaloniki, February 1^st, 2017. The American College of Thessaloniki (ACT) was selected to host a Greek Diaspora scholar from the United States to work on a collaborative project training English faculty in the application of "X-Word Grammar" and introducing "X-Word Grammar" in various college services and English courses. Dr. Eleni Godi, Coordinator of the ACT English Program will lead the project, together with Professor Efthemia (Effie) Papatzikou Cochran, a Fellow from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, The City University of New York.

ACT^27s diverse student body has clearly diverse academic needs. Through this project, the focus falls on the academically weaker students, whose native language is other than English, aiming to enhance their language skills. Dr. Cochran will be arriving on April 24, 2017 and for a period of 50 days will be involved in the following activities: working closely with the tutors of the ACT Learning Hub to introduce and implement "X-Word Grammar”; offering weekly tutorials to the English Lab; visiting ACT’s English courses introducing “X-Word Grammar” through activities to both students and instructors; and training English faculty who teach ACT^27s TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) Certificate Programs to incorporate it in their teaching modules. It is anticipated that an update and diversification of the teaching methods will follow, and that a new tool for teaching and assessing language skills will be among the gains of this collaborative project.

The American College of Thessaloniki is one of twelve Greek universities selected by The Greek Diaspora Fellowship Program to host twenty-one Greek- and Cypriot-born scholars for collaborative projects that meet specific needs at their institutions and in their communities, through proposals submitted by faculty members and administrators at the Greek universities. The scholars, hailing from a cross-section of sixteen prominent United States and Canadian universities, will travel to Greece to conduct academic projects with their peers at Greek universities, working in areas that range from public health to chemical genomics research and from English language curriculum to continuing education studies in urban food security.

The Greek Diaspora Fellowship Program is designed to help avert Greece’s brain drain and develop long-term, mutually-beneficial collaborations between universities in Greece and the United States and Canada. It is managed by the Institute of International Education in collaboration with the Fulbright Foundation in Greece, and funded by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation.

Over a period of two years, the program will award Fellowships to 40 U.S. and Canadian based academics to collaborate with universities throughout Greece to develop curricula, conduct research, and teach and mentor graduate students in priority areas identified by the Greek universities.

“The Stavros Niarchos Foundation is thrilled both with the appeal and interest the program has generated among academics of the diaspora, as well as the wide ranging expertise of the first round of Fellows,” stated Stelios Vasilakis, Director of Programs and Strategic Initiatives at SNF. “We look forward to these partnerships, which we believe will build long-lasting relationships and be beneficial to all parties involved. We are grateful to the Institute of International Education for their dedication to the program as well as the invaluable input of the esteemed Advisory Council.”

“The Stavros Niarchos Foundation’s generous support for these Fellowships demonstrates the Foundation’s commitment to expanding Greece’s human capital and investing in the country’s long-term economic recovery,” said Allan Goodman, President and CEO of the Institute of International Education.

Contact: Dr. Eleni Godi, Coordinator of the ACT English Program, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Fellow: Professor Efthemia (Effie) Papatzikou Cochran, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, The City University of New York is among the Greek Diaspora Fellows selected to collaborate with peers at Greek higher education institutions to conduct research, training and curriculum co-development projects. American College of Thessaloniki (ACT) is among the 12 universities in Greece to host the Fellows^27 projects, in April 2017.