Elizabeth Drame, professor of teaching and learning, is heading to Indonesia in May 2025 as part of the Fulbright Specialist program. This program includes a roster of U.S.-based experts who can compete for projects related to their disciplinary background and expertise for two- to six-week, project-based exchanges at host institutions across the globe.
Experts on the Fulbright Specialist roster can be selected to conduct research, evaluate programs, deliver professional development and collaborate with sponsoring institutions on other efforts.
Project to focus on inclusive teaching practices
Drame was selected to serve as the Fulbright Specialist for the Developing Inclusive Pedagogy Competence project with the Faculty of Psychology at the University of Diponegoro in Central Java, Indonesia. Drame is also special assistant to Chia Vang, vice chancellor for community empowerment and institutional inclusivity at UWM.
It is a good fit with her background, Vang said. “They were looking for someone to provide support in the area of inclusivity and equity, and how to promote inclusive education practices in the classroom,” she said.
Drame will be delivering a variety of professional development workshops and seminars focused on inclusive teaching practices, fostering student belonging, universal design for learning, and culturally responsive teaching. In addition, she will participate in networking seminars with colleagues in the region, including New Zealand and Australia.
Prior to her onsite work in Indonesia, Drame will work with her collaborators to design a research study focused on student belonging. She will conduct onsite research analysis workshops on data collected before her visit. This research collaboration is expected to continue beyond the onsite work.
Different cultural context for Drame’s work
They are having some similar experiences with students transitioning into school and feeling a lot of mental health and stress issues.
Drame chose the project in Indonesia, she said, because the work aligns with what she is already doing at UWM, but in a different cultural context.
“I’ve never traveled to this region of the world. The issues they have around diversity and equity are very different than what we face here in the U.S,” she said, with various racial, ethnic, cultural and socioeconomic groups part of the campus. The university also has a growing number of international students, she added.
“They are having some similar experiences with students transitioning into school and feeling a lot of mental health and stress issues. That impacts their engagement, but the way they need to be engaged is really driven by the realities of their cultural context.”
She is looking forward to developing networks with people in other regions of the world and sharing those connections with colleagues here at UWM.