BOONE, N.C. — Appalachian State University’s College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Rwany Sibaja, associate professor and history education program director in the Department of History, as the Executive Director of Teacher Education for CAS.
CAS offers teacher licensure programs in biology, chemistry, earth and environmental sciences, English, French, history and social studies, mathematics, physics and Spanish. The Executive Director of Teacher Education provides leadership among the directors of these teacher education programs and supports communication and collaboration with the Reich College of Education.
A first-generation scholar, Dr. Sibaja earned his bachelor's degree in history with a concentration in 9-12 social studies education from Elon University as a North Carolina Teaching Fellow. He worked as a curriculum program manager for K-12 social studies and as a 9-12 history and Spanish teacher in the Piedmont Triad region of North Carolina before earning his master's degree in history from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and his doctorate in history from George Mason University. Following a two-year postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Maryland Baltimore County, Sibaja joined Appalachian State's Department of History as an assistant professor and director of the history education program in 2015. He was promoted to associate professor in 2021.
Sibaja is committed to public education and its role in transforming lives. Since 2015, he has empowered the next generation of social studies educators at Appalachian in his role as history education program director. Students in his courses discuss diverse approaches to designing a history curriculum and the potential of digital tools to transform the history classroom. Sibaja also teaches courses in modern Latin America, sports history and digital history.
Sibaja's research focuses on popular culture in modern Latin America, especially sports and leisure. His upcoming book, tentatively entitled Civilization and Barbarism in Argentine Soccer, explores the role of fútbol in shaping national identity between the 1910s and early 1970s. Sibaja's works have appeared in the International Journal of the History of Sport, The Latin Americanist, Journal of Sport History and Soccer & Society, and he has contributed to pieces on education and sports for National Public Radio. As a sports scholar and educator, Sibaja is an active member of the Football Scholars Forum, the North American Society for Sport History, the Southeastern Council of Latin American Studies and the North Carolina Council for the Social Studies.
Sibaja is a founding member of Appalachian's Hispanic/Latino Faculty and Staff Association App Unidos and serves as faculty advisor for Destino. In the High Country, Sibaja and his family work with adult English as a Second Language (ESL) students and the local Latino families through church and school initiatives.
Please join us in welcoming Dr. Sibaja as the Executive Director of Teacher Education for CAS. To learn more about Sibaja's work, visit his website at rwanysibaja.com.
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About the Department of History
The Department of History offers a broad curriculum in local, national, regional and world history at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, which encourages history majors to develop a comprehensive approach to human problems. The study of history is an essential part of a liberal arts education and offers valuable preparation for many careers, such as law, journalism, public history, public service and business, as well as in teaching and the advanced discipline of history. Learn more at history.appstate.edu.
About the College of Arts and Sciences
The College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) at Appalachian State University is home to 17 academic departments, two centers and one residential college. These units span the humanities and the social, mathematical and natural sciences. CAS aims to develop a distinctive identity built upon our university's strengths, traditions and unique location. The college’s values lie not only in service to the university and local community, but through inspiring, training, educating and sustaining the development of its students as global citizens. More than 6,400 student majors are enrolled in the college. As the college is also largely responsible for implementing App State’s general education curriculum, it is heavily involved in the education of all students at the university, including those pursuing majors in other colleges. Learn more at cas.appstate.edu.
About the Reich College of Education
Appalachian State University offers one of the largest undergraduate teacher preparation programs in North Carolina, graduating about 500 teachers a year. The Reich College of Education enrolls more than 2,000 students in its bachelor's, master's, education specialist and doctoral degree programs. With so many teacher education graduates working in the state, there is at least one RCOE graduate teaching in every county in North Carolina. Learn more at rcoe.appstate.edu.
By Lauren Gibbs & Dr. Rwany Sibaja
July 9, 2024
BOONE, N.C.
Dr. Rwany Sibaja is an associate professor, the history education program director in the Department of History and the Executive Director of Teacher Education for the College of Arts and Sciences.
Dr. Rwany Sibaja is an associate professor, the history education program director in the Department of History and the Executive Director of Teacher Education for the College of Arts and Sciences.