Joseph A. Buttigieg

Assistant Provost for International Studies

Director, Ph.D. in Literature Program

William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of English

As Assistant Provost for International Studies, Buttigieg’s duties include managing a staff of expert administrators (on-campus and at international sites), administering the OIS budget, maintaining working relationships with deans of colleges of Arts & Letters, Science, Business, Engineering, and Architecture, enhancing communication and collaboration on international projects among faculty and students in colleges and institutes (Nanovic, Kellogg, Keough, Kroc), and working closely with the Associate Provost and University administration.

A native of the Mediterranean island of Malta, Buttigieg received his B.A. and, later, his M.A. in English literature from the University of Malta. In between, he spent two years studying philosophy in England and earned a B.Phil. from Heythrop College. For his doctoral studies, Buttigieg came to the United States and obtained his Ph.D. from the State University of New York at Binghamton.

Joseph Buttigieg’s main interests are modern literature, criticism and theory, the relationship between culture and politics, and trans-national approaches to the study of literature. His first book, A Portrait of the Artist in Different Perspective, is a study of James Joyce’s aesthetics. He is also the editor and translator of the multi-volume complete critical edition of Antonio Gramsci’s Prison Notebooks, a project that has been supported by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. The Italian Minister of Culture appointed him to a commission of experts to oversee the preparation of the edizione nazionale of Gramsci’s writings. His essays have appeared in scholarly journals in several languages. Buttigieg also serves on the editorial and advisory boards of various journals, and he is a member of the editorial collective of boundary 2.

In addition to directing the London Undergraduate Program in its early years, Buttigieg served the University in a number of administrative positions, including Chair of the English Department. He is currently also the Director of the Ph.D. in Literature Program.

Kathleen Opel
Director
Office of International Studies

As director, Opel oversees all aspects of Notre Dame's study abroad programs.  Her areas of special interest include international education, second language acquisition, refugee education, and teacher training. Prior to joining the faculty at the University of Notre Dame, she was senior training and research specialist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she conducted teacher training throughout the Upper Midwest. Previous work experience includes teaching English as a Second Language in Panama, Micronesia, and Alaska. Opel also spent four years in the Philippines where she was Deputy Director for Instruction in the U.S. State Department program for Southeast Asian refugees.

Opel earned a B.A. in English from Pennsylvania State University and a Masters Degree in Communication Arts from Fairfield University. She also completed graduate studies in Adult Education at Penn State.

Joan M. Clark
Departmental Administrator
Office of International Studies

Ms. Clark provides administrative support to the Assistant Provost for International Studies, the Directors of International Study Programs, and On-Site Directors as needed.

Clark has a special responsibility related to Foreign Language Grants, IIE Open Doors Report, processing payments, monitoring and tracking expenses, employee hiring process, and tracking applications for Faculty Foreign Travel involving Students.

Julliet Mayinja
Associate Director
Office of International Studies

Julliet Mayinja received both her MA in Peace Studies and MSA from the University of Notre Dame and her B.Sc from Makerere University.

Mayinja has a primary responsibility of transforming and automating the OIS office admissions work flow, mostly recently the development of OIS's on-line application. She manages programs in Athens, Kampala, Fremantle, and Perth. She has been a member of the OIS staff since 1997.

Mayinja was honored with the Dockweiler Award for outstanding advising in 2009.

Claudia Kselman
Associate Director
Office of International Studies

Dr. Kselman received her BA from the University of California, Berkeley and her Ph.D. in History from the University of Michigan. Her dissertation was on French Family Legislation 1870-1914. She lived in France from 1984-6 and co-directed the Angers Program in France in 1985-1986. She has served in the Office of International Studies since 1986 and was appointed Director in 2006.  In this capacity she establishes policies and procedures for the Office of International Studies, supervises staff in the office and manages programs at Trinity College Dublin, Paris and Puebla and Monterrey, Mexico.

Kselman received the Notre Dame Presidential Award in 1998.

Her professional interests include increasing the number of students going to Mexico, increasing the participation of Engineering and Science Students in Study Abroad,  and fostering broader links between the US and Mexican health communities."

