IAFOR > The IAFOR International Conference on the Social Sciences – Dubai (IICSSDubai) > IICSSDubai2017 > Organising Committee

Organising Committee

The Conference Programme Committee is composed of distinguished academics who are experts in their fields. Conference Programme Committee members may also be members of IAFOR's International Academic Board. The Organising Committee is responsible for nominating and vetting Keynote and Featured Speakers; developing the conference programme, including special workshops, panels, targeted sessions, and so forth; event outreach and promotion; recommending and attracting future Conference Programme Committee members; working with IAFOR to select PhD students and early career academics for IAFOR-funded grants and scholarships; and overseeing the reviewing of abstracts submitted to the conference.

IICSSDubai2017 Organising Committee


  • Professor Said M. Faiq
    Professor Said M. Faiq
    American University of Sharjah, UAE
  • Dr James W. McNally
    Dr James W. McNally
    University of Michigan, USA & NACDA Program on Aging
  • Dr Joseph Haldane
    Dr Joseph Haldane
    The International Academic Forum (IAFOR), Japan
  • Dr Christine Coombe
    Dr Christine Coombe
    Dubai Men's College, UAE
  • Professor Steve Cornwell
    Professor Steve Cornwell
    The International Academic Forum (IAFOR) & Osaka Jogakuin University, Japan
  • Dr Sufian Abu-Rmaileh
    Dr Sufian Abu-Rmaileh
    UAE University, UAE
  • Professor Barbara Lockee
    Professor Barbara Lockee
    Virginia Tech., USA
  • Professor Ted O’Neill
    Professor Ted O’Neill
    Gakushuin University, Japan
  • Professor Sue Jackson
    Professor Sue Jackson
    Birkbeck, University of London, UK
Professor Said M. Faiq
American University of Sharjah, UAE

Biography

Said Faiq, FRSA, is Professor of Intercultural Studies and Translation at the American University of Sharjah (UAE), where he was Chair/Head of department (2003-07, 2009-10), and Director of the graduate program in translation and interpreting (2002-11). He is a visiting professor at Exeter University (UK). Prior to his current position, he worked in Africa, the Middle East and the United Kingdom (Salford University, (1990-2003), where he was Director of Studies for undergraduate and graduate programs in Arabic/English translation and interpreting; and Leeds University, (1996-1998), where he was visiting lecturer in applied linguistics). He has served as consultant to private and public organisations for educational and related sectors and serves on a number of academic editorial and consultancy boards/agencies. He is an established figure in intercultural and translation studies and allied areas and has directed and examined graduate research (Cambridge, McGill). His publications include Agency and Patronage in Eastern Translatology (co-edited with Ahmed Ankit, forthcoming), Culguage in/of translation from Arabic (co-edited with Ovidi Carbonnel and Ali AlManaa, 2014), Beyond Denotation in Arabic Translation (co-edited with Allen Clark, 2010), Cultures in dialogue: A translational perspective (2010), Trans-lated: Translation and Cultural Manipulation (2007), Identity and Representation in Intercultural Communication (2006), Cultural Encounters in Translation from Arabic (2004).

Dr James W. McNally
University of Michigan, USA & NACDA Program on Aging

Biography

Dr James W. McNally is the Director of the NACDA Program on Aging, a data archive containing over 1,500 studies related to health and the aging lifecourse. He currently does methodological research on the improvement and enhancement of secondary research data and has been cited as an expert authority on data imputation. Dr McNally has directed the NACDA Program on Aging since 1998 and has seen the archive significantly increase its holdings with a growing collection of seminal studies on the aging lifecourse, health, retirement and international aspects of aging. He has spent much of his career addressing methodological issues with a specific focus on specialized application of incomplete or deficient data and the enhancement of secondary data for research applications. Dr McNally has also worked extensively on issues related to international aging and changing perspectives on the role of family support in the later stages of the aging lifecourse.

Dr Joseph Haldane
The International Academic Forum (IAFOR), Japan

Biography

Joseph Haldane is the Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer of The International Academic Forum (IAFOR).

