M.A. The Ohio State University (German Literature and Applied Linguistics), 2017
M.A. Free University of Berlin (German as a Foreign Language: Teaching Culture), 2016
B.A. University of Luxemburg (European Cultures, German, English), 2013
B.B.A. (equiv.) Business School Dortmund (Human Relations), 2007

During the 2018-2019 academic year, I collected data in Germany for my ethnographic multiple case study with refugees from Syria, Iran, Iraq, and Somalia. The goal of my research was to gain a deeper understanding of refugees’ literacy and language practices, their roles and functions in refugees’ everyday lives, and how they developed and transformed over time and between spaces. Furthermore, I aimed to foreground refugees’ perspectives on literacy, language learning, and integration and to identify related needs and challenges. For this, I examined in depth the processes of how adult refugees develop and maintain their literacy and language practices and make meaning. In a second step, I looked at how these local practices were interconnected with global issues of mobility, literacy, and language learning in the context of refuge and migration.

My field work and research in Germany was partially funded by the Office of International Affairs Academic Enrichment Grant and the College of Arts and Sciences (Ohio State).

Courses taught  
  At Ohio State, Columbus, OH
   German 1101 – SP17
   German 1102 – AU17, SP18
   German 1103 – AU15, SP16, AU16, SU18
   German 3102 – AU17 (Co-taught with Prof. Grotans: Graduate Teaching Apprenticeship)

 At the University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur Malaysia
   German Review (Intermediate level) – Winter 2011/2

 At Intercultural Academy, Dortmund, Germany
   German for the Professions – Summer 2017

 At VHS Hagen, Germany
   Integration Course: German for Refugees and Migrants
   Summer 2017
   Summer 2018 – Summer 2019

Conference Presentations
“Über den Unterricht hinaus: Untersuchung schriftsprachlicher und multimodaler Praktiken im Alltag von erwachsenen Geflüchteten“, Presentation at 2. Konferenz des Netzwerks Flüchtlingsforschung, Eichstätt, Germany, October 2018 (upcoming).
“Extensive Reading in the German Language Program”: Roundtable presentation at the ACTFL Convention, Nashville, November 2017.
“Hacking the communicative modes in a blended classroom”: Co-presenter at the ACTFL Convention, Nashville, November 2017.
“Combined Explicit & Implicit Reading Instruction in the German Language Program” presented at Indiana University Graduate Student Conference in Germanic Studies, Bloomington, March 2017.

Research Interests

• Translingual and Multilingual Literacy Practices and Events
• (L2) Literacy as Social Practice
• Multimodality and Superdiversity
• Narrative Inquiry
• Autoethnography
• Reading in a Second/Foreign Language
• Extensive Reading
• Reading-Writing Connections
• Motivation and Investment in (L2) Reading, Learning, and Teaching
• Identity in L2 Learning, Teaching, and Research
• Second Language Acquisition
• Foreign Language Education

Awards, Grants, and Stipends
Academic Enrichment Grant (2018-2019), Office of International Affairs, OSU
Research Tuition Stipend (2018-2019), College of Arts and Sciences, OSU
Graduate Service Award (2018), Department of Germanic Languages & Literatures, OSU

University Service and Projects at Ohio State
2017 – 2018    President of the Graduate Student Working Group for Foreign Language Research and Teaching (FLRT)
2017 – 2018    Secretary of the Germanic Graduate Student Association (GGSA)
2017 – 2018    Student Representative to the Graduate Advisory Council (GAC)
2017 – 2018     CGS Representative to the University Recreational Sports Committee (URSC)
2017 – 2018     Second Language Research Forum 2017 (SLRF): Reviewer, Workshop Organization & Coordination
2017                 Member of the OSU Fulbright Review Panel for English Teaching Assistants in Malaysia
2017                 Coordinator of the German Reading Circle
2016 – 2017     Liaison to the German Club
2015 – 2016     Member of the Kaffeestunde Committee

Employment
2018 – 2019     German & English Language Teacher, VHS Hagen, Germany
2015 – 2018     Graduate Teaching Associate, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH
2017                 German Language Teacher, VHS Hagen & Intercultural Academy Dortmund, Germany
2014 – 2016     Graduate Associate, Institute for School Quality (ISQ), Berlin, Germany
2012 – 2014     Item Developer, Luxemburg Centre for Educational Testing, University of Luxemburg
2011 – 2012     Teaching Intern, Department of Asian and European Languages, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
2010 – 2012     Undergraduate Associate, Research Unit EMACS, University of Luxemburg
2004 – 2009     Administrative Associate, Thalia Service GmbH, Hagen, Germany