Louise Michelle Vital
Senior Lecturer
Dr. 路易斯·米歇尔·维塔是波士顿大学德洛克教育与人类发展学院高等教育管理课程的高级讲师。 Her primary line of inquiry is related to the global dimensions of higher education. Her work centers on a country and regional focus on Haiti and the Caribbean, student experiences in higher education, community/university partnerships, practitioner–scholar preparation, and critical reflexive practice in academia.
Dr. Vital has over 20 years of experience in a variety of educational contexts, including TRiO programs, youth development, migrant student services, and student affairs. Before coming to BU Wheelock, Dr. Vital was an associate professor at Lesley University, where she was the director of the international higher education master’s program and cofounder/director of the Lesley University Institute for English Language Programs beyond Borders.
Along with the institute codirector, Dr. Vital partnered with l’Institut des sciences, des technologies et des études avancées d’Haïti (ISTEAH) to offer an English course for their graduate students; collaborated with the Authentic Caribbean Foundation and local embassies and ministries of education in the Bahamas, Grenada, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines to offer week-long workshops on “teaching for neurodiversity” for about 600 K–12 educators; and created an English course for Haitian immigrant parents in partnership with Brockton Public Schools.
As a “first-gen/first-gen” (American, college student) Dr. Vital’s teaching, research, scholarship, and service are driven by key suppositions and questions, including how inequalities in power and privilege exist in society. She asks: what are the consequences of these realities, and what is their impact on educational experiences?
Recent News
Education
PhD, Higher, Adult, and Lifelong Education, Michigan State University
MA, Student Affairs Administration, Michigan State University
BA, Sociology, Simmons College
Courses
RS 600 Introduction to Research
AP 601 History of Higher Education
AP 612 How Colleges Work: Governance and Decision-Making in Higher Education
AP 619 Leadership, Values & Ethics in Higher Education
AP 699 Current Issues in Higher Education: Policy and Practice
AP 755 Legal Issues in Higher Education
Selected Publications
Vital, L. M. & Yao, C. W. (2024). An equity-driven ecological model for internationalizing doctoral student research training. New Directions in Higher Education, 1-11.
Vital, L. M., Lane, T. B., Perez, E., & Patterson-Stephens, S. (2023). Professors behaving badly: Exploring sabotaging behaviors that impact Black women doctoral student persistence. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education.
Vital, L. M. & Yao, C. W. (2021). De-constructing the academic hood: Reflexive considerations for doctoral researcher socialization for international research. Journal of International Students, 11(S1), 68–85. https://www.ojed.org/index.php/jis/article/view/3844
Vital, L. M. (2021). Higher education and career development expectations of emerging adults: A focus on university students and graduates in Haiti. African Journal of Career Development, 3(1), a30. https://ajcd.africa/index.php/ajcd/article/view/30
Yao, C. W. & Vital, L. M. (2018). Reflexivity in international contexts: Implications for U.S. doctoral students international research preparation. International Journal of Doctoral Studies, 13, p. 193-201. https://www.informingscience.org/Publications/4005
Patterson, S. M., Lane, T. B., & Vital, L.M. (2017). Black doctoral women: Exploring barriers and facilitators of success in graduate education. Higher Education Politics and Economics, 3(1), 157–180. https://www.ojed.org/index.php/hepe/article/view/15
Vital, L. M. (2017). Looking ahead post disaster: What Latin American and Caribbean higher education can learn from Haiti. Revista de Educación Superior en América Latina, 3, 3-5. https://rcientificas.uninorte.edu.co/index.php/esal/article/view/10516/0
Yao, C. W. & Vital, L. M. (2016). “I don’t think I’m prepared”: Perceptions of U.S. higher education doctoral students on international research preparation. Journal for the Study of Postsecondary and Tertiary Education, I, 197-214. https://www.informingscience.org/Publications/3489
Book Chapters
Vital, L. M. & Hoffshire, M. (2023). “Not a thing that we talk about”: Recommendations for supporting and engaging LGBQ+ identified Caribbean heritage students. In S. Patterson Stephens & T. Bertrand Jones (Eds.) Advancing Inclusive Excellence in Higher Education: Practical Approaches to Promoting Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging. (pp. 243 - 264). Information Age Publishing.
Lane, B. T., Perez, E. N., Patterson-Stephens, S., & Vital, L. M. (2023). Research as a site of resistance: A phenomenological study of Black women in U.S. doctoral education. In E. S. W. Farmer (Ed.) The Black Student’s Pathway to Graduate Study and Beyond: The Making of a Scholar (pp. 79-96). Information Age Publishing.
Vital, L. M. (2020). Understanding self to engage with the ‘other’: Pedagogical approaches to teaching about identity and belonging in graduate education. In T. S. Jenkins (Ed). Reshaping graduate education through innovation and collaborative learning (pp. 147-166). IGI Global.
Hoffshire, M. & Vital, L. M. (2019). “It’s the intersections that get sticky”: Navigating ethnic and sexual orientation identities. In J. C. Garvey, et al. (Eds.) Case studies for student development theory: Advancing social justice & inclusion in higher education. New York and London: Routledge.
Alvarado-Young, K. & Vital, L. M. (2019). When keepin' it real goes wrong: #PCpolice. In M. Benjamin & J. Jessup-Anger (Eds.) Maybe I should. . . Case studies on ethics for student affairs professionals, 2nd edition (pp. 36-38). Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.
Boehme, L. & Vital, L. M. (2019). Student organizations and due process: A settled issue? In M. Benjamin & J. Jessup-Anger (Eds.) Maybe I should. . . Case studies on ethics for student affairs professionals, 2nd edition (pp. 173-175). Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.
Vital, L. M. & Yao, C. W. (2018). Future directions for internationalization in higher education: Ecological considerations for doctoral research training. In D. Proctor & L. E. Rumbley (Eds.), The Future Agenda for Internationalization in Higher Education: Next Generation Insights into Research, Policy, and Practice (pp. 147-166). New York and London: Routledge.
Policy and Practice Briefs
Watson, A. N., Hernandez, G. L., & Vital, L. M. (2024). Diversity, equity, and inclusion work in education internationalisation: Gaps, insights, and proposed solutions. PRACTICE, 1-9.
Feld, S. & Vital, L. M. (2020, November). Crisis of self, crisis of community: An ecological understanding of inclusion and belonging during COVID-19 in U.S. global education practice. Diversity Abroad: Global Impact Exchange, 26-29.
Vital, L. M. & Shaw Bonds, M. (2020, October). Identifying and supporting vulnerable campus populations in times of crisis across the local-global continuum. Diversity Abroad: News & Press Articles
Palmacci, A. & Vital, L. M. (2020, October). Learning in the time of COVID-19: Lessons from teachers and their teachers. Diversity Abroad: News & Press Articles.
Vital, L. M. & Chhabra, M. (2019, October). Supporting students from diverse backgrounds in international education: The role of faculty. Diversity Abroad: Global Impact Exchange, 26-28.
Chow, L. & Vital, L. M. (2019, October). Diversifying the international education pipeline: Recruiting and preparing students for intercultural work through graduate programs. Diversity Abroad: Global Impact Exchange, 7-9.
Vital, L. M. (2017). Looking ahead post disaster: What Latin American and Caribbean higher education can learn from Haiti. Revista de Educación Superior en América Latina, 3, 3-5.
Vital, L. M. (2017). Challenges, success, and opportunities for Haitian higher education. In A. A. Woldegiyorgis, L. E. Rumbley, & H. de Wit (Eds), CIHE Perspectives No. 6. Year in Review, 2016-2017. Boston, MA: Boston College Center for International Higher Education, 47-49.