Julian Prieto

PhD Student in Education Theory and Policy, Penn State University

About Me

I started my working career owning a restaurant next to my undergrad university campus back home in Colombia. Cooking is my passion and I still do a lot of amateur cooking. After a career of 15 years with positions in the public sector, international cooperation agencies, and academia, I believe that the most powerful ideas are the ones that are developed in a collaborative manner including intercultural perspectives.

Focus of current FEW-Nexus-based education work

I currently serve as the coordinator of the PSU-Colombia WEF Nexus alliance. Within the alliance, one of the goals is to promote strategies that impact education programs through international collaboration. We have had already one case that adapted the COIL methodology in an undergrad course, where we partner with a local organization in Colombia that was responsible to provide WEF Nexus-related challenges that were addressed by student teams from both countries. Through the alliance, we are also carrying out seed grant projects to implement research projects that require external partners in the specific locations we are working.

FEW-Nexus-based education experience, expertise and interests

In the PSU-Colombia WEF Nexus Alliance, we have various examples of international research collaborations and pilot cases on educational and curricular collaboration. We have faced many challenges, some we have been able to overcome, and some others we are working on it. A big challenge is to build a sustainable strategy over time that is not depending on individuals, but that is able to become an institutional initiative. My contribution to the NC-FEW Nexus-based education comes from my expertise in promoting international collaborations.