2025 Education Abroad Faculty Award Winners Announced

The UNC Charlotte Office of Education Abroad is thrilled to announce the 2025 winners of the International Excellence and Curriculum Design Awards, which recognize faculty members who have demonstrated an outstanding commitment to promoting global engagement and enriching education abroad experiences for Niner Nation.

We extend our congratulations to Aspen Hochhalter, Associate Professor of Photography in the Department of Art & Art History, who has been honored with the International Excellence Award. A driving force behind the department’s international programming since 2010, Hochhalter has developed and led multiple transformative study abroad experiences, including the biennial Ireland: Creative Pilgrimage and Italy: Art & Culture in Rome & Venice summer programs, as well as the annual Italy: Italian Art & Culture in Venice spring break program. Her programs are known for their depth, creativity, and ability to meaningfully shape students’ global competencies. Under her guidance, students are not only immersed in rich cultural and artistic environments, but they return more confident, self-aware, and grounded in their place within a global world. Through her thoughtful mentorship, innovative program design, and passionate advocacy for international education, Hochhalter has had a lasting and life-changing impact on both her students and the broader university community.

We would also like to congratulate both Gang Chen, Ph.D., Professor of Remote Sensing, Environmental Sustainability, Geospatial Big Data Analytics, and Human-Environment Interaction and Colleen Hammelman, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Urban Geography, Food Justice, and Immigration, both in the Department of Earth, Environmental and Geographical Sciences, College of Humanities & Earth and Social Sciences.

Chen and Hammelman received our Curriculum Design Award and were recognized for their collaborative and innovative approach to designing a research-focused education abroad experience rooted in experiential learning. As co-leaders of the Thailand: Lasting Consequences of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Landscape Change in Tropical Crop Cultivation summer program, they have provided students with an in-depth, interdisciplinary lens into the complex intersections of environment, agriculture, and society in a post-pandemic world. Their program stands out for its intentional integration of intercultural and culture-specific pre-departure training, long-standing engagement with the Student Learning Outcomes (SLO) Initiative, and use of assessment tools like the Intercultural Effectiveness Scale (IES) to enhance learning outcomes. Supported in part by a National Science Foundation grant, their work exemplifies excellence in curriculum design that empowers students to engage critically with global challenges and develop meaningful cross-cultural competencies.

We look forward to recognizing and celebrating our award recipients during the Office of International Programs award ceremony that takes place during International Education Week in November.