The UWEC Languages faculty members had a year full of presentations, publications, and other accomplishments.
Dr. Josh Brown, professor of German, gave an invited lecture, titled “German-American Multilingualism: New Ways of Using Old Evidence,” for the Max Kade Center at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis on Oct. 7.
Dr. Brown was invited to write the guest Oktoberfest blog post for Duolingo. His post, “Highs, Lows, and Golden Horns in the History of German,” encourages deeper historical, linguistic and cultural study of language in addition to its structural elements.
Dr. Brown and co-author Dr. Angela Hoffman (Uppsala University) gave a presentation titled “Ethnographies of Language and Music in Language Shift” at the Workshop on Immigrant Languages in the Americas, held Nov. 10-12 at UW-Madison.
Dr. Brown gave an invited presentation, titled “Celebrating Mountain Mary: The Art of Folk Craft,” Nov. 20 at the Pennsylvania German Cultural Heritage Center at Kutztown University. The presentation explored historical and contemporary material culture of the Pennsylvania Germans.
Congratulations to the following UW-Eau Claire educators who recently were named University Fellows, a new donor-supported initiative that aims to recognize and celebrate high-achieving faculty and instructional staff members: Dr. Josh Brown.
Dr. Brown gave two presentations at the Germanic Linguistics Annual Conference April 20-22 at the University of Calgary. The presentations were “Fieldwork Ethics and Undergraduate Research” and “The Linguistic Diversity of German” as part of a panel of researchers.
Dr. Brown wrote a blog post for Duolingo, titled “Why does the word for ‘butterfly’ in German get so much attention?” on word history, language attitudes and folklore of the German language.
Dr. Brown was elected to the Executive Committee of the Society for German-American Studies at its annual symposium, held April 27-29 in Washington, D.C. SGAS is the largest and most visible scholarly organization for the field of transnational German (and German-speaking) studies. It produces a peer-reviewed journal and awards a number of research grants to both graduate students and established researchers. Brown will serve the organization for six years — two years as vice president, two as president and two as outgoing president.
Dr. Brown wrote a piece on language learning, seasonal eating and Germany’s obsession with asparagus for the July 18 Duolingo blog post “Spargelzeit: the German word for the most delicious season of the year.”
Ami Christensen, Intensive English Program coordinator and senior lecturer in the languages department, recently completed an English language specialist assignment sponsored by the Regional English Language Office and the American Center in Moscow. As part of the Entrepreneurship in English Language Teaching Project, she led a webinar and virtual consulting session on the topic of managing budgets and resources for nearly 400 instructors and administrators in Russia.
Ami Christensen presented at the TESOL 2023 Virtual International Convention & English Language Expo earlier this month. The presentation, “Wordplay: Inspiring Creativity and Collaboration Through Music,” was conducted with Marie van Romburgh of the Greenville County School District in Greenville, South Carolina. Learn more about the Wordplay project online.
Dr. Analisa DeGrave, professor of languages and Latin American and Latinx studies, received a Faculty Research/Conference Award from the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies. The project, “Expressions of Protracted Trauma and Resistance to Authoritarianism and Patriarchy in 21st-Century Nicaragua: Art, Performance and Public Engagement by Matagalpa’s Women’s Network,” aligns with her 2022-23 sabbatical project.
Dr. Marcela Depiante, associate professor of Spanish in the languages department, presented the paper “A Syntactic Analysis of Locative ‘a/en lo de’ Constructions in Argentinean Spanish” at the XXXIII Congreso Internacional de Literatura y Estudios Hispánicos June 23 in Cádiz, Spain.
Dr. Depiante co-authored the paper “Person Restrictions in Non-Canonical Agreement Patterns in Spanish” with Dr. Adolfo Ausín of Michigan State University, which was published in the book “Innovative Approaches to Research in Hispanic Linguistics: Regional, Diachronic, and Learner Profile Variation.” The book was edited by Sara Fernández Cuenca, Tiffany Judy and Lauren Miller and published by John Benjamins Publishing Co.
Dr. Anne Cummings Hlas, professor of languages; Jesselyn Nadolny, a 2022 Spanish education graduate; and Dr. Christopher Hlas, professor of mathematics, had their chapter, “Investigating Creativity in Online K-12 World Language Classrooms,” which previously was published in an IGI Global publication, selected by IGI Global’s executive editorial board for inclusion as a reprinted chapter in the “Research Anthology on Remote Teaching and Learning and the Future of Online Education.” The citation is: Hlas, A.C., Nadolny, J.J. and Hlas, C.S. 2023, “Investigating Creativity in Online K-12 World Language Classrooms,” Chapter 95, in I. Management Association (Ed.), “Research Anthology on Remote Teaching and Learning and the Future of Online Education,” pages 1886-1910, IGI Global. DOI link.
