dr hilary hughes

<< Back to 2010 Australian Scholars

Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence

Media Profile

“The increasing cultural diversity of tertiary students presents challenges and opportunities for educators in fostering successful learning.”

Dr Hilary Hughes, a Coordinator and Lecturer for Master of Education in Teacher-Librarianship with the Education Faculty, QUT, Brisbane, will spend 4 months, from August – December 2010, at the University of Colorado Denver, Community College of Denver and Metropolitan State College of Denver through a Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence Program. The Scholar-in-Residence Program gives U.S. institutions the opportunity to invite Scholars with special expertise to their campuses for a semester.

While she is on her Fulbright, Hilary will advance a tri-institutional project with a strong community outreach component that aims to improve the academic success of both international students, and traditionally underserved students (domestic students of varied cultural heritage)To this end, she will work with Auraria Library Director Dr Mary M. Somerville and colleagues at her host institutions to develop professional development programs on learning and teaching in culturally diverse contexts.

“This project will develop inclusive informed learning strategies and curriculum resources to enhance the educational outcomes of students of varied cultural and linguistic backgrounds. It will enable students to use information critically, and to develop familiarity with academic language and practices. ,” Hilary said. These initiatives will build on the findings and recommendations of Hilary’s PhD thesis (2009) and Prof Christine Bruce’s (2008) work on informed learning.

“We will look at ways to help university educators and public school teachers provide the support that these students need, whilst promoting collaborative campus relationships among cultural diversity offices, faculty development departments, academic colleges faculty, and academic library professionals.”

Hilary will also participate in a variety of learning, teaching, and research seminars at the host institutions, co-teach a School of Education and Human Development course, and present a paper at the regional NAFSA conference (on international education). During her time in the U.S. she will engage with the Denver community (including public schools, Lions Club, Women’s Press Club).

Hilary has a PhD from the Queensland University of Technology (2009), a Master of Librarianship from the University of Sheffield, UK, BA Combined Honours in Spanish and Romance Linguistics from the University of Birmingham, UK, a Certificate IV in Workplace Training and Assessment from the Northpoint Institute of TAFE (Brisbane). She is also a NAATI Accredited Translator Spanish-English (Australia), and an associate member of ALIA (Australian Library and Information Association). Hilary was born in Birmingham, England and grew up in Guernsey, Channel Islands.