In the past decade, I worked in various academic and managerial roles in the international corporate higher education sector. I have direct experience in how differently students from non-Western cultures look at the course content/academic policies in online learning and what their expectations are. I celebrate every little success that students achieve because I appreciate how difficult the journey is. I have a passion for cultural diversity, decolonization of education, and open/inclusive education. I am an arduous advocate of social justice in education: I believe that the only way to understand students’ individual needs is if we remain curious and see them as experts of their cultures. By analyzing the intersection of race, gender, ethnicity, and socio-economic status, we have a better understanding of their learning behaviors.

As a teacher I create a democratic and inclusive atmosphere in my classes where participants have space to open up, share ideas, and grow into caring and culturally sensitive professionals wanting to make a positive change in their societies. I hold a Ph.D. in the interdisciplinary field of Cultural Studies, Literature and Musicology and currently conduct a second doctoral research in Educational Research at Lancaster University in the field of internationalization of online higher education, critical pedagogy, decolonization of higher education, with the hope that my thesis will have a significant contribution to the paradigm shift in how we look at course content, adult learning theories, assessment and evaluation as well as issues of equity in academic policies in international online courses.