Angelina Rodríguez: New Global Citizenship Director Finds “Incredible Energy” on Arriving at Lehigh

They called it Ópera en el Mercado, a program unveiled in the Mexican city of Guanajuato in 2016 to bring opera music into one of the city’s main public spaces, the main market.

When we first spoke to Angelina Rodríguez after she began her work here in January, she told us she was fascinated with all the strategies people, cities and nations used -- both consciously and unconsciously -- to confront “their multiple others” in peaceful manners.

“I might look at a performance, or a gallery exhibit, or bilingual texts on walls in the city,” Rodriguez says. “I’m always asking, what’s happening in these everyday spaces that we all move through that are full of difference of all kinds – physical, cultural, linguistic, musical, emotional... In the case of the opera, I wanted to learn how people normally typically not invited into the arts scene in this city, the people who work or eat at the main market, made sense of the pop-up opera performance that happened in the middle of breakfast and how music created an opportunity to engage with difference. I’m always wondering how, collectively, we’re expanding our ability to encounter difference and where we can find new ways to think about being together.”

As the new Director of the Global Citizenship Program and Professor of Practice, a joint appointment at Lehigh’s College of Education and the Office of International Affairs, she is taking these questions into her new position.

The Global Citizenship Program is an interdisciplinary undergraduate certificate aimed at critically preparing students for life on a diverse, fragile, and rapidly-changing planet. 

The 15-year-old program – which has recently been reconceived as a partnership between the Office of International Affairs and the College of Education – requires five core courses, which Rodriguez will teach, along with two electives and two international experiences.

“I know it’s a program that’s much beloved by the students,” Rodriguez says. “My key goal is to consider how we might expand access to engaging with global citizenship concerns by creating graduate and other options. I want to keep the intimacy, but also find ways for more people to participate.”

“Karen brings a wealth of experience to the role of leading the global citizenship program at Lehigh,” says College of Education, Dean William Gaudelli. “That she will be housed in the College of Education speaks to the pedagogical foundation of this work, one that she takes seriously. I look forward to the development of strong, integral relationships within the College and to the University as the program emerges over the next few years.”

Rodriguez earned her doctorate in cultural studies from the University of Kent in Great Britain and has master’s degrees in applied anthropology from the University of Maryland and Latin American studies from the University of Wisconsin. 

Before arriving at Lehigh, Rodriguez led global education study centers in Mexico and Venezuela for the Council on International Education Exchange and Pitzer College, respectively, and served as academic dean for Latin America at the School for International Training (SIT).

More recently, she served as director of experiential education at New York University Abu Dhabi before moving to Lehigh.

Rodriguez says she’s always been obsessed with other languages and cultural differences, so it makes sense that she wound up in this field.

“What I’m really interested in now is keeping the critical part of global citizenship concerns centered in the courses while also searching out positive examples of good work,” she says. She wants to find ways to say, “Yes, we’re all overwhelmed and feel helpless when we watch the news and get up in the morning, and there are deep structural issues we need to contend with, but there are also many points of entry into acting and making a difference, and we need to do this work.”

She’s excited to bring these commitments to Lehigh, where she already sees a tremendous amount of engagement around global citizenship concerns from students and leadership alike.

“I think there’s an incredible energy here,” says Rodriguez. “I feel like a kid in a candy shop.”