Kristine Witko

Kristine Witko is pursuing a Master of Arts in Latin American Studies. She just moved to Tucson from the East Coast. After receiving a Bachelor of Arts in English from La Salle University, Kristine obtained a Master of Arts in Teaching TESL from Montclair State University, where she studied education and linguistics. After graduation, she started a backpacking trip around South America, but once she got to Rio de Janeiro, she decided to stay. Kristine split her time between Brazil and the U.S. for several years. While in Rio, she began as a volunteer EFL teacher and ultimately became Director of Education at a nonprofit offering supplemental education for children living in a favela. Her time working with social projects in Rio de Janeiro made her interested in education in conflict zones and trauma-informed teaching. Kristine moved back to the U.S. full-time and taught ESL and kindergarten at a school in Brooklyn. Her academic interests center around education, race, inequality, violence, and poverty. She also enjoys topics such as sociolinguistics and second language acquisition. As a 2023-2024 Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellow, Kristine looks forward to strengthening her Portuguese. In her free time, Kristine reads, writes, and travels whenever possible.