Dr Elena Sheldon is a Senior Lecturer in the School of International Studies and Education within the Faculty of Design and Society at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS). She coordinates the ICS Spain Major, the Latin American Studies Major, and the Spanish Language and Culture program.

She holds a Master of Applied Linguistics (Second Language Teaching) from the University of Sydney, and an MA (Research) and PhD from UNSW. Her work as a teacher educator and researcher is grounded in the belief that education is transformative, enabling individuals to think critically, act ethically, and engage interculturally in a multilingual world.

Dr Sheldon has led the development of the Spanish Language and Culture program within the Bachelor of International Studies (BIS) into a nationally and internationally recognised model of language education. The program integrates language, culture, and disciplinary knowledge, fostering intercultural competence, global perspectives, and multiliteracy through an innovative pedagogy informed by Genre-Based Pedagogy (GBP).

She supervises students undertaking in-country studies in Spain, mentoring them through academic writing and research projects, including essays, fieldwork-based studies, and Honours theses. Her teaching and leadership contribute to the development of globally minded graduates with advanced language proficiency and strong intercultural and analytical skills.

A key achievement has been the establishment of partnerships with ten leading Spanish universities, including the University of Zaragoza and the Autonomous University of Madrid, supporting an intercultural engagement model that connects students prior to and during mobility.

Dr Sheldon is well known for her research in applied linguistics, English for Academic Purposes, and second language literacy development. In recent years, she has focused on academic writing for publication. Her book, Knowledge Construction in Academia: A Challenge for Multilingual Scholars (Peter Lang, 2018), alongside several journal articles, critically examines the dominance of English in academic publishing and the pressures faced by scholars in Hispanic contexts to publish in elite English-language journals.