Home > About The Center > Staff > Cynthia Toms Smedley
Cynthia Toms Smedley serves as the director of Educational Immersions. She facilitates eleven academic seminars that take place during fall, winter, and spring breaks. The seminars utilize community engagement and classroom learning to examine social issues from a multitude of perspectives. Themes include Community Organizing Against Gang Violence; Urban Poverty and Homelessness; Sustainable Development; Healthcare; Energy, Policy, Environment and Social Change; The Gospel of Life; Border Issues; Migrant Experiences; L’Arche; and Environmental Justice and Human Rights in the aftermath of Katrina.
She also oversees the Experiential Learning Council, a student group developed to enhance experiential and service learning opportunities on campus.
Cynthia Toms Smedley edited the book, Transformations at the Edge of the World: Forming Global Christians through the Study Abroad Experience, which explores current efforts on the part of selected Christian universities to form globally engaged Christians through cultural immersion experiences. ACU Press
Prior to this position, Cynthia taught cross-cultural immersion skills and facilitated experiential learning environments at Peking University in Beijing, China, and was the associate director of the Uganda Studies Program located in Mukono, Uganda. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Messiah College, and her master’s degree from Boston University. She is currently earning a Ph.D. in higher education.
ctomssmedley@nd.edu
Center for Social Concerns
203 Geddes Hall
Notre Dame, IN 46556
574-631-3356
