Leslie C. Moore, Associate Professor of Teaching and Learning and Linguistics, Principal Investigator – OSU
Dr. Moore is an applied linguist and a linguistic anthropologist. Her research examines the social and cultural patterning of learning and language development in communities whose members use multiple languages and participate in multiple learning traditions. She has two overarching goals in studying children’s educational experiences and developmental trajectories as learners and users of multiple languages across contexts: (1) to expand and deepen our understanding of diverse community practices of language use, teaching, and learning and how they vary across time and space and (2) to contribute to the empirical and theoretical bases on which formal and informal education may be made more effective for children learning in an additional language by understanding and drawing upon the repertoires of practice they develop across multiple sites and activities. Dr. Moore’s research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the Spencer Foundation, and Fulbright. The Expanding Repertoires project brings together her postdoctoral training in the Center for Informal Learning and Schools (CILS), her work in professional development for early childhood educators and informal science educators, her work as a preschool teacher in the San Francisco Bay Area, and her research with young Somali-American children in Central Ohio. The project also builds on outreach and engagement work Dr. Moore has done at COSI as Educational Director of the Buckeye Language Network Language Pod, a permanent, glass-enclosed research space that provides the public with a research-in-real-time experience.
Azuka MuMin, Senior Vice President of Engagement and Impact, Principal Investigator – COSI
Azuka I. MuMin was the Senior Vice President of Engagement and Impact and serves as an advisor, resource, and consultant in spearheading the development, implementation and reporting of institution-wide diversity and inclusion strategies linked to optimal performance and business success. In addition, under her direction are three highly impactful units targeting underserved and under-represented individuals, families, and teen audiences. Through her work in outreach and engagement, Ms. MuMin has facilitated meaningful partnerships with over 100 organizations and schools, based on her innovative community relationship building concept of Invite (encouraging attendance), Welcome (creating an inclusive environment), and Engage (drawing favorable attention and interest from our diverse audiences). Ms. MuMin was also instrumental in forming and leading COSI’s first public engagement process for a temporary exhibit. The successful process was initiated for the RACE: Are We So Different? exhibition and was comprised of a steering committee of diverse community leaders from various Columbus organizations. Prior to joining COSI in 2007, Ms. MuMin had over 10 years of professional leadership experience with nonprofit and government social service agencies focused on empowering low-income families through education, employment, and mentoring. Additionally, she cofounded a nonprofit agency transitioning women from public assistance to employment. Ms. MuMin received her Bachelor of Science from The Ohio State University with dual majors in Social Policy and African American & African Studies. She also has a Master of Arts degree in Cultural Community Development from Antioch University. Ms. MuMin is the recipient of diversity fellowships from both the Association of Science and Technology Centers and the American Association of Museums.
Rita Deedrick – COSI
Rita Deedrick is a 20-year veteran of COSI, having spent the first ten years supporting COSI’s education and community programs. More recently, Ms. Deedrick was Director of COSI’s Center for Research and Evaluation, which includes the Lifelong Learning Group, a consultant group focused on collaborative study in lifelong learning. In this role, Ms. Deedrick was responsible for managing research, evaluation, and dissemination of visitor studies work within COSI as well as advancing COSI as a leader and advocate for research and evaluation in informal learning. Ms. Deedrick is now leading COSI’s effort to develop a Research and Development function, to help move COSI forward with internal and external partners through a social enterprise lens. Ms. Deedrick is an active member of the Visitor Studies Association, co-founder of the Columbus Area Visitor & Audience Studies (CAVAS) Community of Practice, and an active member of the Ohio Museums Association. Ms. Deedrick holds a BS in Business Education from The Ohio State University and an MS in Marketing and Communications from Franklin University in Columbus.
