Michelle Carr awarded Global Educator Award for impactful Dialogue of Civilizations program
For 15 years, Michelle Carr has led students on month-long excursions to London to craft documentaries that tell the stories of the city and its people, launching her students into Hollywood careers.
For almost 15 years, Michelle Carr has been jetsetting to London with a documentary crew unlike any other.
Carr’s team is made up entirely of Northeastern University students. Carr, who teaches film and TV production at Northeastern, sets students loose to create their own London-based documentaries as part of her impactful Dialogue of Civilizations program, Northeastern’s month-long study abroad experience. For scores of students, it’s been an eye-opening experience that has helped catapult them into Hollywood careers.
In recognition of her work and the impact she’s had on a generation of students, Northeastern awarded Carr its 2026 Global Educator Award. For Carr, it’s the capstone to a career spent trying to teach students something she herself didn’t learn until much later: the value of global experience.
“I’m a huge advocate for students doing some sort of global experience because I know that when I finally did it, it changed my entire life,” Carr said. “I thought differently, I had more confidence, I knew what I wanted to do and I knew that I could overcome things that came my way …and that there were different cultures and different ways of doing things and thinking.”
Carr graduated from Northeastern in 2004 with a bachelor’s degree in communications studies and moved to London, where she worked for the entertainment company Ascent Media and the British Film Institute on various films, commercials and music videos. She returned to Northeastern in 2007 to teach a range of production courses, teaching students everything involved with filmmaking, from operating a camera to editing.
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In 2011, Carr launched her Dialogue program, which she would become known for. Every summer, she takes a class of students to London and tasks them with creating a documentary film within five weeks.
Her focus on documentary filmmaking is tailor-made for Northeastern’s emphasis on global education, Carr said.
“My teaching philosophy is learn by example and learn by doing,” Carr said. “Documentary filmmaking is one of those things [that] we can talk about, but until you actually pick up a camera and start filming, you’re never going to really learn it.”
As they explore the city and get acquainted with its people, Carr is constantly surprised by the stories her students uncover.
For instance, “The London Blitz,” a documentary produced by her students in 2018, focused on the impact of World War II bombings on life in London and went on to become a runner-up at the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Boston/New England College Emmy Awards. Another, “The Beatles and Beyond,” covered the lasting legacy of the country’s patron saints of pop culture and was even screened at New Jersey’s Garden State Festival.
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The process of making a documentary forces students out of their comfort zone and into the world they’ve just entered. They learn about communities and cultures by being out in the world and talking with people, not sitting in a classroom.
Those lessons have had a lasting impact on Carr’s students, shaping their lives and careers for years to come.
Nicole Kraemer, who graduated in 2023, is one such student. Prior to going on Carr’s Dialogue, she had never left the U.S. Since then, she’s not only traveled to 18 countries but secured a job as an associate producer at Disney.
“If you’ve been lucky enough to be in a class with Michelle –– I took seven of them –– you know what it is to be truly supported and challenged as a creative,” Kraemer said in her statement nominating Carr for the award. “This balance is hard to find in a global learning environment, but Michelle toes the line to perfection.”
Another of Carr’s students, Loni Rodgers, Northeastern class of 2017, went on to work as an executive producer at Bassett Vance Productions, the production company founded by actors Angela Bassett and Courtney B. Vance.
“I can honestly say my path would have looked very different had it not been for Michelle and her classes,” Rodgers said in her nominating statement.
The Global Educator Award is particularly meaningful for Carr because of how much she has poured into her Dialogue program over the years. Global education is not just part of her job; it’s a lifelong passion, one she hopes to pass on to her students.
“It’s a different type of teaching experience that’s unique to Northeastern, and I’m just grateful that I have the opportunity to do it every year and to be able to take so many students with me,” Carr said.
