Siena Farrar is originally from the Chicagoland area, but moved to New Orleans to attend Tulane (’17), where she studied Public Health and Anthropology. During high school, she studied abroad in Japan and lived with a host family, and hosted several Japanese students when they studied abroad in America. During her spring semester of her Junior year at Tulane, she participated in CIEE Community Public Health in Khon Kaen, Thailand. As a student she was involved in the Asian American Student Union, Gamma Rho Lambda, Tulane Peer Health Educators, and worked and interned in various capacities both on and off campus. She enjoys both travelling and eating, and usually plans her travelling around eating.

As an advisor, she is passionate about supporting students of color, LGBTQIA+ students, and financially underrepresented students during their study abroad journey. She believes that studying abroad should be an equitable opportunity for all students and works to help students navigate institutional barriers. 

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Meredith Connelly has worked in the Office of Study Abroad since 2018, receiving her Master of Liberal Arts from Tulane in 2020. Her thesis explores contemporary gender roles in East Asia as represented in Korean and Japanese dating sim or otome games. Although Meredith’s undergraduate study abroad experience was primarily concentrated in Western Europe—Paris, Dublin, and Edinburgh—Meredith has since visited sites in Eastern Europe, Africa, and Asia. As a Study Abroad Advisor, Meredith is particularly passionate about assisting and supporting LGBTQ+ students in accessing opportunities abroad.

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Annie Gibson is the Director of Study Abroad at the Center for Global Education. She leads Tulane’s efforts to promote intercultural learning campus-wide and, together in partnership with colleagues at CGE and returned study abroad and international students, she collaborates across campus on intercultural initiatives, including the Tulane IDI Qualified Administrators Group. Annie ensures that the entire study abroad process---from recruitment and advising through students’ experiences in the field and upon return to Tulane---align with best practices in international education and the OSA’s learning goals for study abroad.

A North Carolina native, she completed her PhD in Latin American Studies at Tulane University in 2010. She joins the Center for Global Education after teaching at Tulane in the Departments of Spanish and Portuguese and Latin American Studies and working as a resident director for Tulane semester programs abroad in Costa Rica and Cuba. Annie has studied, worked, and taught in Brazil, Cuba, Costa Rica, Mexico, Argentina, the Dominican Republic, Senegal, Spain, and Denmark. She teaches a diverse range of courses in intercultural learning and Spanish and Portuguese languages, literatures, and cultures on Tulane’s campus and abroad.

Annie actively engages with a research agenda. Her areas of research specialization include Cuban and Brazilian performance cultures, immigration, travel and tourism studies, and intercultural learning. She has published widely, including two books: Post-Katrina Brazucas: Brazilians in New Orleans (UNO Press: 2012) and Hispanic and Latino New Orleans: Immigration and Identity Since the 18th Century (co-authored, LSU Press: 2015). The latter won the 2015 J.B Jackson book prize for contribution of the year to the historical and ethnic geography of the United States (Association of American Geographers). She has also published articles in accredited academic journals such as Studies in Latin American Popular Culture, Latin American Music Review, Brasil/Brazil, Cuba Counterpoints, and the Delaware Review of Latin American Studies and co-produced and directed a short film in Cuba entitled Tempo of Tomorrow Revisited that explores US tourism to Cuba in 1958 and 2014.

Please contact Dr. Gibson with any questions, concerns, or ideas about the OSA’s agenda on study abroad and intercultural learning.