FSI
Stanford University
Encina Hall C133
Stanford, CA 94305-6055

kkuhns@stanford.edu
(650) 725-3036 (voice)
(650) 725-2592 (fax)

Katherine Kuhns is director of the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies' Initiative on Distance Learning (IDL), and co-director of the International Outreach Program, which is a collaborative effort between FSI and the Stanford Center for Innovations in Learning. The IDL Program offers five Stanford courses in international security to Russian regional universities, with the goal of helping to rejuvenate the study of the social sciences in Russian institutions of higher education and to foster the development of higher-order thinking skills. In collaboration with SCIL, Kuhns worked with assessment experts to evaluate the effectiveness of the IDL program's learning model and its broader application to the field of international distance and distributed learning. Her latest project is the E-Learning Initiative in South Africa (ELISA), which is a project of the International Outreach Program. ELISA will adapt the IDL model to offer a course in international environmental policies to journalism students at the Tshwane University of Technology, Pretoria, and will incorporate a mobile communication device research component into the academic implementation. In collaboration with TUT colleagues, ELISA will research how mobile devices can enhance the learning experience.

Kuhns received a BA in Russian and Soviet studies and economics from the University of Arizona in 1990. After receiving her degree, she traveled to Almaty, Kazakhstan to pursue studies in Russian and Kazakh language and culture as a Samantha Smith Memorial Exchange Student. She then returned to the University of Arizona to oversee several educational and research exchange programs in Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan sponsored by the U.S. Information Agency. Kuhns later joined the university's Office of International Programs, where she oversaw the development of relations between the university and foreign institutions with regard to study-abroad programs and other exchange opportunities.

In 1993 she was awarded a Fascell Fellowship at the U.S. Department of State to work at the American consulate in St. Petersburg, Russia. During the local and national elections that ensued after the 1993 October Crisis, she traveled throughout the northwestern region of Russia monitoring the elections and interviewing local officials and citizens about the political and economic situation. After returning to the United States in 1994, she entered the MA program in international relations and international economics at Johns Hopkins University's School for Advanced International Studies. After successfully completing her degree with distinction in 1996, she returned to the West Coast to join FSI. Overall, she has more than 15 years of experience in international program development and management, particularly in the former Soviet Union.