Michael Aaron WrightMichael Aaron Wright

Co-Founder, Be the Difference-Never Again
Director of European Programs, Duquesne University
Professor, Intercultural Awareness and Exploration

B.A. Duquesne University
M.A. St. Louis University (Madrid)
M.A. Graceland University

Michael has been an active part of the development and advocacy for study abroad programs at Duquesne University since his undergraduate years. Michael spent two years in Eastern Spain (Catalonia) between his Freshman and Sophomore year doing volunteer work, while learning language and culture, and then studied abroad twice during his junior year at the University of Seville in Spain for a semester and in a summer program on ecotourism in Costa Rica. He also spent three of his undergraduate summers traveling and competing with the Duquesne University Chamber Singers across Europe and Canada.

After graduating from Duquesne University, Michael pursued graduate studies in Spanish Literature at St. Louis University's Madrid Campus in Spain and eventually earned a second graduate degree in Theology with a focus on Peace and Justice studies from Graceland University in Kansas City, Missouri. His international and intercultural experiences have defined who he is today, while making him an expert programmer for academic program abroad. His passion in his career is to help college students to have the same transformational experiences he had as a young person, putting them on the path to global citizenship.

Michael helped to establish Duquesne's flagship campus in Italy and has been the Director in Rome since the first year of the program (2001). He was instrumental in the development and opening of the Duquesne in Dublin program in Ireland and has managed the Irish study center since its inception in 2013. More recently, he has helped to create, coordinate, and define new successful short-term Maymester programs in Europe and Africa, including Italy, Ireland, Ghana, and Tanzania for the Mary Pappert School of Music, the Bayer School of Natural and Environmental Sciences, the School of Nursing, and the Center for African Studies.

Michael is a co-founder of “Be the Difference – Never Again”, an active member of AACUPI (American Association of College and University Programs in Italy), NAFSA, Forum on Education Abroad, the National Italian American Foundation (NIAF), and is a Friend of the American Academy of Rome. Michael co-teaches the "Intercultural Awareness" cornerstone course at Duquesne’s Rome campus. He is fluent in English, Italian, and Spanish and is a dual citizen of the United States and Italy.

Michael’s LinkedIn page: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mawitaly/

 

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