Ilene Dawn Alexander (alexa032@umn.edu) is a teaching consultant and Preparing Future Faculty instructor at the Center for Educational Innovation (Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost, University of Minnesota).  She also serves also as an assistant faculty coordinator in the University’s College in the Schools program, mentoring high school teachers of the “University Writing” course, and as affiliate faculty in the College of Education and Human Development. Her research interests, as well as consulting and teaching practice, focus on multicultural, inclusive, accessible learning and teaching as these intersect with learning science, diversity science, networked learning, and various pedagogies with critical social justice orientations.  Ilene earned MAs in English and Women’s Studies at Mankato State University, and completed a University of Iowa PhD in American Studies, and was supported by reflective, generous, fully-human teaching mentors at every stage.

A photographer who got her first camera in grade school, Ilene shares the monograph’s cover photograph, Bright Weisman, under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Robert K. Poch (pochx001@umn.edu) is a senior fellow and researcher in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Minnesota. Bob teaches undergraduate history and graduate courses in postsecondary multicultural teaching and learning, and college student development theory.  His current research focuses on problem-based approaches to teaching history within diverse classrooms and biographical studies of largely unknown U.S. civil rights leaders. Bob is a recipient of the Horace T. Morse University of Minnesota Alumni Association Award for Outstanding Contributions to Undergraduate Education.  He holds a PhD in higher education from the University of Virginia.