Enriching teaching experiences across the globe define the career journeys of thousands of TC alumni. Now, shortly after graduating, Genevieve Thévenin (M.A. '25), Sierra Cazassa (M.A. '25), Jacqueline Cofield (Ed.D. '24) and Lesley Crawford (M.A. '11) will join their ranks through Fulbright awards that will deepen their practice and support under-served students.
Learn more about this year’s recipients below.
Meet Genevieve Thévenin (M.A. ’25, Higher & Postsecondary Education)
Hometown: Yonkers, N.Y.
Fulbright Destination: Zambia
Why Fulbright: “The Fulbright award represents a new level in my career and an incredible opportunity to serve others globally,” explains Thévenin, who sees this as the “next step” in her teaching journey. In honor of her parents, who are immigrants, Thévenin shares that she’s eager to give back through her service abroad. “Not only does this mean so much to me personally, but now I get to support others pursuing their Fulbright dreams.”
How She Makes an Impact: As part of Fulbright’s efforts to promote cultural exchange, Thévenin will support English language learning in Zambia at the tertiary level working with college students. For Thévenin, teaching is rooted in making students feel welcome. “I honor students’ first languages and recognize how much I have to learn from them, too. It's a true cultural exchange—where both sides benefit and grow.”
What’s Next: Upon returning to the U.S., Thévenin plans to leverage her Fulbright experience to help English language learners access and complete higher education. She hopes to pursue further studies in fields such as adult learning, international education, or higher education to deepen her expertise beyond her master’s degree. She hopes to one day lead her own educational consulting firm to increase access and success for students of color in higher education.
Meet Sierra Cazassa (M.A. ’25, International Education Development)
Hometown: East Haddam, C.T.
Fulbright Destination: Mexico
Why Fulbright: “I chose to apply to Fulbright not only for the immersive linguistic and cultural aspect of living and working in Mexico, but to help me develop my skills as an educator upon my return to the United States,” explains Cazassa, who will teach at the Polytechnic University of Otzolotepec. “I’m excited to see how Mexican universities, especially in rural communities, are encouraging and fostering bilingualism.”
How She Makes an Impact: Passionate about helping students find their voices, Cazassa brings over six years of experience teaching languages to refugees and migrants across the United States, Brazil, and Spain. “I encourage all of my students to see their multilingualism as a superpower. In my former English classroom for newly-arrived students at the International Rescue Committee in New York City, students formed arguments in Persian, asked questions in Spanish, and read texts aloud in Ukrainian. Our curriculum integrated resources and group activities in native languages alongside English, and I saw students develop pride in building a multilingual academic
foundation.”
What’s Next: Cazassa plans to continue to support education initiatives and partnerships across the U.S. “Ultimately, I want to keep advocating for bilingual education access for refugees and migrants, using my experiences in Mexico to inform and strengthen that work. Being part of the Fulbright program is a true honor and the opportunity of a lifetime, and I’m excited to see where my year in Mexico takes me.”
Meet Jacqueline Cofield (Ed.D. ’24, Curriculum & Teaching)
Hometown: Rochester, N.Y.
Fulbright Destination: Togo, West Africa
Why Fulbright: During her Fulbright residency at the University of Lomé in Togo, West Africa, Cofield hopes to lay the groundwork for an international conference on digital arts and humanities and engage with local arts communities to explore the intersection of digital and creative practices. “It is an honor to collaborate with the University of Lomé to design an innovative digital humanities program that merges arts, technology, and scholarship,” says Cofield. “I look forward to co-creating inclusive learning experiences with faculty, students, and artists, and to highlighting West Africa’s contributions to the digital humanities on a global stage.”
"Receiving this Fulbright award represents an opportunity to advance the Fulbright Program's founding diplomatic mission of fostering mutual understanding through educational exchange," adds Cofield. "As a second-generation Fulbright scholar—my father was also a Fulbright scholar—it honors my family's legacy of global citizenship while building on my research at Teachers College in multimodal, multicultural curriculum studies and methods of creative inquiry-based learning."
How She Makes an Impact: Currently serving as Research Affiliate at TC’s Edmund W. Gordon Institute for Advanced Study, Cofield’s work centers largely on arts-based multicultural curriculum, museum education and multimodal research methods. She aims to advance this work through her Fulbright initiative, “Toward a Digital Renaissance in Arts & Humanities Research,” which seeks to integrate digital humanities and artificial intelligence into the curriculum and research practices at the Faculty of Letters, Languages, and Arts, as well as the Lomé International Center of Languages. By offering intensive workshops, curriculum design practicums and capacity-building sessions, Cofield hopes to empower faculty and students to embrace innovative methodologies while prioritizing ethical considerations and cultural sensitivity.
After her Fulbright residency is concluded, Cofield plans to continue her global arts and humanities work through J Rêve International and Cultured Arts Consulting, drawing on insights from Togo. “I plan to develop programs that bring curatorial research approaches to experiential learning, creating spaces for educators, artists and scholars to engage in place-based, embodied learning.”
Meet Lesley Crawford, (M.A. ’11, Curriculum & Teaching)
Fulbright Destination: Ghana
Why Fulbright: Through Fulbright’s immersive international travel experience, Crawford hopes to gain invaluable opportunities to collaborate with global educators, exchange best practices and collect fresh perspectives that will enhance her work. “I feel excited to have received the Fulbright. It was a challenging process and a long-time goal,” she shares. The TC alumna holds a particular interest in advancing girls’ education globally and supporting teachers in developing inclusive practices for students with varied learning needs. “I hope to inspire my students to take on this work intersectionality with whichever career path they choose.”
How She Makes an Impact: With over 15 years of teaching experience, Crawford strives to promote civic engagement and awareness in the classroom. She has designed and implemented inclusive curricula and helped families navigate complex educational systems to ensure their children receive accessible educational opportunities. “My work focuses largely on creating culturally responsive learning environments where young people are tasked with considering diverse cultural perspectives, preparing them for a complex, interconnected world for which they are civically responsible stakeholders.” During her Fulrbight residency, she looks forward to implementing even more new opportunities for student growth and building capacity for critical thinking and civic leadership.
[Learn more about this year’s Fulbright recipients here.]