Hi, I’m Shane.

I’m an intercultural educator, study abroad advisor, and passionate advocate for meaningful travel experiences that go beyond the surface.

For over 20 years, I’ve been teaching, working, and living across cultures—with professional and personal experiences in five different countries: France, Italy, China, Senegal, and both coasts of the United States. Along the way, I’ve seen firsthand how transformative even casual travel can be when someone understands how culture influences all aspects of life.

Currently, I serve as Assistant Director of Global Opportunities at Susquehanna University, where students are required to spend time immersed in another culture before they graduate. I guide more than 200 students each year as they prepare for and engage in cross-cultural experiences.  In addition to advising, I teach intercultural development courses designed to help students better understand culture, reflect on their own identities, and navigate cultural differences with confidence and curiosity.

Over the past eight years, I’ve developed and taught over a dozen pre-departure courses that focus on:

• Understanding what culture really is, and how it shapes us

• Exploring the layers of culture and personal identity

• Reflecting on our own cultural lens through cultural autobiography

• Building the skills needed to engage across difference

Again and again, I hear the same thing from friends, family, and travelers:

“I wish I could take your class before my trip.”

That’s why I created The Culturally Aware Traveler: to bring these tools beyond the university setting and into the hands of curious travelers who want to engage more deeply with the places and people they encounter.

I’m also a certified administrator of the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI), which allows me to support individuals who are interested in a deeper, more personalized journey of intercultural growth.