Robert Schalkoff
Director of the Lincoln Scholars Program • Director of Office of Fellowships • Assistant Professor of International Studies
Offices & Programs
Education
BS: Education, Lebanon Valley College
MAT: TESOL, S.I.T. Graduate Institute
EdD: Higher Education (international education), Northern Illinois University
BIOGRAPHY
Robert Schalkoff joined Centre College in 2016 as the inaugural director of the Lincoln Scholars Program. He is also the inaugural director of Centre’s Office of Fellowships, established in 2021. Prior to Centre, Robert was professor of teacher education (foreign languages) in the Faculty of Intercultural Studies and executive director of international programs at Yamaguchi Prefectural University, Japan. At YPU, Robert pioneered multiple academic and international initiatives, including an English language curriculum for exchange students and returning Japanese students, the integration of study abroad in major and minor programs, the Centre/YPU exchange between students and faculty/staff, and the Winter Plum Festival at Centre in 2015 and the Kentucky Bluegrass Week in Yamaguchi in 2016.
Schalkoff’s past scholarship includes faculty internationalization, human resource development in Japan and Taiwan, experiential education approaches in foreign language education, and reflective practice in student teachers. He is also the translator of several short novels by Japanese author Kamura Isota. Currently, he focuses on the impacts of mentoring and advising in the learning and growth of young adults.
PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
NAFSA: Association of International Educators
National Association of Fellowship Advisors
Undergraduate Scholars Program Providers Association
AWARDS AND GRANTS
Japan Foundation, 2016 (with Steve Hoffman)
Global Human Resource Development Program, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, 2012-2016
Accelerating Internationalization in Higher Education Program, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, 2008-2009
TEACHING ABROAD
Schalkoff has taught two CentreTerm courses abroad, Rovaniemi, Finland: Destination Artic Circle in 2020 and Pilgrimage in the East: Actual and Environmental Footprints (Shikoku, Japan) in 2023. He has also taught CentreTerm courses on Japanese aesthetics, art, history, religion, and tea culture. Each featured an off-campus fieldwork component.