I am a dedicated instructor, focused on helping students at all levels of German develop language proficiency and intercultural competence through a communicative language approach. As director of the German language program, I work closely with all graduate student instructors, instructional professors, and lecturers teaching in our program. My scholarly work has focused primarily on German Romanticism, Poetic Realism, and narratology. Other areas of expertise include literary and visual representations of WWI, and the literature and culture of the Weimar Republic.
Intellectual Profile
I received my Ph.D. in Germanic Studies from the University of Chicago in 2018. My dissertation, “Tradition, Transmission, Translation: Narrative Frames In Nineteenth-Century German Novellas,” focused on techniques of narrative framing in the works of four authors: Ludwig Tieck, Clemens Brentano, Adalbert Stifter and Conrad Ferdinand Meyer. Through close textual analyses, I demonstrated that frames should not be understood as static structural elements, but rather as dynamic, active interventions that have the capacity to direct interpretation.
In 2019, I was appointed director of the German language program. I now oversee all aspects of the program, including curricular design and articulation, assessment development, and placement advising. As a language instructor, I am committed to communicative and task-based methods of language learning. I also know that teaching is a dynamic endeavor, and am dedicated to continuing my development as an instructor and incorporating new pedagogical strategies into my courses. I have twice received the University of Chicago Language Pedagogy Innovation Initiative’s Course Development Grant, and am an active member of the second language acquisition and pedagogy scholarly community. I have organized workshops and delivered presentations on topics such as student-centered teaching, inclusive learning strategies, developing online portfolio assignments, authority in the classroom, and practice-based education.
Work with Students
I work closely with both the undergraduate and graduate students in the Germanic Studies Department. In addition to teaching at all levels of the program, I advise undergraduate students interested in studying abroad, applying for language acquisition grants, and/or pursuing a job or degree in a German-speaking country after graduation. I also advise and mentor the graduate students in the Germanic Studies Department as they hone their skills as instructors of German. This includes regular meetings, course observations, and an annual week-long orientation, as well as feedback and guidance on developing lesson plans, syllabi, and assessments.
Teaching
- Elementary German
- Intensive German
- German Fairy Tales
- Fairy Tales and the Fantastic
- Man and Machine: Technology in the Weimar Republic
- Literary Representations of the Body, 1900-1945
- Navigating German Nationalism in Film and Opera