Roundtable
Language Program Vitality: Building Community
Amidst longstanding concerns about declining enrollments in language study, how can we promote language program vitality? Inspired by the co-edited volume, Language Program Vitality: From Surviving to Thriving in Higher Education (Heidrich Uebel, et. al., 2023), this roundtable features various efforts to sustain or enhance language programs today within higher education.
Specifically, the presentations comprising this roundtable cover both recruitment/retention and feature high-impact practices that span multiple levels, from individual courses to intra- and inter-departmental initiatives.
As a whole, the presentations will offer an opportunity to consider how we can celebrate and articulate the value of language study at UC Berkeley, framing it not as an obstacle, but as central to the mission of the humanities and to the campus.
Monday, September 23, 2024
Zoom, 2-4 pm
This lecture is sponsored by the College of Letters and Science.
Talk 1
Pathways to Thriving Language Programs: Reflection and Action
Emily Heidrich Uebel
Academic Specialist at MSU and Associate Executive Director of the National LCTL Resource Center
Bio: Emily Heidrich Uebel (Ph.D., University of Wisconsin‐Madison) is an Academic Specialist at the Center for Language Teaching Advancement and the Associate Executive Director of the National LCTL Resource Center at Michigan State University. Her research interests include foreign language proficiency, educational technology and online instruction, curriculum design, LCTL education, and education abroad topics. More information can be found on her website: https://emilyheidrichuebel.com/
Felix Kronenberg
Director of the Center for Language Teaching Advancement (CeLTA), Director of the National Less Commonly Taught Languages Resource Center (NLRC), and an Associate Professor of German in the Department of Linguistics, Languages, and Cultures at Michigan State University
Bio: Felix Kronenberg is the Director of the Center for Language Teaching Advancement (CeLTA), Director of the National Less Commonly Taught Languages Resource Center (NLRC), and an Associate Professor of German in the Department of Linguistics, Languages, and Cultures at Michigan State University. His research interests include materiality in (language) education, program administration, learning space design, place, innovation in language education, and technology. More information can be found here: http://www.felixkronenberg.com/
Dr. Scott Sterling
Associate Professor of TESL and Linguistics, Indiana State University
Bio: Scott Sterling (Ph.D., Michigan State University) is an Associate Professor of linguistics and TESL at Indiana State University. His research includes meta-research, research ethics, and second language acquisition. More information can be found on his website: https://www.scott-sterling.com/
Talk 2
Uniting on all Levels: Highlighting Languages on Campus
Jane Sokolosky
Distinguished Senior Lecturer, Department of German Studies, Brown University
Bio: Jane Sokolosky (Ph.D., Washington University) served as the Director of Brown's Center for Language Studies from 2018-2024. There she coordinated programming for undergrads, graduate students and faculty in order to promote the teaching and learning of all languages on campus and spearheaded successful initiatives for an undergraduate certificate in intercultural competence and a graduate certificate in language pedagogy.
Talk 3
Trial, Error, and Success: Recruitment and Retention Initiatives in a Small German Program
Kristin Lange
Associate Professor of German. Elon University (NC)
Bio: Kristin Lange (PhD, University of Arizona) is Associate Professor of German at Elon University in North Carolina, where she co-leads the German program with Scott Windham and teaches courses in German, global education, and the Elon Core Curriculum. Her scholarship explores the literacy movement in language education, especially for beginning language learners, alternative assessment, and student recruitment and retention.
Scott Windham
Associate Professor of German, Elon University (NC)
Bio: Scott Windham (PhD, UNC-Chapel Hill) is Associate Professor of German at Elon University in North Carolina, where he co-leads the German program with Kristin Lange and teaches courses in German and the Elon Core Curriculum. His research interests are learning transfer, the use of grammar for critical expression, and fictional reckonings with Nazism.
Talk 4
Opening the French Classroom: Enhancing Student Learning through Community-Engagement
Sandie Blaise
Lecturer in French, Department of French and Italian, Princeton University
Bio: Sandie Blaise (PhD, Duke University) is a Lecturer in French at Princeton University. Her teaching and research interests include migrant studies, Haitian literature, and community-based language learning. At Princeton, she has taught various levels of French and co-created a course on community engagement, which she has taught twice since 2023.
Monday, September 23, 2024
Zoom, 2-4 pm
This lecture is sponsored by the College of Letters and Science.