David Shiman is a professor of Education and Director of the Center for World Education at the University of Vermont.  He has conducted human rights education workshops in many countries, including Czechoslovakia, Poland, Israel and the West Bank, Guyana, and South Africa.  He has written Teaching Human Rights; Economic and Social Justice: A Human Rights Perspective; The Prejudice Book; World Food Day Curriculum, Grade 8-12; and was a contributing author to Human Rights Here and Now.  He has been actively involved with Amnesty International USA’s human rights education efforts for more than fifteen years.  He has spent more than five years living abroad in the countries of Tanzania, Ghana, South Africa, and China.  Currently, David is president of United Academics, the faculty union at the University of Vermont, and he teaches courses on multicultural education and comparative education.

Charlie Rathbone, Ph. D.
Associate Professor of Education, University of Vermont

“I came to UVM in 1970 with a joint appointment in Early Childhood Education and have remained close to the early childhood field, while continuing to study and help develop elementary multiage learning environments.  Currently, I work with first year students in the EEP’s introductory course, I teach Principles of Classroom Management to our seniors during their student teaching, and I teach a graduate level course in Educational Psychology.  I am very involved with Complex Instruction, a form of cooperative learning established at Stanford University by Elizabeth Cohen and Rachel Lotan.  It forms the backbone of my professional commitment to create equitable classroom settings filled with learning opportunities for every classroom learner.  In addition, I am engaged in an ongoing challenge to learn as much about the application of technology to the teaching and learning process.”

Sherwood Smith, Ed.D.
Assistant Professor, Integrated Professional Studies, University of Vermont; Director of Center for Cultural Pluralism.

“My research interests focus on experiential and social construction issues related to ethnicity and gender, evaluation methodologies, and multicultural education theory to practice issues.  This work has led to numerous presentations for a variety of professional conferences, including the American Association of Adult and Community Education, National Association for Multicultural Education Conference, Personnel Association, National Conference on Race & Ethnicity, and International Educators (NAFSA). Currently, I am teaching both graduate and undergraduate courses on multicultural issues in the Education Department, and continue to support faculty and staff development training on multicultural issues as part of my work as the Director for the Center for Cultural Pluralism.”