Award for Global Engagement

Dr. Sarah-Jane (Saje) Mathieu has made global engagement and international education the center of her work as a professor, scholar, and mentor, with a particular focus on making international travel and global engagement affordable for underrepresented communities in academia.

Dr. Mathieu has prepared and mentored many students for international education experiences, from conference panels and internships to Peace Corps and study abroad. Dr. Mathieu has placed students who had not previously considered advanced degrees in graduate programs in Ireland, Italy, France, Germany, and Britain. Similarly, Dr. Mathieu has mentored international students, helping them navigate life in the U.S.

In 2018, Dr. Mathieu was invited to be part of a law and human rights delegation to Vietnam and Cambodia, where she learned how both countries have grappled with their histories of mass violence. This experience led her to create two graduate seminars incorporating much of what she learned, and she curated an overseas field research experience to Vietnam and Cambodia for students who had never traveled outside the U.S. This innovative learning abroad experience was embedded within a course on genocide and ethnic cleansing.

Dr. Mathieu’s books aim to bring to life the transnational lives of Black people in the Americas, Europe, and Africa. Both projects required forging relationships with institutions and scholars around the world, including for archival research on four continents carried out in six languages. Invitations to share her work have allowed Dr. Mathieu to create new connections with institutions in England, France, Germany, Turkey, Australia, New Zealand, and Brazil, among others.