One of the founders of IAFOR, he was Academic Director from its inception in 2009 until 2011, Executive Director from 2011-2014, and President from 2014-2016. He is responsible for devising strategy, setting policies, forging institutional partnerships, implementing projects, and overseeing the organisation’s business and academic operations, including research, publications and events.

Professor Haldane holds a PhD from the University of London in 19th-century French Studies, and has held full-time faculty positions at the University of Paris XII Paris-Est Créteil (France), Sciences Po Paris (France), and Nagoya University of Commerce and Business (Japan), as well as visiting positions at the French Press Institute in the University of Paris II Panthéon-Assas (France), The School of Journalism at Sciences Po Paris (France), and the School of Journalism at Moscow State University (Russia).

Dr Haldane’s current research concentrates on post-war and contemporary politics and international affairs, and since 2015 he has been a Guest Professor at The Osaka School of International Public Policy (OSIPP) at Osaka University, where he teaches on the postgraduate Global Governance Course.

From 2012 to 2014, Dr Haldane served as Treasurer of the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan (Chubu Region) and he is currently a Trustee of the HOPE International Development Agency (Japan). In 2012 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society, and in 2015 a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

A black belt in judo, he is married with two children and lives in Nagoya, Japan.

Featured Panel Presentation: Educating for Change: Educating for Global Citizenship

Dr Christine Coombe
Dubai Men's College, UAE

Biography

Christine Coombe has a PhD in Foreign/Second Language Education from The Ohio State University. She is currently on the English faculty of Dubai Men's College. She is the former Testing and Measurements Supervisor at UAE University and Assessment Coordinator of Zayed University. Christine is co-editor of Assessment Practices (2003, TESOL Publications); co-author, A Practical Guide to Assessing English Language Learners (2007, University of Michigan Press); co-editor, Evaluating Teacher Effectiveness in EF/SL Contexts (2007, UMP); co-editor, Language Teacher Research in the Middle East (2007, TESOL Publications), Leadership in English Language Teaching and Learning (2008, UMP) Applications of Task-based Learning in TESOL (2010, TESOL Publications), The Cambridge Guide to Second Language Assessment (2012, Cambridge University Press) and Reigniting, Retooling and Retiring in English Language Teaching (2012, University of Michigan Press). Christine’s forthcoming books are on research methods in EF/SL and life skills education.

Christine has lived and worked in the Arabian Gulf for the past 21 years. In this capacity, she has served as the President and past President of TESOL Arabia and as the Founder and Co-chair of the TESOL Arabia Testing Special Interest Group who organise the Current Trends in English Language Testing (CTELT) Conference. Christine is also the Founder and Chair of the TESOL Arabia Leadership & Management SIG.

During her tenure in the Middle East, she has won many awards including: 2002 Spaan Fellowship for Research in Second/Foreign Language Assessment; 2002-03 TOEFL Outstanding Young Scholar Award; TOEFL Board Grant for 2003-04, 2005-06, 2007-08 and 2009-10 for her work in delivering assessment training assessment in developing countries. Most recently she served on the TESOL Board of Directors as Convention Chair for Tampa 2006 and was the recipient of the Chancellor’s Teacher of the Year for 2003-04. She served as TESOL President (2011-2012) and was a member of the TESOL Board of Directors (2010-2013). Christine received the British Council’s International Assessment Award for 2013.

Featured Presentation: How the Most Productive TESOLers ‘Fit it all in’

Professor Steve Cornwell
The International Academic Forum (IAFOR) & Osaka Jogakuin University, Japan

Biography

Steve Cornwell is the President of IAFOR, and President of the Academic Governing Board. He coordinates and oversees the International Academic Advisory Board, and also serves on the organization's Board of Directors.

Dr Cornwell is Professor of English and Interdisciplinary Studies at Osaka Jogakuin University, and also teaches in the online portion of the MA TESOL Programme for the New School in New York. He helped write and design several of the New School courses and has been involved with the programme since its inception.

He has also been involved with the Japan Association for Language Teaching (JALT), (an affiliate of IAFOR) serving on its National Board of Directors as Director of Programme from 2012-2016; where his duties involved working with a volunteer team of 50+ to put on JALT’s annual, international conference each autumn.

