A. Noam Chomsky Global Connections Awards
MEET LAST YEAR’S 2020 A. NOAM CHOMSKY GLOBAL CONNECTIONS AWARD WINNERS.
2021 Award Winners
Tune into the awards ceremony Friday December 10 @ 8:00-10:00 pm IST // 9:30-11:30am ET with a special keynote from Professor Chomsky. Use this time zone converter for your local time.
NORTH STAR MEDAL OF
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT
This award is our premier acknowledgment of outstanding achievement and success in transnational research. It honors a senior scholar whose lifelong service, leadership and contributions serve as a guiding north star for scholarly collaboration in research.
PROF. HANS DE WIT
Hans de Wit is Distinguished Fellow and Emeritus Professor of the Practice in International Higher Education of the ‘Center for International Higher Education’ (CIHE) at Boston College, USA. From 2015-2020 he was full-time director of CIHE. He is IAU Senior Fellow of the International Association of Universities (IAU), based at UNESCO.
Hans de Wit is founding member (1989) and past president (1993-1994) of the European Association for International Education (EAIE). He is the Founding Editor of the ‘Journal of Studies in International Education’ (Association for Studies in International Education/SAGE), and Consulting Editor of the journal Policy Reviews in Higher Education (SRHE). He is Associate Chief Editor of International Higher Education, and Co-Editor book series Global Perspectives in Higher Education (Brill/Sense).
He has (co)written many books and articles on international(ization of) higher education and is actively involved in assessment and consultancy in international education, for organizations like the European Commission and the European Parliament, UNESCO, World Bank, IAU.
He has been Director of the ‘Centre for Higher Education Internationalisation’ (CHEI) at the Università Cattolica Sacro Cuore (UCSC) in Milan, Italy, and Professor of Internationalization of Higher Education at the Amsterdam, University of Applied Sciences. In 2005-2006, he was a New Century Scholar of the Fulbright Program Higher Education in the 21st Century.
He was Vice-President for International Affairs at the University of Amsterdam, in the period 1996-2005. He has a bachelor, master and PhD from the University of Amsterdam.
In 2019 he was the recipient of the Charles Klasek Award of the Association for International Education Administrators (AIEA) for long-term and outstanding service to the field of International Education. He has received several other awards: EAIE (2008), NAFSA (2002), CIEE (2006), University of Amsterdam (2006), AMPEI (2014), and UCSC (2015).
SHINING STAR
ACHIEVEMENT IN RESEARCH
This award recognizes influential scholarly contributions in any discipline or language, whether they be in the form of scholarly journal articles, books, book chapters, or other expressions of scholarly collaboration. It recognizes an exemplary publication, not an individual or individuals.
DR. CATHERINE GOMES
Catherine Gomes is internationally recognized as a highly regarded scholar on the lived experiences of international students, their digital engagement and their wellbeing. Currently Associate Professor of Asian Media and Culture in the School of Media and Communication at RMIT University, Gomes’ work covers the themes of identity, ethnicity, race, memory and gender. She is a specialist on the Asia-Pacific with Australia and Singapore being significant fieldwork sites. Gomes is editor of the Media, Culture and Communication in Migrant Societies book series (Amsterdam University Press), founding editor of Transitions: Journal of Transient Migration (Intellect Books), and founding convener of the Mobilities, Migrations and Diverse Communities research group at RMIT. Gomes was also a recipient of an Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Researcher (DECRA) in 2013-2016. She has held Visiting Research Fellowships at the Singapore Management University, Nanyang Technological University and Universiti Brunei Darussalam. Gomes is the author of four monographs and editor/co-editor of six edited books. Her work has appeared in numerous journals, edited books as well as media outlets. Gomes also teaches Asian Studies at RMIT.
