SOLES PhD Candidate Selected by U.S. Department of State for Prestigious Fellowship

SOLES PhD candidate Kelly Metz-Matthews was recently selected for a prestigious virtual fellowship with the U.S. State Department. She will be engaging with English language learners and faculty at the National University of Science and Technology in Moscow, Russia. Metz-Matthews is among the first to be selected for the Virtual English Language Fellow Program--a program first launched in the 2020-2021 academic year.

"I'm honored to have been chosen for an English Language Fellowship and for this project in particular; it's a really unique chance to impart what I've learned about academic writing and publishing over the years while growing as a teacher-scholar," said Metz-Matthews. "For me, working virtually with the Writing Center at the National University of Science and Technology is a critical opportunity to demonstrate that writing communities can be fostered both in virtual spaces and across borders."

Metz-Matthews teaches the WRITE Course at USD, providing academic writing coaching and mentorship to incoming and current graduate students in specific programs. She also teaches emerging educators in Liberal Studies at USD. She holds a bachelor's degree in English, a master's degree in liberal studies, a master's degree in curriculum and instruction, and a TESL/TEFL certificate. Metz-Matthews is currently completing her doctoral dissertation on the ways English functions as a form of gendered symbolic power in post-colonial and patriarchal contexts.

"I think it's especially important to acknowledge that while I certainly had a professional background in writing before my affiliation with USD, my doctoral work and adjunct faculty work at USD were instrumental in both my fellowship application and my project match. What I've learned at USD--from faculty, from my peers, and from my students--has had a profound impact on my scholarship and professional trajectory."

The English Language Fellow Program is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs with funding provided by the U.S. government.