Most recently, since 2012, he has been the Committee Chair of Osaka Jogakuin University’s Lifelong Learning Committee and is responsible for their evening extension Programme geared towards alumni and community members. He is also the Vice-Chair of Osaka Jogakuin University’s English Education Committee which is responsible for suggesting policy regarding English Education and also responsible for developing material for the integrated curriculum.

Dr Sufian Abu-Rmaileh
UAE University, UAE

Biography

Dr Sufian Abu-Rmaileh is an English Lecturer at UAE University, UAE. He was the External Projects Coordinator for four years and was also the Professional Development Coordinator for The University General Requirements Unit. For the past 32 years he has been teaching English at various levels, skills and institutions in the USA and the Middle East. He has been an administrator and a team leader for over 10 years in the USA and the UAE. He has an MA in Linguistics, and received both his TESL Certificate and his PhD in Educational Leadership from Brigham Young University, USA. Dr Abu-Rmaileh has also won many awards for his work as a leader, researcher and classroom teacher, including Toastmasters International Advanced Communicator Bronze and Advanced Leader Bronze. He is a frequent presenter, invited speaker and plenary speaker at local, national and international conferences. Dr Abu-Rmaileh has written on culture, classroom technology, motivation, burnout, communication, business writing, critical and creative thinking, emotional and social intelligences, team building, problem solving and leadership. Dr Abu-Rmaileh is also a Toastmasters International member and President of TA Toastmasters. He is TESOL Arabia past president, past conference co-chair, 25 years as TA conference planner and other local, regional and international conference planner, and 2017 TA conference co-chair.

Featured Presentation: Leadership Skills and Styles for Successful Administrators

Professor Barbara Lockee
Virginia Tech., USA

Biography

Dr Lockee is Professor of Instructional Design and Technology at Virginia Tech., USA, where she is also Associate Director of the School of Education and Associate Director of Educational Research and Outreach. She teaches courses in instructional design, message design, and distance education. Her research interests focus on instructional design issues related to technology-mediated learning. She has published more than 80 papers in academic journals, conferences and books, and has presented her scholarly work at over 90 national and international conferences.

Dr Lockee is Immediate Past President of the Association for Educational Communications and Technology, an international professional organisation for educational technology researchers and practitioners. She earned her PhD in 1996 from Virginia Tech in Curriculum and Instruction (Instructional Technology), M.A. in 1991 from Appalachian State University in Curriculum and Instruction (Educational Media), and BA in 1986 from Appalachian State University in Communication Arts.

Professor Ted O’Neill
Gakushuin University, Japan

Biography

Ted O’Neill is a professor at Gakushuin University, Tokyo, in the Faculty of International Social Sciences. He previously taught at the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Tokyo Medical and Dental University and J. F. Oberlin University. Ted was co-editor of The Language Teacher for the Japan Association for Language Teaching (JALT) and later served on the JALT National Board of Directors as Director of Public Relations from 2012 to 2016. He received an MA in ESL and Bilingual Education from the University of Massachusetts/Boston, USA in 1996 and completed a postgraduate Certificate of Educational Technology and Information Literacy through the Graduate School of Education at the State University of New York in 2014. He is a part of a research group studying implementation of content-based language education and content and language integrated learning in East and Southeast Asia with the generous support of The Research Institute for Oriental Cul­tures at Gakushuin University.​

Professor Ted O’Neill is a Vice-President (at large) of IAFOR. He is a member of the Educational Technology section of the International Academic Advisory Board.

Professor Sue Jackson
Birkbeck, University of London, UK

Biography

Sue Jackson is Professor Emeritus at Birkbeck, University of London. She was previously Pro-Vice-Master (Vice President) for Learning and Teaching, Professor of Lifelong Learning and Gender and Director of Birkbeck Institute for Lifelong Learning at Birkbeck. She publishes widely in the field of gender and lifelong learning, with a particular focus on identities.

Sue's recent publications include Innovations in Lifelong Learning: Critical Perspectives on Diversity, Participation and Vocational Learning (Routledge, 2011); Gendered Choices: Learning, Work, Identities in Lifelong Learning (Springer, 2011, with Irene Malcolm and Kate Thomas); and Lifelong Learning and Social Justice (NIACE, 2011).