Dr. Sabine Jean Dantus is a Reference and Outreach Librarian at Florida International University (FIU), where she supports undergraduate and graduate learners through research consultations, instruction, and strategic marketing and outreach initiatives. Dr. Dantus currently serves as a Faculty Fellow in FIU’s First Gen Forward Teaching and Learning Fellowship, where she leads initiatives to support first-generation students and faculty through inclusive programming, research, and data-informed planning. Her professional focus includes information literacy, user experience, and communication strategies that foster student engagement and academic success—particularly for first-generation and underserved populations.
She holds master’s degrees in Mass Media and Library Science and earned her Ed.D. in Instructional Technology and Distance Education. Her dissertation employed interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) to explore the communication preferences and experiences of first-generation students with academic librarians across in-person, online, and hybrid modalities. The study identified key themes related to psychological distance, proactive support, cultural connection, and the role of librarians in affirming the identity of first-generation students.
She is the author of Empathy by Design: Empathy-Driven Marketing for Libraries (ACRL, 2024), which presents frameworks for creating human-centered and values-aligned communication in academic libraries. She also contributes to institutional initiatives focused on scholarly communication, micro-credential development, and integrating emotional intelligence and empathy into instructional design, with a commitment to building sustainable systems that enhance access, belonging, and student engagement.
research interests
First-generation college students; academic librarian communication; empathic design; empathy-driven marketing; instructional design; Universal Design for Learning (UDL); micro-credential development; micro-learning; andragogy; social presence; distance education; emotional intelligence in teaching and learning; inclusive outreach strategies; qualitative research; systems design and thinking in higher education.
