Annalisa Raymer
Senior Lecturer, Department of Global Development
Director of Community Learning and Service Partnership (CLASP), Department of Global Development

About
Raymer teaches community-engaged Education/Development Sociology courses in Adult, Lifelong & Leadership Learning; directs Cornell’s intergenerational adult education program, CLASP; advances learning cities, capacity-building, organizational change, faculty development and instructional design.
Research Focus
Learning Cities--Communities as ecosystems of opportunities for individual and social learning that is lifelong, lifewide and lifedeep.
Outreach and Extension Focus
Raymer's outreach work pertains to advancing conditions and environs conducive to lifelong learning with individuals, teams, organizations and communities. In her role as the director of the Community Learning and Service Partnership program, she promotes intergenerational growth and development across difference by pairing individual Cornell students studying Adult Learning with individual Cornell service employees wanting to pursue an educational interest. These arrangements, or “Learning Partnerships,” emphasize mutual learning. The student serves as an educational mentor to the employee, and both employee and student learn from each other. In this way Cornell students apt to become future decision makers and people of influence gain familiarity with adult community members whose experiences and life circumstances differ from their own. At the same time, service employees gain support and instruction while developing as self-directed learners achieving their goals.
Other outreach efforts of hers include designing and offering workshops and professional development for educators, local governments, nonprofits and community organizations, as well as creating and facilitating customized process designs for organizational change and soft skill development.
Teaching Focus
Her approach to education is that of a facilitative teacher. Raymer's aim is to design and facilitate learning experiences wherein students can grow as self-directed learners, collaborative inquirers and democratic leaders. She realizes that people learn best when challenged a bit beyond their comfort zones and in real world settings. As she teach courses in Adult, Community and Leadership Learning, Raymer purposefully and transparently unpack the why and how of the instructional designs I employ in class. She wants to make visible the largely unseen planning and decision points of creating curriculum and constructing learning activities. Her goal is to equip students to be leaders of learning cultures and designs, in whatever area of human endeavor they elect. If students get to a point where they can thoughtfully critique the design decisions and facilitation strategies she uses for a given learning aim, she is reassured that they are indeed developing as educators.
All of the courses she teaches are community-engaged courses. Raymer believes students can uncover their essential educator-selves only when put in positions to mentor learners with instruction and support. While exposure to techniques, tools, big ideas and challenging assignments can provide rich material to draw from, one can only really learn to facilitate learning by actually teaching.
Awards and Honors
- Liaison for International Partnerships (2019) American Association for Adult and Continuing Education, AAACE
- On behalf of CLASP, James A. Perkins Prize for Interracial and Intercultural Peace and Harmony (2019) Cornell University
- Fellow (2018) Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, RSA
- Ford Foundation Difficult Dialogs Faculty Fellow (2008) University of Alaska
- Global Learning Education Faculty Fellow (2018) Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies
Conference Proceedings
- Raymer, A. L. (2019). Six impossible things before breakfast: leverage points, hope and Learning Cities.<br>. M. B. M. Avoseh (ed.), American Association for Adult and Continuing Education, American Association for Adult and Continuing Education, Atlanta, GA 183-196 p.
- Raymer, A. L. (2018). Raymer, A. (2018). Trying for a Learning City Before My Country Leaves UNESCO. Proceedings of the Commission on International Adult Education, of the 67th Annual Conference of the American Association for Adult and Continuing Education. Avoseh, M.B. M. (ed.), American Association for Adult and Continuing Education, American Association for Adult and Continuing Education, Atlanta, GA, USA 195-206 p.
Education
- Post-doc, University of Alaska, Anchorage, 2009
- Doctorate, Cornell University, 2007
- Master of Professional Studies, Cornell University, 2000
- MLS, University of Kentucky, 1984
- Bachelor of Arts, Berea College, 1981
Interests
Ecosystem of learning
Education and development
Learning cities
Courses Taught
EDUC 2200 Introduction to Adult Learning
(D-AG, KCM-AG) (CU-CEL)
This experiential and community-engaged course is for anyone interested in planning and facilitating adult, community and lifelong learning. As inquirers ourselves, we not only study principles, theories and methods, we also put into practice what we learn. One of the ways we do this is by incorporating adult learning approaches within the seminar’s design and educational practice (andragogy, rather than pedagogy). Another way we apply what we study is by mentoring adult learners.
EDUC 2210 - Methods and Contexts of Adult Learning: Leading and Teaching with Purpose
(D-AG, KCM-AG) (CU-CEL)
Learning is ubiquitous! Whether planning and facilitating a workshop, designing and teaching a course, or preparing and conducting training, nearly all of us are leaders of learning at one time or another. Good learning experiences begin with good design, and instructional design process is central to this course. We plan and facilitate workshops for groups and one-on-one lessons with individuals. We also look back at the social justice roots of adult and community learning and uncover recent and emerging trends today.
EDUC 4940—Special Topics
Learning/Leading/Justice/Film
Film is renown as a powerful medium, and movies conveying poignant narratives of education and social change are many. In this one-credit course we screen a choice selection of meaningful films and discuss heady topics such as: the dynamics of leadership and learning; activism as education; and how do we discern justice?
Coming Spring 2017: Introduction to Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL).
Do you picture yourself teaching English, either abroad or in multilingual settings anywhere? Whether in formal classrooms, development programs or entrepreneurial initiatives, opportunities for English language teaching abound. Sure you could just jump in without preparation—but wouldn’t it be better to learn teaching approaches and gain some experience first? Look for this course coming in Spring 2017.
EDUC 4970 - Individual Study in Education, and EDUC 4990 - Undergraduate Research
Want to continue? If you’ve already taken EDUC 2200 or EDUC 2210, you can request individual study of variable credit hours depending on your interest. Some students want to continue mentoring an adult learner; others are interested in preparing a teaching portfolio or undertaking research projects in particular areas.
EDUC 4980 - Undergraduate Teaching
Interested and motivated students who have taken EDUC 2200 or EDUC 2210 are eligible to apply to serve as teaching assistants for these courses.
Contact Information
Warren Hall 275D
Ithaca, NY 14853
alr26 [at] cornell.edu
Annalisa in the news

Field Note
For the Any Person, Any Story concept, students developed digital media projects to expose how learning partnerships with CLASP have fostered an inclusive learning culture for students and employees alike.
- Department of Global Development
- Global Development

News
As Cornell employees and students work together in lifelong learning partnerships with the Community Learning and Service Partnership (CLASP), a wealth of accomplishments and comradery builds up over the semester. Traditionally, this treasure...
- Department of Global Development
- Global Development