Kate joined the Institute for Global Engagement in May 2017. She oversees and directs the daily operations of the Institute for Global Engagement which encompasses Off-Campus Study, Global Learning Program, Center for Languages and Intercultural Communication, partnerships and collaborations with institutions in other countries, global health and safety, international visiting scholars, international education and affairs programming, and assessment of international programming.
An anthropologist by training, Kate actively engages in research on intercultural competency, global learning pedagogy, cultural identity, and anthropology's contribution to international education. For over 20 years Kate has worked in Ghana researching or leading faculty-led programs study abroad programs. She has previously worked at The College of Wooster and Michigan State University, where she advised and ran study abroad programs as well as taught courses on anthropology.
Education and Degrees
BS Anthropology (Iowa State University), MA Anthropology (Michigan State University), PhD Anthropology (Michigan State University)
Selected Publications
2020 Patch, Kate M and Louis Berends, eds. Undergraduate Research Abroad: Approaches, Pedagogies, and Challenges. NAFSA Publishing.
2010 Patch, Kate M and Andrea M Allen. “Participant Observation and Community Engagement: Anthropological Approaches to Promoting and Assessing Transformative Learning with Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) Internships in Ghana.” Practicing Anthropology. V32 (3): p.32-37.