Dr. Hlas and Jesselyn Julson, a spring 2022 UW-Eau Claire graduate, co-presented “Teacher’s Toolbox: Planning a Talk Read Talk Write (TRTW) Lesson” at the 2022 Wisconsin Association for Language Teachers fall conference, held Nov. 3-5 in Appleton.
Dr. Hlas presented the keynote address “Cultivating Creativity in the Language Classroom” and the workshop “Creative Language Teaching: Using Visuals in the Classroom” for the Colorado Congress of Foreign Language Teachers Feb. 2-4 in Denver. She also presented “Talk Read Talk Write Lesson Planning” to the foreign languages department at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs.
Dr. Anne Hlas and Dr. Christopher Hlas, professor of mathematics, received an American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages 2022 Research Priorities Grant for their collaborative research project “Creative Profiles of Language Pre-Service Teachers.”
Dr. Paul Hoff gave the presentation “Let’s Question Our Questions” at the 2022 Wisconsin Association for Language Teachers (WAFLT) fall conference, held Nov. 3-5 in Appleton. At the conference, UW-Eau Claire alumni Deana Zorko, a 1989 Spanish education graduate, and Pablo Muirhead, a 1995 Spanish and German education graduate, were featured speakers for the keynote presentation “Wisconsin Voices,” and Andrea Behn, a 2000 French education graduate, was announced as WAFLT president-elect.
Dr. Kaishan Kong, associate professor of Chinese in the languages department, delivered the workshop “Interweaving Culture into the Language Classroom: Planning, Delivering, Assessing” at the 2022 Minnesota Council on the Teaching of Languages and Cultures annual conference, held Nov. 4-5 in Plymouth, Minnesota. The workshop was sponsored by the Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition. Kong also was invited by the Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Shah Alam, Malaysia, to be a panelist in the virtual forum discussion “Language in the Global Perspective: Maximising Potential for Academics and Students” on Nov. 9 to celebrate the Academy of Language Studies’ 50th Golden Jubilee.
Dr. Kong gave two presentations at the 2022 American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages annual convention, held Nov. 18-20 in Boston. Kong collaborated with Lauren Rosen of the UW Collaborative Language Program and Dr. Hongying Xu of UW-La Crosse to present the digital poster “How to Increase Retention with Digital Badges and Course Sharing” on Nov. 19. She also gave the paper presentation “Understanding and Integrating Social Justice in Chinese Language Classrooms” on Nov. 20.
Dr. Kong co-presented virtually with Dr. Kalai Vaani Rajandram of Taylor’s University, Malaysia, at the 2022 Cultures and Languages Across the Curriculum Conference on Dec. 3. Their presentation, “Global Connections: Intercultural Talk Between the U.S. and Malaysia,” reported a virtual exchange project between students at UW-Eau Claire and students in Malaysia.
Dr. Kong co-presented “Flipping the Grid: Moving from Language Acquisition to Identity Construction” (virtually) with Dr. Kalai Vaani Rajandram of Taylor’s University, Malaysia, at the 2022 Malaysian English Language Teaching Association International Conference on Dec. 17. Their presentation, which received a Silver Award in the academics category, was a result of a virtual exchange program between students at UW-Eau Claire and those at Taylor’s University, Malaysia.
Dr. Kong presented “Enhancing Pragmatic and Intercultural Competence for Second Language Speakers,” for the faculty and students in the Academy of Language Studies at the Universiti Teknologi Mara, Malaysia, on Jan. 4.
Dr. Kong gave an invited professional development workshop, titled “Using 3Fs to Jumpstart Teaching Culture in Language Classrooms,” Jan. 17 for world language teachers in the Bloomington (Minnesota) Public Schools.
Dr. Kong had her paper “Crossing the River by Feeling the Stones: Understanding and Integrating Social Justice in Chinese Language Class” published in The Modern Language Journal, Vol. 106, No. 4, pages 726-743.
Dr. Kong presented the webinar “Amplifying Asian Voices in Curriculum Design and Instruction” Feb. 9 and the workshop “Be Like Water: Amplifying Asian Voices in Language Education with Flexibility and Resilience” Feb. 17 for the Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition (CARLA). Both presentations were part of CARLA’s Social Justice in Language Education initiative.
Dr. Kong gave an invited workshop titled “Centering Culture in Curriculum and Instruction” March 2 for the global languages and cultures faculty at Texas A&M University.
