As the Associate Dean for Academic and International Affairs, Dr. Natasha Duncan is charged with building the Honors College’s capacity for high-impact learning and research experiences beyond campus and with establishing and sustaining learning and discovery relationships with institutions of higher learning abroad. With a goal to increase Honors College students’ exposure to and experience with different cultures and worldviews, she leads the college’s efforts in study away, intercultural learning, and both faculty and student exchange programs.

Dr. Duncan comes to the Honors College with experience teaching honors courses and directing the Honors Program at Mercyhurst University in Erie, PA. She is a political scientist by training and teaches courses that examine the international relations among states and non-state actors. She is particularly interested in international migration, which is the focus of her research and inspires the types of courses she offers. Her teaching and research interests naturally lend to her responsibilities as Associate Dean for International Education and Affairs. Dr. Duncan herself has taken students to Guyana, Colombia, India, and the U.S.-Mexico border.

Dr. Duncan is well-published and has an active research agenda. She regularly involves undergraduate students in the research process on various projects. She earned her BA from the City University of New York, Brooklyn College. Both her MA and Ph.D. come from Purdue University.

She represents IAU in various working groups and expert committees including at the Council of Europe, UNESCO and the UN as member of the High Level Advisory Board to the UNESCO Futures of Education Initiative and Mission 4.7; the UNESCO ESD for 2030 Programme; the UNESCO and Bergen Expert Group on Universities and Sustainability; the Council of Europe (CoE) Ad hoc Working Group on the Local Mission of the University; the CoE Steering Committee for Best Practice Programme in Promoting Academic Integrity; the CoE Ad hoc Working Group on Competences for a Democratic Culture; the Advisory Board of UVED, OneHE and Sulitest; the Advisory Board of the Observatory of Academic Freedom (GOAF - Soros Foundation).

Hilligje van’t Land holds a PhD in comparative francophone literature, speaks six languages and published on higher education issues of relevance locally and globally. Latest publications: The Promise of Higher Education; Higher Education’s Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic, Building a More Sustainable and Democratic Future, Book coedited by IAU, the Council of Europe et al. published as part of the Council of Europe Higher Education Book series. Higher Education and SDG 14: Integrating Ocean Research for the Global Goals, 2021; First and Second Global Survey Reports on the impact of COVID-19 on Higher Education around the World; IAU-UNODC Young Scholars Competition: Higher Education engages with SDG 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions; IAU global surveys on HESD 2019 and 2023 “Accelerating Action for the SDGs”.

For a selection of publications and conferences, please click on the links.  For information on IAU Webinar Series on the Future of Higher Education, click HERE.