WESTMONT NEWS
Education Thrives Globally
Westmont’s longtime commitment to global education inspired the creation of a new, innovative position: dean of faculty development and global education. In addition, five new study-abroad programs in 2025 will expand students’ horizons and deepen their global engagement.
Leanne Dzubinski, the new dean, brings 15 years of experience in the classroom and academic research to the new position. (Read more about her on page 17).
“I’d love to see every Westmont student participate in a trip,” she says. “Since that can be challenging for different reasons, I’d like to develop new and creative pathways giving students more access to global education programs.”
This Mayterm, Westmont professors will lead four new programs to diverse locales, including Ecuador, London and Berlin, Italy and Iceland and London. Adding to the established fall and spring programs, the Westmont Global semester debuts in fall 2025.
“We have the most robust set of offerings I’ve ever seen at a Christian college,” says Dzubinski, who served as a program director, department chair, associate dean and interim dean at Biola University.
Westmont offers many faculty-led semesters on a rotating schedule along with programs at more than 30 affiliate institutions.
“We encourage students to schedule a study- abroad advising appointment in their first semester on campus to see how they can best prepare for an off-campus experience and fulfill GE, major, minor or elective credit,” Dzubinski says.
Psychology professors Andrea Gurney and Ronald See will lead a Mayterm trip, Discovering the Roots of Psychology and Psychotherapy from Berlin to Vienna. Students will explore Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands with sociology professor Blake Victor Kent and kinesiology professor Tim Van Haitsma. English professor Anna Jordan and kinesiology professor Cynthia Toms offer From the Plate to the Page: Food Systems and Food Writing through California, Iceland and Italy. The London Mayterm focuses on Redemptive Entrepreneurship with economics and business professor Rick Ifland ’83, Daniel “DJ” Johnsen, and James ’16 and Becky Collier ’17 Asselin.
Students enrolled in the first Westmont Global Semester will study Global Discipleship and visit China, Germany, Saudi Arabia, India, Vietnam and Greece. English professor Anna Jordan, Phil Beccue ’81 and religious studies professor Charlie Farhadian will challenge students to think and serve globally as they travel, learn and engage with countries and cultures around the world. The program seeks to encourage students to grow in their Christian faith, their intellectual capacity and in their practice of serving Christ in a variety of cultural contexts.
Professors find the experiences rewarding and may propose an idea for a trip. The Off-Campus Program Committee then reviews and possibly strengthens the offering. Faculty members can also apply to lead an existing trip, such as Westmont in Europe or Westmont in England, and tailor it to their own particular strengths.