Dr. Kong presented “Centering Students’ Voices in Intercultural Conversation” at the UW System Office of Professional & Instructional Development’s 2023 Spring Conference on Teaching & Learning. On April 23 she delivered the workshop “Unfolding the Diversity of Chinese Culture in Language Education” to the program directors and faculty members of CET Academic Programs, one of the study abroad providers for U.S. students.
Dr. Kong gave the invited presentation “Challenges and Possibilities in World Languages Education” June 8 to the English department faculty at Suzhou City University in China.
Dr. Kong co-authored the paper “Global Learning: Virtual Exchange Between Malaysia and the U.S.” with Dr. Kalai Vaani Rajandram of Taylor’s University in Malaysia, which was published in The Global Impact Exchange, a quarterly publication of Diversity Abroad. The paper reported on a six-week virtual exchange project that connected undergraduate students from UW-Eau Claire with those at Taylor’s University to explore culture and identities. Kong also gave a presentation titled “Empowering Educators: Cultivating Academic Excellence in Study Abroad Program Teaching and Facilitation” Aug. 2 to the academic staff, instructors and curriculum review committee of CET Academic Programs, one of the study abroad providers for U.S. students.
Congratulations to Dr. Jessica Miller who completed Tier 3 of the EDI professional development program by successfully completing a Transparent Design project.
Dr. Jessica Miller, professor of French in the languages department, presented “Developing Open Educational Resources in Small Programs” at the 2022 Wisconsin Association for Language Teachers fall conference, held Nov. 3-5 in Appleton.
Dr. Miller presented “It Takes a Village: A Collaborative Model to Promote OER Across Campus” at the 2022 American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages annual convention Nov. 19 in Boston.
Dr. Miller had her review of the textbook “Exercices d’apprentissage pour la traduction,” by Servanne Woodward, published in The French Review, Vol. 96, No. 3, pages 275-276.
Dr. Miller had her article “Academic Integrity in the Virtual Language Class” published in “Empathy, Equity, Empowerment: 2023 Report of the Central States Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages,” edited by C. Glynn and A. Spenader.
Dr. Miller presented “Creating and Sharing a Multimodal Intermediate French Sequence: Successes and Challenges” March 11 at the 2023 Language OER Conference hosted online by the Open Language Resource Center at the University of Kansas and the Center for Open Educational Resources and Language Learning at the University of Texas at Austin.
At the College of Arts and Sciences Meeting May 2, certificates were presented to recipients of the 2023 College of Arts and Sciences awards. The following faculty and staff were recognized: Dr. Jessica Miller, professor of languages, Maxwell Schoenfeld Award; Dr. Elena Casey, assistant professor of languages, Janis Annette Haywood Faculty Development Fund Award; Meghan Licon, senior lecturer in languages, Outstanding Instructional Staff Award; Vicki Schafer, languages, Outstanding Non-Instructional Staff Award.
Dr. Miller gave two presentations at the American Association of Teachers of French convention July 23-26 in Trois-Rivières, Québec, Canada. The first was part of a panel on cinema, and she presented the documentary film “Les Rivières” by Mai Hua, along with related pedagogical activities. The second was titled “Histoires de Femmes: Amplifions les Voix Féminines avec la Bande Dessinée” and described ways to incorporate women’s stories into French courses with the support of graphic novels.
Dr. José Valero, professor of Spanish in the languages department, presented the talk “Hacia el rescate crítico de una tragedia ilustrada: ‘El Guzmán’ de Enrique Ramos” at the XXXIII Congreso Internacional de Literatura y Estudios Hispánicos June 23 in Cádiz, Spain.
Dr. Fabiola Varela-García, professor of Spanish in the languages department, gave the invited talk “La huella del español isleño en el inglés estadounidense: La apicalización de la nasal velar final en el inglés de la Parroquia de San Bernardo” for the Lingüístics doctoral program May 17 at the University of Málaga in Málaga, Spain. Varela-García also presented the paper “Efectos Translingüísticos entre el español canario del siglo XVIII de Luisiana y el inglés hablado en la Parroquia de San Bernardo” at the Congreso Internacional sobre el español en Andalucía, Canarias y América: Medio siglo del ALEA (1973-2023), held June 28-30 in Málaga, Spain.
Dr. Matt Waters, professor of languages and history, recently had two articles published: “Peace in Pieces: Making Peace in Elam,” in “Making Peace in the Ancient World,” edited by G. Lanfranchi, S. Ponchetta and R. Rollinger, Münster: Zaphon, 2022, pages 249-263; and “Exploring Elam as Empire,” in “Empires to be Remembered: Ancient Worlds Through Modern Times,” edited by Michael Gehler and Robert Rollinger, Wiesbaden: Springer, 2022, pages 205-219.
