Name: Parker Hollingsworth
Email: pah351@nyu.edu
Program: International Education
Research Interests: Virtual Exchange, Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL), Third Spaces of Learning, Higher Education, Study Abroad, Instructional Design, Participatory Action Research
Principal Advisor(s): Carol Anne Spreen
Research description/bio: Parker Hollingsworth is a part-time doctoral student in the International Education program at NYU Steinhardt. His research focuses on implementing emerging educational technology in digital global spaces to provide adaptive, personalized learning. Specifically, he explores virtual exchange, collaborative online international learning (COIL), and third spaces of learning. Parker is particularly interested in how innovative learning experience design can support meaningful global education for all learners.
Parker brings extensive professional experience to his studies, currently working full-time as a Senior Digital Learning Designer at NYU Steinhardt. His work involves creating asynchronous and hybrid courses in close partnership with faculty across the school. He also researches and implements emerging artificial intelligence tools for learning and analyzes student data to redesign courses based on performance. He also built NYU Steinhardt's first digital studio for professional in-house instructional video production and enjoys experimenting with filmmaking.
He holds both an MA in International Education and an MA in Digital Media Design for Learning from NYU Steinhardt. He also earned an Individualized BA with a concentration in Game Design for Adaptive Learning with a minor in Computer Science from NYU Gallatin. Outside of his academic and professional pursuits, Parker has a background in vocal performance, and he enjoys playing video games of all kinds.
Selected Awards, Publications, and Presentations: Presented on “Race, Racism, and Xenophobia” at the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium (2017); Received the NYU Max Goldstein Award for Creative Computing (2018); Presented on “AI-Driven Conversation Simulations for Learning” at CIES (2025)