Parallel Societies of International Students in Australia: Connections (Routledge, 2021)
Drawing on a decade worth of research, this book explores the social and cultural spaces that international students occupy in destination countries. It examines the connections students make and the significance of parallel societies in helping them become resilient, empowered and self-sufficient. It further explores the ways in which international students become disconnected from the family and friends they left behind, as well as from local communities. This book also reflects on the impact of a global pandemic on international students and shines a light on their ability to adapt, find community and develop resilience in uncertain and precarious times.
RISING STAR
EMERGING SCHOLAR CERTIFICATE
Each year, we recognize emerging scholars who have shown significant promise and commitment to transnational research. We recognize up to two emerging scholars (post-terminal degree completion) in any field who have distinguished themselves as rising leaders in advancing transnational research. We also recognize up to two current graduate students who have demonstrated significant promise to advancing transnational research through publications, leadership, or other relevant contributions.
DR. JOSEPH LEVITAN
Joseph Levitan, Ph.D. (Joe) is an Assistant Professor at McGill University, as well as the co-founder of two international non-profit organizations in Peru. Levitan’s work and scholarship engages in community-based collaborative action research to develop more responsive, socially just, and culturally grounded educational policies and practices throughout the Americas. He has published over 50 articles, chapters, and podcasts on issues of educational practice and policy; international collaboration; identity and learning; and community-based collaborative research methodologies. Levitan has spoken about issues of social justice and identity around the world, including in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and North and South America. He is currently working with Indigenous students and community leaders to develop school curriculum and lessons based in students’ communities’ knowledge and ways-of-being. He is also working on a project to re-design school policy-making systems. Finally, he is collaborating with first-generation university students from rural Indigenous communities to make universities more welcoming, inclusive, and responsive spaces. The work brings together community leaders, students, parents, scholars and policy makers in Peru, Canada, and the USA to build more just educational systems.
DR. NGHIA TRAN
Currently an early career researcher and Research Fellow in the College of Business and Economics at The Australian National University (ANU), Dr. Nghia Tran aspires to improve the quality of students’ learning experience and their employability in a quickly evolving world. Tran is a proud recipient of several prestigious scholarships including the European Commission’s Erasmus Mundus Scholarship and Australian Government’s Endeavour Postgraduate Award. He has, to date, (co)authored approximately 30 academic publications related to graduate employability, work-integrated learning, teacher education, international education, and English language teaching. His research projects embrace international and transnational perspectives as he collaborates with scholars in different countries to increase the impact of these projects. In addition, Tran has been a (co)recipient of the National Foundation for Science and Technology Development Research Grant (Vietnam), Ton Duc Thang University’s International Research Small Grant (Vietnam), and the ANU College of Business and Economics Research Grant (Australia). He also received the 2021 Editor’s Choice Award for his service to the Journal of International Students.
MR. ANSON AU
GRADUATE STUDENT
Anson Au is a Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council of Canada Doctoral Fellow and Ph.D. Candidate in Sociology at the University of Toronto. His research examines social and economic networks, professions and organizations, and East Asian affairs. Au’s work has been published in journals such as Information, Communication, & Society, Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour, The Sociological Quarterly, among others. He has previously held visiting positions at the Seoul National University, Yonsei University, National Sun Yat-Sen University, the University of Malaya, and the London School of Economics and Political Science.
MR. SHAUN STAR
GRADUATE STUDENT
Shaun Star is Associate Professor & Associate Dean at Jindal Global Law School. He is the Director of the Centre for India-Australia Studies and Director of the Centre for Sports Law, Business and Governance at O.P. Jindal Global University. Star has been working in India since 2010. As an Australian qualified lawyer, he has worked at various top-tier law firms in Australia and India. He was named as one of 30 people to watch in the business of law by Asia Law Portal. Star is widely published in the field of sports law and governance, as well as comparative law. He is passionate about promoting the Australia-India relationship and has published a book entitled “Australia and India: A Comparative Overview of the Law and Legal Practice”. He is the co-founder and former chair of the Australia India Youth Dialogue. His opinion pieces have been featured in Indian and Australian national newspapers and he has participated in panel sessions on Indian prime time television.