Latest News

Sameer Honwad, assistant professor from the Department of Learning and Instruction, is working with partners from the Royal Thimpu College (RTC) in Bhutan to start a museum that focuses on highlighting socio-scientific issues such as environmental sustainability and climate change. This idea was derived from a collaborative project titled “Weaving Strands of Knowledge: Connecting Culture and Science to Climate Change” funded by the American Association of Museums. As part of this project, students from RTC and the University of New Hampshire (UNH) travelled to each other’s communities in the summer of 2017. During this time, they collected audio stories from locals who work with the land in New England and Bhutan.

Michelle Layer Rahal (EdM ’93, Elementary Education) wrote and published “Straining Forward” in 2018, which depicts the story of Minh Phuong, a Vietnamese girl who endured abuse, prison and torture during the Vietnam War to become the third Asian woman in America to be ordained a Presbyterian pastor. “I didn’t set out to write Minh Phuong’s story,” says Rahal. “I felt called to it, and sometimes we need to follow our gut.”

Alexandra Schindel, associate professor from the Department of Learning and Instruction (LAI), is partnering with Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper to support their youth-centered education programs. High school students from Buffalo Public Schools are recruited to participate in these programs. This collaborative project, which includes LAI faculty members Ryan Rish and Sameer Honwad and UB Department of Geology faculty member Christopher Lowry, is part of the UB Graduate School of Education Faculty in Residence Program.

At a time marked by growing public concern about the number of school-aged children who have difficulties learning to read, GSE hosted the event, “Beyond the Hashtag: Ten Things to Know about the Science of Reading,” to explore and answer these questions.