Hong Zhu
Assistant Director
Office of International Studies

Hong  Zhu received her B.A. in English from Hamline University, and both her M.A. in English and her Ed.D. in Education from Virginia Tech. A native of Beijing, Zhu went to Peking University for three years before she came to the U.S. as a college senior.

Zhu’s professional interest has always been in international education. Prior to joining the Office of International Studies, Zhu was an International Student Advisor with the Immigration Services Office at Notre Dame.  Other professional experiences include teaching English and ESL at Indiana University South Bend, teaching Chinese at Notre Dame, directing the ESL program at Indiana University South Bend and directing the South Bend English Institute.

Zhu manages the study abroad programs in Angers, Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Nagoya, and Tokyo.

David Younger
Assistant Director
Office of International Studies

David Younger received a BA in Social Work from Franciscan University of Steubenville and a Masters in Higher Education and Student Affairs from Indiana University. 

Originally from California, Younger has traveled extensively throughout Europe and has been working in International Education since 2001 when he was a Residence Director for Franciscan University of Steubenville’s Austria program.  As an undergrad and graduate student, he has studied in Austria, Mexico, Honduras, and Italy. 

Younger now manages the study abroad programs in Berlin, Bologna, Innsbruck, Rome (ICCS and John Cabot University), and Russia (Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Vladimir).

Ger Meehan
Associate Director
Office of International Studies

Dr. Meehan has a PhD in psychology and was for many years a practicing psychologist, most recently with Psychology Associates in Mishawaka, IN.  Her administrative experience is extensive as well, thanks to positions at St. John's University in Minnesota where she worked both as a staff counselor and coordinator of drug and alcohol education. 

Meehan manages the programs in London, Cambridge, and Oxford. A native of Ireland, Meehan herself studied abroad in London.

Judy Hutchinson
Assistant Director
Office of International Studies

Judy Hutchinson received her B.A. in Religious Studies and her Masters in Pastoral Studies both from Loyola University of New Orleans. 

Originally from Grand Rapids, MI, Judy served as Rector at the University of Notre Dame for nine years in Breen-Phillips Hall and then was chosen as the on-site Rector in the London Program from 1995-97.  She has also worked as Rector for the Summer London Program from 2001-2007.  She has traveled extensively throughout the UK and Europe.

Judy is the Assistant Director for the London Program and also coordinates the program in Cairo, Egypt.

Peggy Weber
Assistant Director
Office of International Studies

Peggy received her B.A. from St. Mary's College with a major in mathematics and secondary education, and a MSEd from Indiana University.

Peggy is ND campus director of the Dublin, Ireland program sending students to Trinity College, University College Dublin, and the National College of Art & Design. She also aids seminarians in their studies through the Leuven, Belgium program.

Special responsibilities include compiling statistics for students studying abroad through OIS programs.

Barbara Toth
Senior Administrative Assistant
Office of International Studies

Ms. Toth provides administrative support to the Director of the Office of International Studies and works with the programs in London, Puebla, Monterrey, Paris, and the Puebla Summer program.  Responsibilities include preparing staff reviews, hiring and supervising student workers, planning meetings, supplying information to campus offices and general office assistance.

As a member of the OIS staff since 1991, her responsibilities also include preparing and supplying data information for the London Undergraduate Program staff in London and administrative support to the Associate Directors of the London Program on campus.  Special duties include preparing and managing the database information for past, present and future applicants, processing all applications for the coming year for study abroad in London and the editing and production of prep materials for students preparing to study in London. 

Elisa Podrasky
Administrative Assistant
Office of International Studies

Elisa Landon Podrasky serves as an administrative assistant for the Office of International Studies and works with the programs in Rome, Cairo, London, Asia as well as many of the Summer programs.  She earned  her BA in Marketing from Saint Mary's College and an A.A. in Fine Art  from Indiana University South Bend.  She has worked at the University  of Notre Dame since 1994.

Paula Worhatch
Administrative Assistant
Office of International Studies

Ms. Worhatch provides administrative support to the directors of International Study programs.  She is responsible for database queries, miscellaneous reports, and sends reports and lists of students studying abroad to ND departments, colleges, rectors, the registrar, and travel agents.  Paula also assists with the distribution of promotional material and maintains student files.

