The U.S. Department of State announced that Hamline University professor Dr. Michelle Benegas was selected for a two-week English Language Specialist project in Bahrain this summer.
“I look forward to engaging with teacher educators in the Middle East.,” Benegas said. “It is an honor to be able to assist the U.S. Department of State in their public diplomacy goals.”
Benegas, a professor of teaching English to speakers of other languages, will travel to Bahrain next month to support the faculty of Bahrain Teachers College – Bahrain University in developing meaningful corrective feedback for their teacher candidates.
“Professionally, I look forward to strengthening ties between Hamline and the state department,” Benegas said. “I would love to take what I’ve learned here in Minnesota and apply that in other spaces.”
Established in 2008, Bahrain Teachers College prepares the majority of K-12 teachers in the country. Benegas will lead a series of training sessions titled “Fostering Student Success by Fine-Tuning Faculty and Leaders” for both administrators and faculty of Bahrain Teachers College, as well as a three-day training series at Bahrain Institute of Public Administration.
Benegas’ appointment comes off the heels of the state department honoring Hamline University with the Top English Language Fellow Producing Institution Award at the annual TESOL International Convention in March.
“It’s really exciting that our small university is so well recognized by the U.S. State Department,” Benegas said.
The English Language Specialist program is funded by the U.S. Department of State and administered by the Center for Intercultural Education and Development at Georgetown University.