Marie Quisumbing – COSI
Marie was the Manager of Early Childhood Education Initiatives at COSI and ECE professional in charge of programming logistics and community partnership for the NSF Expanding Repertoires project. Marie joined COSI in 2013 with ten years of experience in the early childhood field as a classroom teacher and administrator. She is a member of the National Association for the Education of Young Children and is actively involved in Association of Science and Technology Centers’ Early Childhood Community of Practice. She received her B.S. in Human Ecology and M.Ed. with specialization in Early Childhood from The Ohio State University in 2003.
Kimberly Pratt – COSI
served as program and grants manager for the NSF Expanding Repertoires project. Housed in COSI’s Research and Development department, Kimberly’s role combines non-traditional approaches to research administration, knowledge management and strategic innovation to move COSI forward. Kimberly has been with COSI since 2008, and most recently managed business operations for COSI’s Center for Research and Evaluation. She is a member of the Visitor Studies Association, the Ohio Museums Association, and the Columbus chapter of Emerging Museum Professionals. She received her B.A. and M.A. in History from Ohio University in 2003.
Jessica Lemke – COSI
Jess served as administrative coordinator for the NSF Expanding Repertoires project. She joined COSI as executive assistant to the Senior Vice-Presidents of both the Visitor Experiences and Engagement & Impact teams in May of 2015 bringing with her experience in both corporate and academic worlds. She received her B.A. in Adolescence Education: English from Fredonia State University in 2010.
AISLab
Brian Seilstad was Dr. Moore’s graduate research assistant and a doctoral candidate in Multicultural and Equity Studies. He received his MA in Classical Languages from Bryn Mawr College. He served in the Peace Corps in Morocco, then worked as a service-learning advocate and a language instructor at Al Akhawayn University in Morocco. He focuses on linguistic diversity and equity, specifically with respect to refugees/migrants.
Min-Seok Choi was doctoral candidate in Language, Education, and Society. He first joined the AISL project as a Research Apprentice. He earned his MA in Teaching English as a Foreign Language from the International Graduate School of English (Seoul). His research interests include ethnography, discourse analysis, and intercultural communication. Min-Seok currently focuses on second and academic language socialization as acquiring professional vision through a disciplinary practice and process.
Somin Kim was a research apprentice with Dr. Moore for the AISL project and is a third year doctoral student in Foreign, Second, and Multilingual Language Education (FSLME). She received her BA in Spanish and her MA in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages, and she has 6 years of teaching experience in EFL and ESL settings. She is interested in the language and literacy practices of adolescent multilingual English learners, especially those who are with limited or interrupted formal education.
Jackie Ridley was a doctoral student in Foreign, Second, and Multilingual Language Education (FSLME). She has a degree in elementary education and TESOL from Penn State University and an MA from Trinity International University. Jackie’s research focuses on the language and literacy practices of young refugees, an interest born from her experience as an ESL teacher in Northeast Ohio and overseas in Thai-Burmese refugee camps.
Rachel Au was an undergraduate research assistant for Dr. Moore. She studies speech and hearing science with an interest in language acquisition and language science. She grew up speaking Cantonese and Mandarin in her home and is now learning Japanese in her free time. After graduating, she hopes to get her Masters in speech therapy and become a multilingual speech and language pathologist.
Andrea Gutmann Fuentes was an undergraduate student studying Linguistics and Comparative Cultural Studies, with a minor in Spanish. She is interested in studying the relationship between culture, politics, and language ideologies. Outside of her studies, she is an activist and organizes around political and social issues on Ohio State’s campus and the surrounding community, focusing especially on environmental justice.
Anisa Liban was an undergraduate pursuing a degree in Public Affairs, Non-profit Studies. Anisa is passionate about the water crisis and has been raising money for individuals living in war-torn Somalia. Since 2013, she has fundraised for her non-profit Horn of Hope, an organization striving to alleviate hunger, illiteracy and poverty in the horn of Africa. Anisa is determined to increase women’s participation in politics and is an alumna of The Ohio State University’s New Leadership Ohio! She encourages everyone, “make it a mission to have a vision”.