Educational background

• Certificate in Chinese language and linguistics
  Nankai University, Tianjin, People’s Republic of China
• B.S. in chemistry, Chinese, and communications
  Minnesota State University, Moorhead, Minnesota
• M.A. in teaching English as a second language
  University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota
• Additional graduate coursework in second languages and cultures education, Department of Curriculum and Instruction, College of Education + Human Development, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Jill (JT) Trites is a senior teaching specialist in the Department of Postsecondary Teaching and Learning in the College of Education and Human Development. Prior to teaching in PSTL, JT taught in several other programs at the University of Minnesota, including the Minnesota English Center (CLA), international teaching assistant program (CLA, IT), Neighborhood Programs (CCE), and the General College. JT has also taught English at Nankai University and Tianjin University in the People’s Republic of China and cultural orientation courses for the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Nairobi, Kenya. In addition, she has spent time during the past two summers volunteering as an English teacher to elementary, middle school, and  high school students in Mozambique. JT travelled to Mozambique, South Africa, and Senegal for a month during the summer of 2011.  While in Mozambique, she facilitated three teacher-training sessions for early childhood educators and primary school teachers.  In Senegal, she had the opportunity to meet with Dr. Ousmane Sene, the director of the West African Research Center and the University of Minnesota MSID program in Dakar.  Trites plans to return to Mozambique and Senegal during the summer of 2012 to teach English classes and facilitate teacher-training workshops.

Trites’ activities include traveling throughout the U.S. and overseas; practicing her communication skills in Chinese, Portuguese, and Spanish with anyone who is willing to listen; and spending quality time with family and friends. JT also enjoys learning more about different cultures and languages and often can be found volunteering in the Twin Cities, particularly making sandwiches for the homeless.

Trites’ research interests include the impact of disrupted education on higher education attainment in African immigrants and refugees living in the Twin Cities, the acculturation of African immigrants and refugees to life in the Midwest, and technology-enhanced learning in communication courses.