The Global Initiatives Master Class Series is a workshop series offered by the Global Education Office for deans, associate deans, faculty, and staff. These workshops are designed to provide support, recommendations, and guidance on engaging international and domestic students in global engagement activities.

Social Justice and International Education: Tools for Staying Focused on Access and Equity in Internationalization

Facilitated by:
LaNitra Berger, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, History and Art History Department, and Director, African and African American Studies Program
George Mason University

About the workshop:
International educators work to create a more just and peaceful world through internationalizing their campuses, which includes ensuring that international education is accessible to everyone and that our campus resources are distributed equitably. This workshop uses social justice principles from the NAFSA edited book, "Social Justice and International Education: Research, Practice, and Perspectives (NASFA 2020)" to guide participants through a series of exercises to understand how concepts such as identity formation, mutually beneficial partnerships, and "fugitive pedagogies" can help international educators broaden their outreach and magnify their impact.

About the facilitator:
LaNitra M. Berger is an associate professor of history and art history and the director of African and African American Studies at George Mason University. Dr. Berger is the immediate past president and board chair of NAFSA: Association of International Educators. Her scholarly interests are in art and social activism in the African and Jewish diasporas. Her work as an educator focuses on creating and expanding cross-cultural educational opportunities for underrepresented students, particularly in international education.

Dr. Berger is the author of Irma Stern and the Racial Paradox of South African Modern Art: Audacities of Color (Bloomsbury, 2020). She is also the editor of Social Justice and International Education: Research, Practice, and Perspectives (NAFSA, 2020). Dr. Berger received her BA in art and international relations from Stanford University and an M.A. and Ph.D. in art history from Duke University.