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About the creation of

Action through Words: Learning English  
through Learning about the United Nations
Copyright © Pat Duffy 2003

Action through Words: Learning English through Learning about the United Nations is an online self-study course  created by United Nations staff member, Patricia Duffy , with the guidance of Dr. Miriam Eisenstein Ebsworth, Director of Ph.D. Programs in Multilingual, Multicultural Studies at New York University. Technical assistance was offered by Andrew Read of Hunter College, City University of New York, and final design was created by Jill Kalotay.

While the primary audience for Action through Words is staff at UN duty stations where formal language training in English is limited, the course is  free and available to anyone with Internet access.

As Action through Words is a work in progress, feedback from users is appreciated. Please contact duffy@un.org

Acknowledgements

The generous help and confidence of a variety of people made the development of Action through Words: learning English through Learning about the United Nations possible, and I would like to thank some of those persons now.

First, I would like to thank all the members of  the Selection Committee of the United Nations Sabbatical Programme for awarding me the time to develop this project.  I thank Ms Joan Bogle, United Nations Training Officer, for her kind and professional guidance through the application process.  I thank Ms Jan Beagle, Director of Organizational Development, Ms Caroline Vaughan, Officer-in-Charge of the UN Language and Communications Programme and Ms Elizabeth Kahn, Acting Coordinator of the UN English Language Programme for their invaluable support of my proposal for this project.  I also thank Ms Laura Layton of UN OHRM, Dr. Michael Dixon of the University of Waterloo, Ontario, Dr. Lawrence Marks of Yale University, and Ms Maxine Steinhaus of New York University for lending their support to the proposal for Action through Words.  

Let me extend a great thank you to Ms Jodi Nooyen, instructor in the UN Language and Communications Programme. I thank Ms Nooyen, not only for her excellent feedback on my proposal, but also for her courses in web site building and design.  It was thanks to Ms Nooyen's committed teaching that the seeds of inspiration for this web project were able to take root and continue to grow.  

Thanks also to my colleagues Mr. Bob Burbidge, Ms Linda Haley, Ms Mary Regan, Ms Francoise Bouffault, and Mr. Ruben Delgado for their interest, encouragement, and feedback.

 I would also like to thank Stephen C. Schlesinger, author of Act of Creation: The Founding of the United Nations for his encouraging words at the start of this project.

A great thank you, too, to Mr. Andrew Read of Hunter College of the City University of New York for so generously lending his expertise and time to this project.  Mr. Read's  knowledge -- and his special ability to share it  -- made carrying out this challenging task a great occasion for learning.  I would also like to thank Dr. Natasha Lvovich, Professor of English at Kingsborough Community College of the City University of New York, and Ms Pauline Zalkin, student at Hunter College, for their interest in this project and for their recommendation of Mr. Read.

Let me also thank UN staff members Mr. Fred Doulton, Mr. Michael Emery, Ms Hilary Rawe and Ms Analisa Pereira of UN Peacekeeping, Ms Mary Ferriera, Ms Patricia Chan, and Ms Sherry Du of the UN Department of Public Information.

Much appreciation to Mr. Sean Duffy, and of course, Mr. Mike Mahoney for their highly valued technical advice, and  Ms Christina Duffy for her valued feedback.

Thank you also to Dr. Ann Kennedy and Mr. C Thomas Crabtree of the Arlington Career Center for their encouraging words and expert advice.

A big thank you to Martha Bordman, New York University and the City University of New York, for her "pioneering spirit" in being among the first in her department to develop an online course and for her willingness to share her knowledge.

Thank you to Faith Cohen for taking the time to offer her expert advice to this project.

My very deepest and most heartfelt thanks to Mr. Joshua Cohen for his constant support, advice, belief.

Pat Duffy, 2003


Feedback  on courses is appreciated. Please direct feedback to duffy@un.org

You may attach feedback forms for the following courses (click on course titles for forms):

"Action through Words: Learning English through learning about the United Nations"

Action through Words: Learning English  
through Learning about the United Nations

Copyright © Pat Duffy 2003


Photos, courtesy  http://www.un.org

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