This story appears in the Summer 2025 edition of the Forester Magazine. For more stories from the heart of CUC, check out the full issue online.
After four rewarding months as a Fulbright U.S. Scholar, Dr. Elisabeth Dellegrazie returned in January to the Concordia-Chicago campus. Beginning in October 2024, Dellegrazie was a visiting faculty member in the Faculty of Economics and Business at the University of Maribor in the Republic of Slovenia.
Dellegrazie PhD ’22 is discipline chair for global business and marketing and associate professor of marketing and leadership within the University’s College of Business. Her Fulbright experience was funded in part by a generous grant from the Dr. Martin L. Koehneke Endowment Fund.
Dellegrazie’s Fulbright Scholar teaching-research project, titled “Active Learning in Teams and the Link to Transversal Skill Development,” applied team-interaction pedagogical methods in a marketing business course. “Transversal skills are foundational to the development of global competence,” Dellegrazie explains. “Business schools must go beyond providing theoretical and technical business expertise and prepare students to work collaboratively in a diverse, globalized environment.”
Slovenia, roughly the size of New Jersey, is nestled between Italy, Austria, Hungary and Croatia. Maribor, Slovenia’s second-largest city, provided a beautiful locale for Dellegrazie to encounter Slovenia’s rich history and natural beauty. “Slovenia offers alpine terrain, coastline, an incredible cave system, hot springs, hundreds of castles and an incredible coffee culture,” Dellegrazie explains.
In pursuit of global education development, Dellegrazie has created international programs, taught and traveled across multiple countries—China, Germany, France, Singapore, El Salvador, Argentina and Croatia—during her time on the CUC faculty. “Global competence enhances formal education,” she explains. “Exposing yourself to a new country, culture and language allows for the development of skills such as humility, reflection and gratitude.
The Fulbright U.S. Scholars Program grants more than 400 awards per year in 135 countries, allowing U.S. citizens to teach, conduct research and carry out professional projects around the world. Selection for the prestigious grant was, for Dellegrazie, an aspirational career goal. “Being an academic and cultural ambassador for the United States was a huge honor,” she notes.
Dellegrazie hopes that her time at the University of Maribor will leave a lasting impact on its business marketing program, as well as Concordia-Chicago’s own. “Post-pandemic, we are seeing an increase in employers and academics who regard students as deficient in teamwork and other interpersonal transversal skills,” she notes. “Teamwork skills are essential to communicate and lead across cultures.”
Dellegrazie reports that her international travel-study experiences have enhanced her effectiveness within the CUC faculty. “My experiences beyond the borders of the U.S. have enhanced my capacity for empathy, patience and care for our diverse student population as they navigate their educational journey.”
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