Personal Background
I'm a native Oregonian and grew up in a small town with a deep connection to nature and the values of hard work and self sufficiency. I ventured abroad as a college student to live and work in Basel, Switzerland, before moving to Texas for graduate school. Throughout my career, I've been lucky to work with wonderful supervisors, who have consistently gone out of their way to connect me with opportunities. I am grateful to have a supportive professional network and highly competent colleagues to collaborate with.
These days, I walk through the woods any chance I get, and archery is a family pastime. When I'm on my own, I read, meditate and write. My husband and I keep up with current events and like to discuss a variety of philosophical and intellectual topics. I also enjoy playing games with my children and teaching them new things. Most importantly, my family helps me stay youthful and reminds me how much fun life is!
These days, I walk through the woods any chance I get, and archery is a family pastime. When I'm on my own, I read, meditate and write. My husband and I keep up with current events and like to discuss a variety of philosophical and intellectual topics. I also enjoy playing games with my children and teaching them new things. Most importantly, my family helps me stay youthful and reminds me how much fun life is!
Skills and Ambitions
Communication Skills
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Teaching and Administrative Skills
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Ambitions
I aim to create high quality educational materials on a variety of topics related to language, culture and society. I would love to help others develop their writing and thinking skills along the way, and I am especially interested in working with people who are disadvantaged or have little to no experience with higher education. The current university system is outdated, and does not serve the needs of every adult seeking to learn new skills and competencies; I want to promote and improve online education because I believe it will play an ever-increasing role in the economy of the future.
I aim to create high quality educational materials on a variety of topics related to language, culture and society. I would love to help others develop their writing and thinking skills along the way, and I am especially interested in working with people who are disadvantaged or have little to no experience with higher education. The current university system is outdated, and does not serve the needs of every adult seeking to learn new skills and competencies; I want to promote and improve online education because I believe it will play an ever-increasing role in the economy of the future.
Language and Linguistics
My Academic Career
I specialize in German and linguistics, with a focus on semantics and cognitive linguistics. My research ranges from applications of linguistic concepts to teaching a foreign language (for example, teaching using cultural scripts, frames), to the use of metaphor in German newspapers (in my dissertation). I use current linguistic theory to inform my teaching and have worked extensively on the open source German Frame Dictionary, incorporating it into the second year German classes at Southern Oregon University (learn more by reading my article in this book, published in 2022).
I specialize in German and linguistics, with a focus on semantics and cognitive linguistics. My research ranges from applications of linguistic concepts to teaching a foreign language (for example, teaching using cultural scripts, frames), to the use of metaphor in German newspapers (in my dissertation). I use current linguistic theory to inform my teaching and have worked extensively on the open source German Frame Dictionary, incorporating it into the second year German classes at Southern Oregon University (learn more by reading my article in this book, published in 2022).
I'm intrigued by meaning and AMAZED that humans understand each other despite abundant speech errors, dialectal variation and small-scale miscommunications.
Research Interests
My research interests include lexical semantics, conceptual metaphor, cognitive approaches to language teaching, politeness, migration to the European Union, politics in the German-speaking countries of Europe, current cultural and demographic changes in Germany, and older Germanic languages and cultures.
Ultimately, I'd love to investigate the role that conceptual structure plays in human consciousness (think the spiritual kind, not simply awake-versus-not-awake); I believe language is an important window to that connection because it reveals the concepts that we pay attention to and helps us understand how we categorize our experiences.
My research interests include lexical semantics, conceptual metaphor, cognitive approaches to language teaching, politeness, migration to the European Union, politics in the German-speaking countries of Europe, current cultural and demographic changes in Germany, and older Germanic languages and cultures.
Ultimately, I'd love to investigate the role that conceptual structure plays in human consciousness (think the spiritual kind, not simply awake-versus-not-awake); I believe language is an important window to that connection because it reveals the concepts that we pay attention to and helps us understand how we categorize our experiences.