Paula earned a B.A. in Political Science from Duquesne University and has worked in Catholic education for over a decade.

Lesley Antonelli Sullivan

Assistant Director

Office of International Studies

Lesley Antonelli Sullivan, a native of Rome, Italy, received her BA in Psychology from Vassar College.  At the University of Chicago she earned an MA in Cultural Anthropology and completed all coursework and doctoral exams for the PhD. She went on to receive an MSN in Pediatric Primary Care from the Yale University School of Nursing.

Sullivan has lived in Japan, New Zealand and Switzerland in addition to Italy, and herself studied abroad in the United States and France.

Sullivan manages programs in Toledo, Spain, in Santiago, Chile, and in Rio de Janeiro, Salvador da Bahia, and São Paulo, Brazil.

Liz Murdock LaFortune 

Assistant Director

Office of International Studies

Liz Murdock LaFortune serves as Assistant Director for the Office of International Studies.  She works with students interested in and preparing to participate in the programs in Washington, DC, and Jerusalem.  She also coordinates the IES Faculty-Led International Summer Programs, which include new locations each summer. 

LaFortune earned her Bachelor in Liberal Arts and a Masters in Theology/Religious Education from the University of St. Thomas in Houston, Texas, and has served as an educator and administrator in Catholic educational institutions in Texas, Ohio, and Indiana.  Her special interests include Catholic Social Teaching and political responsibility, U.S. and Middle East politics, experiential education, and safety and security abroad.

Thomas M. Kellenberg
Executive Director for Washington Program

Kellenberg received his undergraduate degree from the University of Notre Dame and his law degree from Harvard Law School.

In the years between completing law school and joining the Notre Dame faculty, Professor Kellenberg clerked for two federal judges, practiced law at a major law firm, and taught law school at Catholic University and the University of Washington. He has published various articles on legislative and judicial ethics.

Kellenberg serves as the Executive Director of the University of Notre Dame Washington Program. His courses include "Theoretical Foundations of Law and Public Policy," "American Institutions," and "Capital Punishment Litigation."

Liz Reagan
Sr. Administrative Assistant
Summer London Program

Reagan has a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from St. Joseph's College, Rensselaer, IN. She is responsible for campus logistical arrangements, monitoring stateside expenditures, participant applications, liaison with registrar/participant registration, and general administrative support services in South Bend.

Ray Pellegrini

Budget Manager

Office of International Studies

Ray Pellegrini manages the internal budgets and expenses for the Office of International Studies and all of the study abroad programs. He also handles Notre Dame sponsored travel applications for students who travel to other countries that are not part of formal programs with the Office of International Studies.

Pellegrini has a BA in Economics from the University of California, Irvine and an International MBA from Dominican University of California. He has taught English and business courses in South Korea, was an Academic Advisor and advisor for the international student club for the Graduate School of Business at Loyola University Chicago, and was a Client Service Manager for an international corporate relocation company.

Laura Holt
Deputy Director, London Program
Concurrent Associate Professional Specialist, Department of Theology, University of Notre Dame

An art history major at Vassar College who spent over ten years directing international studies programs before resuming her academic career, Laura Holt earned both her Master's degree and Ph.D. in Theology at the University of Notre Dame with specialties in the history of Christianity and liturgical and systematic theology.  Her research interests include St. Augustine, the early centuries of Christianity, and the development of Christian doctrine.  A frequent speaker on the early Church, her articles and reviews have appeared in the Journal of Early Christian Studies , Augustinian Studies , Church History , Heythrop Journal, and Religious Studies Review , as well as Augustine Through the Ages, An Encyclopedia (Eerdmans, 1999).  She is a member of the North American Patristics Society and the American Society of Church Historians.

Based in London, she was appointed Associate Director of Undergraduate Studies in London in 2001 and Deputy Director in 2005.  She assists the Director of the London Program in any way necessary to ensure the smooth operation of the program (including deputizing for him whenever he is absent from the London Centre), and specifically in the following areas: supervising course registration and examination arrangements; academic advising; and liaising with British and US faculty, and with ND alumni in London. In addition, each semester she teaches one course in theology.

