The colorful woven baskets, vibrant kente-cloth prints and imposing masks in Eliza Thompson’s office offer a glimpse into the warmth and beauty of her Ghanaian roots.

“I want to show people a different narrative of Africa,” said Thompson, than the impoverished, war-torn society often portrayed in popular media. Decorating her office in LeFrak Hall is a way to share her heritage with her colleagues and students in the Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences (HESP), where she has been an assistant clinical professor since 2018.

She’ll do just that in a new study-abroad trip she’s leading next summer. Through the Global Perspectives in Service-Learning program, Thompson will take HESP undergraduate and graduate students to Accra, Ghana’s capital city, to work in special needs schools as well as community clinics and hospitals for 10 days.

The trip ties together Thompson’s passion for her homeland and speech-language pathology, as well as her interest in bringing more Black and underrepresented students into the profession. Her clinical focus is on child language issues including autism, stuttering and dyslexia, especially in multicultural populations.

“Communication is a basic human right,” said Thompson, who originally planned to become a doctor. A college roommate introduced her to speech-language pathology because of Thompson’s interest in medicine and her chattiness, and now, she now can’t imagine herself in any other job. “I was the one who used to get in trouble as a kid because I would talk to everyone else and keep them from getting their work done! And now I get paid to teach people how to talk.”

Thompson explained the secret identity of the apparent terrapin on her wall, how she honors her ancestors through art and what she’ll show her students on the trip.