STAFF PROFILES
Linda Smith Tabb
Linda Smith Tabb is the Coordinator of Online Programs in the Department of Educational Policy Studies at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She did her undergraduate work at the University of Virginia, and has earned two Masters Degrees from UIUC, one in French Linguistics, and the other in Educational Policy Studies in the first cohort of GSE online. She is a doctoral student in Educational Policy Studies, and also teaches French at UIUC. Her career as an educator has included teaching both French and Spanish, as well as Western and Latin American humanities courses. She has taught at the middle school, high school, community college and university levels, both online and in the classroom. Her research interests include global studies in education, foreign language policy, study abroad and the global imagination, and cultural globalization. She has traveled to over forty countries on six continents, and enjoys learning languages.
Rodrigo Britez
Rodrigo Britez is a doctoral student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He was born in Argentina , grew up in Paraguay and came to the United States as a Fulbright scholar. His major research interests include: globalization and education policy, higher education policy in South America , and networks of governance in higher education policy. He is currently working on issues relating to social networks and the role of trans-national agencies in policy processes in higher education.
Viviana Pitton
Viviana Pitton is a doctoral student in Educational Policy Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She earned her B.S. in Sociology at Universidad Nacional de Cuyo in Argentina and her Ed.M. in Educational Policy Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her research focuses on the impact of neoliberal ideas and practices on higher education policies in Latin America and the U.S.
Daniel Araya Tessema
Daniel Araya Tessema is a graduate student at UIUC completing a PhD in Educational Policy. The focus of his research is the convergent impact of emerging technologies and cultural globalization on institutions of higher education. He has a Masters degree in Education and Sociology from the University of Toronto (OISE/UT) and has published on various subjects including information networks, the knowledge economy, democratic innovation, peer-to-peer collaboration, and cultural cosmopolitanism. He has worked as a professional Web Designer in Canada and as an E-Learning Consultant in Ethiopia. Daniel is currently working as a graduate assistant with Global Studies in Education and as a research assistant with Common Ground Publishing at the University of Illinois Research Park.
Shivali Tukdeo
Shivali Tukdeo is a doctoral candidate in the department of Educational Policy Studies, University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign. Her research interests include global studies in education, transnational social theories, neoliberalism, and critical policy analysis. Her dissertation examines the role of Transnational Advocacy Networks in reformulating educational practices in India.
Gabriela Walker
Gabriela Walker is a doctoral student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) in the Educational Policy Studies department. Prior to entering UIUC, Gabriela Walker obtained her B.A. and M.A. degrees at the University of Bucharest, Romania, and continued to study special education at the University of Georgia , U.S.A, where she earned her Education Specialist degree. Her research interests are global educational policies, with an emphasis on European special educational policies, and applied teaching methodologies with students with special needs, especially students with Intellectual Disabilities and Autism Spectrum Disorders. Gabriela's work experiences include news-related editorial work at various newspapers in Romania , teaching children with a range of special education needs both in Romania and the U.S. , teaching undergraduate and graduate level courses in the U.S. , and being involved in various research projects as part of her graduate assistantship responsibilities.