Cornelius O'Boyle
Associate Director London Program

London Summer Program Director

B.A. London University ; M.Phil., Ph.D. Cambridge University ; Research Fellow, Cambridge University .

From 1990 to 1998 he was an assistant professor in the Program of Liberal Studies at Notre Dame, and was also appointed a fellow of the Reilly Centre, a fellow of the Medieval Institute, a faculty member of the Graduate Program in History and Philosophy of Science, and a concurrent assistant professor in the History Department. In 1999, he took up two-year visiting lectureship at University College London (UCL). In 2001, he was awarded a three-year Wellcome Trust research fellowship at UCL. An intellectual historian specializing in medieval natural philosophy and medicine, his recent publications include: The Art of Medicine: Medical Teaching at the University of Paris, 1250-1400 (Brill, 1998); Learning Medieval Medicine: The Boundaries of Classroom Practice , (edited volume of Dynamis , 2000); “Discussions on the Nature of Medicine at the University of Paris, ca.1300-1330”, in Learning Institutionalized: Teaching in the Medieval University , ed. J. Van Engen (Notre Dame, 2000); Astrology and Medicine in Later Medieval England: The Calendars of John Somer and Nicholas of Lynn”, Sudhoffs Archiv , 2005.

Having joined the teaching staff of the London Program in 2001, in 2005 he was appointed the Associate Director of the Program, with special responsibility for developing undergraduate internships, promoting the London Centre as a venue for academic meetings, and generating publicity for the Program and the Centre.

Alice Tyrell
Librarian
London Program

After gaining her B.A. in English and Ancient History at the University of Wales, Alice Tyrell returned to London to train in library work, completing her postgraduate studies with a full scholarship at University College London. She has worked for The Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine, the London Library, and the UK Friends of the New Alexandrian Library before joining the Notre Dame London Undergraduate Program in 1999 as their first professional librarian. She was awarded full chartered status with the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals in 2003.

Ms. Tyrell is responsible for all aspects of the management and collection development of the London Undergraduate Program Library, as well as liaison with faculty about the resources they need, the coordination of student access to other library services in London, the organization of the textbook loan and sale programs and the maintenance of the London Undergraduate Program and London Centre's web pages.

Ms Tyrell is a born-and-bred Londoner, and is very happy to answer questions about her city, as well as your studies. She maintains a London-focused blog as Miss Alice

Craig Thomson
IT Technical Support Officer
London Program

Craig Thomson joined the London Program in June 2006, currently commutes into London from Surrey and has been an IT professional for over 10 years.

Thompson provides first-level IT support for all academic programs operating at the London Centre, including maintaining, updating, and replacing hardware and software, server administration and user support.

R. P. Whaite
Assistant Rector
London Program

Ric Whaite joins us from serving in parochial pastoral ministry in London. Prior to that he taught history of science and religion at the Universities of Oxford, London and Manchester. In these roles, he also worked in student welfare and administration. While completing his doctorate in philosophical theology, he spent time in the USA studying at universities in New Jersey and Connecticut.

As Assistant Rector for the London Program, he works closely with the Rector using his own familiarity with academic and social life in London and studying transatlantically to facilitate the integration of Notre Dame students into the London Program and its residential community.

Kristiana Dahl
Rector
London Program

Kristiana Dahl was born in Tokyo, Japan. After a brief time living in Chicago, she grew up in Salt Lake City, Utah. She has a BA from Washington University in St Louis with a double major in Archaeology and Medieval Studies, and she spent her junior year studying in the UK at Oxford University. Kristiana has an MA in Medieval Studies from the University of York, and spent two years studying at the Centre for Medieval Studies at Notre Dame. She has worked as a substitute teacher in Salt Lake City, as well as for Oxfam and the Health and Safety Directorate of Coventry City Council in England.

As Assistant Rector for the London Program, she helps the students settle into London life and adjust to the cultural differences they face in Britain .

