Geoff Lawrence, 2011–2012 ICIS Co-chair

Geoff Lawrence, PhD,is a teacher educator, researcher, and curriculum designer interested in exploring the potential of intercultural learning in English language teaching and teacher education. As a graduate student and lecturer at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto, in Canada, his research and publications examined the impact of teacher beliefs on the use of computer-assisted language learning and strategies to foster intercultural competence in teacher education. He is passionate about the potential of intercultural communication in language teaching. Geoff spent two summers at Portland Oregon's Summer Institute for Intercultural Communication to learn more about intercultural communication, intercultural assessment, and its relevance to language teaching and teacher education.

Fumiko Kurihara, 2011–2012 ICIS Co-chair

Fumiko Kurihara, PhD, was born and raised in Hiroshima, Japan. After graduating from Tsuda College, she completed her MA at Georgetown University (USA) and PhD at International Christian University (Tokyo). She has been teaching EFL in universities in Japan for over 15 years. Her research interests include task-based language learning, intercultural communicative competence in EFL learners, and curriculum development.

Annette Bradford, Incoming ICIS Chair

Annette Bradford has experience as an educator and advisor in the fields of ELT, international education, and intercultural communication. Originally from the United Kingdom, she has lived and worked in Japan, Singapore, Germany, Indonesia, Hong Kong, and the United States. She is currently pursuing a doctorate in educational administration and policy studies at George Washington University (USA) focusing on international higher education.

Chris Spackman, ICIS Community Manager

Chris Spackman, a native of Nebraska, taught EFL in Japan for over 10 years before returning to the United States to get his MA TESOL. He now works as the ESL teacher for The Charles School at Ohio Dominican University in Columbus, Ohio USA. Chris began creating web pages as early as 1996 (give or take a year) and has written HTML and CSS code for several personal and business-related web sites since then. His occasionally updated personal site is OsugiSakae.com. He lives in Westerville, Ohio USA, with his wife Yoshiko and their beagle Taylor.

Laura Jacob, ICIS Newsletter Editor

Laura Jacob grew up in Japan, has studied Spanish, and lived for a year in India, where she volunteered at the Mother Teresa Home and studied the Hindi language. She has taught for 5 years and is finishing her MA in TESOL. She loves all things ESL!

Joshua Borden, Former ICIS Chair

Joshua Borden, BA (NYU/Waseda), MA (Columbia), Postgrad Research (London), is a Singapore-based international/intercultural business consultant. Born in New York City (USA), Joshua has lived, studied, and worked in the United States, Japan, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and Taiwan. He is a former teacher and university lecturer (EFL, IC, & applied linguistics), has served as coordinator of international relations for the Government of Japan, and has extensive experience in international business.