Francine A'ness is the Associate Director of Global Teaching and Learning at the Guarini Institute for International Education. In this role she acts as a bridge between theory and practice, supporting faculty in the design and delivery of global‑learning experiences that, beyond disciplinary content, develop students' intercultural competence and critical global‑citizen skills. Back on campus she facilitates reflective spaces where students can deepen and articulate those experiences.
Since joining Guarini, Francine has created two credit‑bearing, intercultural‑learning courses—The Toolbox: The Ethics of Travel in the Context of Globalization and The Shoebox: Unpacking Your Study‑Away Experience. Both classes use structured reflection and arts‑based learning to help students maximize the study‑away "continuum" and tell compelling stories about their journeys. More than 350 students have completed the courses since 2018.
Francine also serves as a senior lecturer in the Women's, Gender & Sexuality Studies and Education programs, where she brings feminist pedagogies and student‑centered, project‑based learning into the classroom. Her scholarly interests span teaching, assessment, Fair Trade Learning (FTL), critical reflection, and intercultural development.
Before arriving at Guarini, she spent over a decade teaching Spanish and directing study‑away programs in Spain and Mexico. She then served six years as an undergraduate dean, championing student development, providing comprehensive student support, and handling crisis‑management situations.
She holds a Ph.D. in Hispanic Languages and Literatures from UC Berkeley and is a certified Intercultural Development and Inventory (IDI) Administrator. Currently, Francine administers the Global Engagement Survey (GES) at Dartmouth, serves on the steering committee of the Community‑Based Global Learning Collaborative (CBGLC), and co‑convenes Dartmouth's Intercultural Learning Community (ICL).
When she's not teaching, Francine can be found swimming (slowly) or learning another language on Duolingo.