Instructors

Sandra was born in Connecticut and grew up in Auburn, a suburb of Worcester, Massachusetts. After graduating from Worcester State College with a Bachelor’s Degree in Education and English, she headed south to satisfy her wanderlust – first to rural Georgia to work in a program funded by Martin Luther King’s Southern Christian Leadership Foundation, and then to southwestern Louisiana to teach in a program funded by the French government dedicated to preserving the French language and Cajun culture predominant in the area. After obtaining her Master’s degree at the University of Pittsburgh, she and her husband moved to Papua New Guinea, the first of many overseas postings arising from her husband’s work with the United Nations.

Subsequent assignments included Tonga, Dominica, Kenya, and South Africa. Although some postings were “only” for three or four years, others were substantially longer which required her to adapt and make her own way career-wise. In Papua New Guinea, Sandra taught English literature to seminarians at a Catholic mission. In Kenya she taught English and language arts at the International School in Nairobi, and in South Africa she taught academic literacies courses at the University of Johannesburg before becoming coordinator of the Writing Center. Each of the places she lived she grew to love and over time called home. Each of the opportunities and experiences that came her way changed her life in important ways and shaped the person she is today, how she views the world, and, no doubt, how she approaches teaching and working with international students here at Clark University.

Sandra has experience in teaching both online and in-person courses here at Clark University.

While living in France and studying French at the University of Nice, Nancye decided that as a teacher and a native English speaker, teaching English to speakers of other languages would be her next career. A graduate certificate in TESOL from Clark University taught her that speaking English was not enough to be a good English language teacher. Twenty-five years of experience has taught her that there is always something else to learn. Nancye is the instructor of Expository Writing for Non-native Speakers of English, a composition class for first-year international students. She has experience in teaching these programs both online and in-person. When not teaching, Nancye has her nose in a book.

Natalie began her teaching career with ALCI in 2012 as a TOEFL Prep and Integrated Skills instructor. Since that time, she has been an ESL instructor in all the leveled courses. She recently taught at two different partner universities in China as an English Instructor/Faculty Liaison. Currently she is teaching Learning in the American Classroom to Pathway and EAS students.

Natalie has more than twenty-five years of teaching experience in the Worcester area. She was a literacy tutor in the Worcester Public School System, taught citizenship classes, and has worked in ABE and several local post-secondary ESL programs.

Her bucket list includes skydiving, and a return to Asia for an extended stay with her husband.

Khiran has taught for the American Language and Culture Institute in multiple capacities. He has served as the ALCI ESL tutor, taught advanced ALCI courses such as the Graduate Pathways Culture of the American Classroom and English for Academics Success Professional and Academic Texts, as well as an analogous program at Framingham State University.

Khiran has taught a wide range of classes both in academic English as well as other topics to prepare both domestic and international students for graduate-level academic and professional work for more than ten years, both in higher education as well as in the private sector. In addition to this, since he has lived abroad for many years, both as a teacher and student, he has come to know instinctively the challenges faced by those living and studying abroad in an unfamiliar cultural environment.

Having just earned his masters degree in a linguistic field and having just gotten married to a professor who teaches in Western Massachusetts, Khiran wanted to find a position nearby at a school whose rigor is well known. In fact, he had applied to Clark as a high school student for language study, only reluctantly choosing the opportunity to study in Europe instead. For this reason, Khiran has considered himself fortunate to join the faculty at Clark many years later.

“I have found teaching at Clark particularly rewarding because of the caliber of the student it attracts and the wealth of academic resources it offers.”