Mrs. Rowenna Bradshaw
Administrative Assistant
London Program

Rowena Bradshaw is responsible for arranging visits to the theatre and concert performances, museums, art galleries, and other locations required by the London academic courses. She also maintains student accounts related to these activities.

Kevin Whelan
Director
Dublin Undergraduate Program

Professor Whelan has overall responsibility for the Dublin Program, including academic standards, course selection, linkages with UCD and Trinity, adjunct faculty, and the general well-being and safety of students in Ireland. Whelan is also the liaison point between Notre Dame and its Irish Partners.

Joseph Stranix
Dublin Program Coordinator

  

Paul McDowell

Resident Director

Angers Program (SUNDEF)

McDowell received his B.A. in French Literature from Northern Illinois University and his M.A. in French literature from the University of Pennsylvania.  He has been teaching French language and culture courses at Notre Dame since 1991 and is currently enjoying his second appointment as resident director of Notre Dame's international study program in Angers, France, having previously served a SUNDEF director from 1999-2001 (SUNDEF 34 & 35). At Notre Dame, McDowell has won the Kaneb Center teaching award and was also honored to be named a Kaneb Teaching Fellow.  His signature course is French Theatre Production, which he intends to teach in Angers. For over ten years, he recruited and prepared Notre Dame students for the Angers program.

Gernot O. Gürtler
Director

Innsbruck Austria Program;

Gürtler teaches Modern European History in the Department of History, University of Innsbruck/Austria , and European/Austrian History and Civilization I/II for the Innsbruck Program; he is a member of the Royal Stuart Society ( London ), the Catholic Record Society ( Oxford ) and the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society (Carlisle/GB).

Curriculum vitae:

1974-1981: History, Political Science and English/American Literature/Linguistics at:
Leopold-Franzens-Universität Innsbruck / Austria
Institute of Historical Research/University of London
London School of Economics and Political Science
1980: M.A.
1981: Ph.D. (Innsbruck/London LSE)
1997-present: Director Innsbruck Program

S. Lisette Monterroso
Student Life Coordinator Puebla Program

Monterosso received her Bachelor´s in Economics from the National Autonomous University of Puebla and is a M.A. candidate in Finances, with a pending thesis, from the Universidad de las Americas, in Puebla. She had done studies on Econometric and Enviromental Science.

Currently the Coordinator of the Notre Dame Program in Puebla, Mexico, Monterosso is responsible for overseeing all aspects of the Puebla Program, advising and mentoring students and help them to integrate into their new enviroment."

J. Esteban Montes

Director

Santiago Chile Program

Montes is a lawyer from the Catholic University in Santiago and a PhD. Candidate in Political Science from Notre Dame.  He is Chilean, father of 4 children and lived with his family in the USA between 1994 and 2002.

Montes has been Professor of the Notre Dame Program in Chile since July  2002.  He led the process for transforming the Consortium Program that existed since the 1980s in Chile into a Notre Dame Program in 2007.  He has contributed to shape the current Notre Dame-Chile Program and is responsible for all academic and extracurricular initiatives conducted or coordinated by the Chile program.  He advises and mentors students, oversees the quality of classes, pre-programs, cultural trips, internships and service initiatives. He regularly teaches a semester-long seminar on Contemporary Chilean Politics, Economics and Society for Notre Dame students, as well as courses on Chilean and Latin American comparative politics, institutional engineering, and party systems.

Estela Rojo.

Coordinator

Santiago Chile Program

Rojo obtained her diploma of Elementary and Secondary School Teacher at the Catholic University in Santiago. She was teacher for 18 years at St. George’s College. Rojo  also lived with her family in Washington, D.C. for two years.

Past work experience includes work at Fundación de la Familia, a foundation created during the first democratic government after Pinochet, to support low income families in education and social integration.   Rojo has also worked as Program Coordinator of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee-Notre Dame Consortium.

Rojo facilitates the integration of the ND students into the Chile Program, including their family housing and immersion into Chilean culture.  She coordinates numerous cultural trips and initiatives during the semester and helps the students to integrate into their new environment.  Rojo is also responsible for managing many administrative, financial and logistic aspects of the Santiago Program.