Date/Time
Date(s) - 09/28/2023
3:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Location
JFSB 4010
Category(ies)
Jennifer Redmann is Professor of German and Chair of the Department of German, Russian and East Asian Languages at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, PA. At F&M and two previous institutions, she led successful curriculum reform efforts to rebuild and strengthen German programs. Redmann has published articles on both language pedagogy and German Studies topics and is co-author (with Pennylyn Dykstra-Pruim) of the textbook Schreiben lernen: A Writing Guide for Learners of German, which appeared with Yale University Press in a second edition in 2023. In 2020, she received the post-secondary Outstanding German Educator Award from the American Association of Teachers of German and in 2022, she was the recipient of Franklin & Marshall College’s Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching.
Title: Rethinking the Language Curriculum in a Time of Crisis
The elimination of the World Language Department at West Virginia University is the latest firestorm in an ongoing crisis of the Humanities in American higher ed. As challenging as this moment is, however, it may open opportunities to think creatively about the language curriculum. Can we reconcile the goals of functional skill development, cultural competence, critical thinking, and career readiness within the language curriculum? Can we create a language curriculum that attracts students, meets the needs of diverse learners, and is accessible to all, regardless of their background or means? Jennifer Redmann will describe how an integrated, literacies-based language curriculum may help language faculty meet the challenges of this moment and begin to rethink some long-standing assumptions about the goals and structure of the language curriculum.
Please join us on September 28th from 3-4 PM in 4010 JFSB to hear her speak.