After 25 years at the BLC, I will be retiring on June 29th. The search for my successor will be underway shortly (the job should be posted on the Berkeley site within the next week or two) , but in the meantime interested individuals can review a document that Rick and I created for what had planned to be an external review, interrupted by the pandemic. That document is available here.
It has been an honor to serve the BLC language teaching community. I have been blessed with the opportunity to work for Claire for the first 12 years, and now for Rick for the past 13. Watching them work with lecturers and graduate students in BLC Fellows meetings, reading their letters to authors of pieces submitted to L2 Journal, listening to their talks or introductions of guest speakers, and reading their writings have transformed the way I think about language and the way I teach. I am forever grateful to Claire for bringing me to Berkeley, and to both of them for their patience and generosity.
I have also had the pleasure of working with so many talented lecturers and graduate students in BLC Fellows meetings. Their creativity, hard work, and dedication to their students are truly inspiring. During my years at Berkeley I was able to sit in on many classes, and I am grateful to these instructors for allowing me that pleasure and for their patience with my inability to master the subject matter: Noriko Komatsu, Yuriko Miyamoto, Maki Takata, Kayoko Imagawa, Yasuko Konno, and Chika Shibahara in Japanese, Seda Chavdarian in French, and Miryam Sas in Film Studies.
Special thanks to the Slavic Department for giving me the opportunity to teach six different courses, and to Lisa Little for her guidance and well of knowledge about all things Russian. It was a pleasure to work with Lisa on the creation of formative tests in Russian 1-4.
When the Library decided to rely on the LFLFC to deliver film across campus, I developed a close working relationship with the Media Resources Center’s Gisèle Tanasse, Jenifer Carter, and Karly Stark. We have worked closely to develop Lumière and I rely on Gisèle’s expert knowledge when copyright and fair use issues arise. The issues are infinitely more complex than I had ever imagined. Half of the films in Lumière are in English, and 98% of that work was done by the Jenifer and Karly. Along the way we have had many discussions on ways to streamline the service, both for faculty and for ourselves.
Finally and most important, I have had the pleasure to work with a talented group of professionals at the BLC: Marianne Garner (librarian), Chris Lovett & Ingrid Hoermann (shop), Alex Prisadsky & Gina Hotta (studio), Charles Derden (duplication), Ina Evans & Anna Arteaga (office manager), Melinda Schissel & Melanie Rollins & Angel Ward-Jackson (reception), and Chris Palmatier (programming); and the current staff: Victoria Williams (classroom manager), Elle Suzuki (application programmer), John Wuorenmaa (systems admin), Orlando Garcia (office manager), and Keith Hernandez (studio). These people have extraordinary dedication to the BLC and to its mission. They innovate, they adapt, they strive to serve the language teaching and learning communities at Berkeley and beyond. Any success I have enjoyed at Berkeley I owe to them and their hard work. Thank you all, and see you at future BLC events.