James Cohen has told the story again and again.
The associate professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction was 23 and teaching in Sri Lanka during his 30 months of service to the Peace Corps.
“I remember lying on my bed reading – I did a tremendous amount of reading, and I really learned a lot about myself and who I am as a cultural being – and I remember sitting up at one point,” Cohen says. “I realized I wasn’t reading anymore. My mind had wandered, and I sat up and said, ‘Wow. I actually like myself.’ It was a powerful experience.”
Since then, Cohen has visited nearly 40 countries and rounded the world numerous times – and, he says, each of those journeys has produced similar opportunities for discovery.
“One reason I like to travel so much is because I am constantly re-finding who I am. What are my strengths? What are my areas that I need to improve on as a human being?” he says. “The more I travel, the more I understand myself.”
Cohen’s devotion to global perspective, and to his example to “replace judgment with curiosity,” has earned him the Outstanding International Educator award for 2021 from the NIU Division of International Affairs.
Grateful for the validation of his work, he appreciates the recognition of his sustained contributions over time to the enhancement of international education at NIU through teaching, research, artistry, public service and/or student service efforts.
His résumé speaks for itself.
Arriving at NIU in 2010, Cohen has focused his research on bilingual and ESL education, literacy instruction of immigrant and non-native English speakers, non-parallel schooled immigrant students and undocumented immigrants.
Licensure candidates, practicing teachers and educational administrators in his classes, meanwhile, learn about the injustices that exist in society, including institutionalized and systemic racism. They also are taught to view students from a “strengths model,” where children feel welcome, respected and motivated to work, rather than from a “deficit model.”
Cohen has helped to lead a “life-changing” Educate Global trip to Taiwan, and next summer will do the same in Indonesia, Kenya and Tanzania.
He spent most of the summer of 2019 in Uruguay, where as a Fulbright Scholar he worked with English teachers with the goal of making them more culturally responsive in their pedagogical strategies and approaches.
With NIU College of Education colleague Stephen Tonks and Terry Borg, he has broadened awareness of diversity for two groups of teachers from Uruguay who came to DeKalb for an introduction to American culture, history and educational systems from Spanish-speaking teachers in bilingual and dual-language classrooms.
In 2015, Cohen secured a $777,000 grant from the Ecuadorian Ministry of Education and Kansas State University to fund “Go Teacher,” which brought three dozen English teachers to NIU for a seven-month immersion in speaking and teaching the language their government considers the world’s most powerful.
He has conducted research with students, some of whom have presented at symposiums that include the Statewide Conference for Teachers Serving Linguistically and Culturally Diverse Students, Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) and the National Association for Multicultural Education (NAME) annual conference.
He has mentored nine Indonesian doctoral students in NIU’s Indonesian Peningkatan Kualitas Publikasi Internasional program.
The job is a labor of love.
“I was just asked the other night by some cousins, ‘What would you do if you didn’t have to work – if you didn’t have to do what you’re doing?’ – and I said, ‘I actually would be doing what I’m doing,’ ” Cohen says.
“I love the freedom I’m given to be as creative and entrepreneurial as possible. I love the classes I teach. I love the articles I write. I love writing grants. I love every single thing I do, except,” he adds with a laugh, “maybe grading papers.”
Naturally, he also loves the continual surprise and reward of international travel.
“They say you can’t take an education away from you. You can take books away from people. You can take objects away from people. But you can’t take away an education. You can’t take away an experience, and going to another country is a phenomenal experience. It forces you to put things into perspective,” he says.
“When I went to Tanzania four or five years ago, I saw such poverty – and I saw that there were variations of poverty that I never thought about before,” he adds.
“Since coming back, I really haven’t complained a lot about very many things. You know, who am I to complain that I have to wait in a traffic jam? Who am I to complain that I have to wait three weeks for a book to arrive when other people don’t even books or don’t even have transportation? Traveling allows you to appreciate what you have on a much deeper and much more profound level.”
For his part, Cohen enjoys the deep and profound appreciation of his closest colleagues.
Borg, director of the college’s Office of External and Global Programs, says Cohen is “a remarkable leader in international education.”
“I have worked with James on many, if not all, of his projects over the years. He is truly an inspiration, not only to students but to faculty and staff to motivate us to look at the world in a different way,” Borg says.
“James is known for his mantra of ‘replace judgment with curiosity,’ and he has sparked curiosity in more people than you can imagine. Having been with him in Taiwan, he has said the same thing to people there,” he adds. “I look forward to the many adventures he’s going to give us all and our students in the future.”
Social Justice Summer Camp collaborator Joseph Flynn holds “so much respect” for Cohen, whom he calls a “dear friend, colleague, brother and a total inspiration.”
“James and I are partners. I don’t know any other way of putting it,” says Flynn, an associate professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction.
“James is a highly flattering person because he always talks about me with so much admiration and respect,” he adds, “and I’m so happy for this moment because, when I’m with him, he teaches me a lot and has helped me understand things I’ve never even thought about before. I think James receiving this award is long overdue.”
