Cohort 7
Jodi Williams
EDUCATION • M.S. in Applied Anthropology University of North Texas • B.S. in French Language Teacher Education UW-Stevens Point • B.S. in Elementary Education and Teaching Brigham Young University ENROLLED • Cohort 7 LOCATION • Madison, Wis.
While the path to graduate school has followed a non-linear path, Jodi has had a rich variety of experiences throughout the past 30 years that have prepared her to enter an academic study of Educational Sustainability. She has become intimately acquainted with education and community building in a variety of settings at home and abroad: raising four children, volunteering and teaching in schools, working with nonprofits, conducting ethnographic research and fieldwork, and studying, teaching, and applying mindfulness in various contexts. Her experience as a teacher, parent, anthropologist, and meditation teacher provides her with a well-developed knowledge and skill base on which to continue her studies and work to find sustainable solutions to the pressing challenges facing our schools and communities. Most recently Jodi felt a need to return to the classroom as a teacher and has been teaching French in a small rural town in northern Wisconsin and now teaches in an online high school. At the heart of her teaching is an emphasis on creating meaningful and mindful connections and a space where her students feel safe, where they belong, and where they can learn and succeed. Drawing from her background and training in mindfulness, anthropology, and education, Jodi has implemented activities and lessons that help students connect to themselves, to their communities, and to the world around them. She believes that an integral and often forgotten part of the educational ecosystem is the connective heart space that provides students, teachers, and families an ability to tap into a deep wellspring of strength, inner wisdom, and resilience. These connections can provide a way to create sustainable educational systems that foster well-being and transformative learning. In her free time, Jodi enjoys spending time with her family, traveling and exploring the world, reading and running (slowly), and making a batch of fresh chocolate chip cookies. She also loves walking her two dogs as she listens to the local bird song or a podcast episode of On Being.
UW-Stevens Point
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