Cynthia Toms Smedley, M.S.

Cynthia Toms Smedley serves as an assistant director of the Center for Social Concerns and the director of Social Concerns Seminars. She directs academic social concerns seminars that utilize community engagement and classroom learning to examine social issues from a multitude of perspectives.

Cynthia teaches a variety of Social Concerns Seminars including, Sustainable Development; Global Health in Honduras; US Healthcare, Poverty and Policy; and Migrant Experiences.  She also directs the Appalachia Seminar which sends more than 400 students to the Appalachian Region each year.

Prior to this position, Cynthia lived and taught in China and East Africa. She taught cross-cultural immersion skills and facilitated experiential learning environments at Peking University in Beijing, China, and was the associate director of the Uganda Studies Program located in Mukono, Uganda.

Cynthia Toms Smedley’s published work appears in the Journal of Higher Education, Higher Education, and Christian Higher Education. She recently edited the book, Transformations at the Edge of the World: Forming Global Christians through the Study Abroad Experience, which explores current efforts on the part of selected Christian universities to form globally engaged Christians through cultural immersion experiences.  ACU Press

Cynthia earned her bachelor’s degree from Messiah College, her master’s degree from Boston University, and she is a PhD Candidate in Higher Education. Her dissertation is entitled, “The Impact of International Volunteerism and Service on Participatory Community Development.”

ctomssmedley@nd.edu

574-631-3356
Center for Social Concerns

203 Geddes Hall
Notre Dame, IN 46556