About Christine
Discover fab flavors, explore cool places, and savor learning with this funky professor.
About Christine Rai:
Christine Rai is a college professor in the Washington, D.C. area with a passion for food studies and experiential learning. A food nerd, she loves learning more in her kitchen, garden, and travels. Above all, Christine enjoys sharing adventures with her family.
She collaborates with area businesses and organizations to design and provide dynamic tours and talks on food, culture, folklore, and more.
Christine is available for speaking, teaching, and leading travel experiences. Fill out the contact form to get in touch.
Hungry for more? Keep reading below.
Taste
One of Christine’s central passions is food: tasting, cooking, and growing. She enjoys cooking vegan and non-vegan dishes inspired by her travels and visits to international groceries. Christine has been working on and off for a few years on developing Sunny Sauce, her own hot sauce made from peppers and herbs grown in her garden.
Travel
Christine’s love for travel was sparked at an early age by family travels across the US in a motorhome and her older brother’s entrancing tales of travel to Hong Kong. She enjoys traveling domestically with her family while seeking authentic experiences. In 2016 Christine traveled to Rome, Italy for a study abroad leader training and to France for a short term study abroad experience with a group from her college. She also planned and led a food and culture themed college trip to Italy in January 2020 that paired with a cultural competency development course.
Teach
Teaching is a key part of Christine’s identity; she has been an educator for 20 years and has taught preschool, middle school, high school, college, professional development, and modeling. She utilizes a student-centered, active learning model, guided by principles of Universal Design. Christine infuses experiential learning opportunities in all her classes, including service learning, field trips, and cooking demonstrations. She currently is an English faculty member at Frederick Community College.
Media
Read more about what Christine’s been up to:
- “The Ghosts of the Monocacy”
- “Crisafulli’s Hosts ‘Book Tasting’ to Explore French Cheeses”
- “A Living History: Lavender Then and Now Tells a Tantalizing Tale”
- Recap: 6th Annual Omid Foundation Gala in Washington, DC
- “FCC Group Donates Nearly 900 Items to Rescue Mission”
- “FCC Class Pairs Literature and Film with Experiential Learning”
Awards & Honors
Thanks so much for the support and recognition <blushes>:
- NISOD Excellence Award, 2021
- Laughlin Distinguished Faculty Award, Frederick Community College, 2020
- Special Award and Recognition award, Frederick Community College, 2020
- Meatless Monday official blogger, 2018
- Graduating class commencement presenter, Frederick Community College, 2017
- Dr. Carol Eaton Innovation Award, Frederick Community College, 2016
- Outstanding Part Time Faculty Award, Montgomery College, 2014
- S.O.S. Creativity and Innovation Award, Montgomery College, 2012
Collaboration
Businesses and organizations I have had the pleasure of working with:
- Smithsonian Associates
- Crisafulli’s Cheese Shop
- Soleado Lavender Farm
- C&O Canal Trust
- Heritage Montgomery
- MD Road Trips
- Historic Medley District
- Big Cork Vineyard
- Alliance Francaise de Frederick
- Institute for Learning in Retirement at Frederick Community College
- Montgomery County Recreation’s Senior Outdoor Adventures in Recreation
- Poolesville Seniors
- Upcounty Prevention Network
- Western Montgomery United
- Frederick County Public Libraries
Publications
Check out my published work:
- DWV (Driving While Vegan) in the DMV, Maryland Road Trips, December 2020
- “The Ghosts of Poolesville” Plenty Magazine, 2019
- “Outside the Classroom and Beyond the Campus: Community-Based Experiential Education” NISOD Innovation Abstracts, 2016
Academic Audience
Presentations & Workshops
- Crafting IRL & ONL Teaching and Learning Spaces for Eye Health
- Food Justice: Empowering Our Students and Communities
- Homeless & Hungry On Campus: Helping Struggling Students
- Optimizing Assessment
- Food Insecurity at Frederick Community College: Teaching with Dignity
- Assessment in Action
- Science of Learning: Brain-Based Instructional Methods
- Faculty in the Field: Community Based Learning (series)
- Riot Grrrl Feminism and The Punk Singer (documentary screening)
- Teaching Naked (essentials and workshop series)
- A Model for Expanding Study Abroad for Community College Students
- Experiential Learning: Outside the Classroom and Beyond the Campus
- Best Practices for Integrating Service Learning
- How Universal Design Can Benefit All Your Students
- Teaching Across Borders: Helping Our International Students Succeed
- Creating Classroom Communities
- “Worst Class Ever”: Dealing with Student Dissent
- Active Learning in the Adult Classroom
- Introduction to Differentiation (hybrid series)
- Differentiating Instruction to Maximize Student Success
- Engaging Your Students with Active Learning
- Student-Centered Teaching Tools: For Adjunct STEM Faculty
COURSES CREATED/REDESIGNED
- ENGL 226: Film as Literature: Redesigned course to meet cultural competency guidelines and to emphasize film as a vehicle for storytelling, a medium of artistic expression, and a transmitter of culture.
- ID 200: Honors Food and Culture: Interdisciplinary Honors course integrating history, sociology, anthropology, film, and conflict cuisine
- ACCE 250: Global Scholar Experience: Cultural competency development umbrella course for short term study abroad with a mentorship model for trip co-leader
INTERNATIONAL Academic Trips LED
- Food and Culture of Italy, paired with hybrid Global Scholar Experience course, 2020
- Food and Culture of France, paired with online Global Scholar Experience course, 2016
Community Engagement
Tours and Talks
- Cheese Tasting (via Zoom)
- Lavender and Humanity (In-person and via Zoom)
- Bonfire Tales: Monsters and Mysteries of Maryland
- Haunted History (Walking tour for Historic Medley District)
Day Trips
- Experience The Underground Railroad in Central Maryland
- Experience Edgar Allen Poe in Baltimore
- Experience Glenstone Museum’s Amazing Art and Landscapes
- Experience the Wonderful World of Topiary at Ladew Gardens
Cheese Workshops
- All About Brie
- Charcuterie and Cheese
- Cheese 101
- Dutch Cheese and Culture
- Spanish Cheese and Culture
- Italian Cheese and Culture
- French Cheese and Culture
- Cheese, Chocolate, and Wine
- Bubbles and Cheese
- Book Tasting: The Whole Fromage
- Pairing Perfection: Cheese and Accoutrements
- Rose and Cheese
- DIY Cheese Board
- All About Sheep Cheese
- White Wine and Cheese