Associate Dean of International and Intercultural Studies and Professor of English Pat Alden has been a member of the faculty at St. Lawrence since 1976, having earned her B.A., M.A., and Ph.D at Stanford University. She coordinates the many area studies programs (such as Asian studies and African studies) on campus and oversees all of St. Lawrence's 14 international and three domestic off-campus programs.

She began her career teaching British literature, but her interest evolved toward African literature and other post-colonial literatures. In 1990, Alden received a Fulbright Sub-Saharan African Research Grant to conduct research in Zimbabwe. Since then, she has returned to Zimbabwe twice; one of the trips included bringing a group of St. Lawrence students for a team-taught Summerterm course, Zimbabwe: Nation and Culture.

Her understanding of how important an international experience is to University students sustains her work as associate dean of international and intercultural studies. "My own undergraduate study abroad experience in France was challenging and exhilarating in every respect; it also gave me the opportunity to see the U.S. from the perspective of the rest of the world, which was an eye-opening experience," Alden says. "Seeing students return to St. Lawrence transformed in similar ways is what makes this a great job."