Yale Bulletin and Calendar

October 26, 2007|Volume 36, Number 8

New director to take helm at
Yale Center for Language Study

The Center for Language Study at Yale will welcome a new director, Nelleke Van Deusen-Scholl, on Nov. 1.

Van Deusen-Scholl is coming to Yale from the University of Pennsylvania (Penn), where she is director of the Penn Language Center in the School of Arts and Sciences and adjunct associate professor in the Graduate School of Education.

“Yale is fortunate to have recruited such an extraordinary educator and expert in language study to oversee and continue the important work of the Center for Language Study,” said Provost Andrew Hamilton in a letter announcing the appointment.

More than 50 languages are taught at Yale. The Center for Language Studies provides coordination and support for these courses. These include technological services and guidance, workshops and seminars for language teachers, independent study opportunities, language programs for graduate students and language tutoring resources.

As the center’s director, Van Deusen-Scholl will work closely with faculty, students and senior administrators to address the issues and needs of Yale’s foreign language programs, and will track national and international trends and developments in language study. In addition, she will promote awareness of Yale’s language study activities among professional organizations, other institutions of higher education and consortia.

Van Deusen-Scholl, who holds a Ph.D. in linguistics from the University of Florida, focuses her research on sociolinguistics and foreign language education, with a specific emphasis on heritage language learning and the role of technology in language teaching and learning. At Penn, she is a member of the Language Advisory Committee and oversees the School of Arts and Sciences Language Instructional Improvement grants program. She is vice president of the Northeast Association for Language Learning and Technology and review editor for the Heritage Language Journal.

In announcing Van Deusen-Scholl’s appointment, Hamilton also expressed his appreciation to Nina Garrett, the founding director of the Center for Language Study who retired in June. Noting that Garrett led the center “from its inception to the significant place it holds at Yale today,” Hamilton added, “Nina’s energy and dedication to language study leaves Yale with a state-of-the-art language center, a dramatic increase in the support and professionalism of Yale’s lectors and senior lectors, and a multiplication of the number of languages taught at Yale.”

Hamilton also expressed his appreciation to the members of the search committee, chaired by Rolena Adorno, the Reuben Post Halleck Professor of Spanish and chair of the Department of Spanish and Portuguese. The other committee members included Edward Kamens, the Sumitomo Professor of Japanese Studies; Steven Fraade, the Mark Taper Professor of the History of Judaism; Kirk Wetters, assistant professor of Germanic languages and literatures; Risa Sodi, senior lector in the Italian Language Program; Sandra Sanneh, senior lector in African languages; Joseph Gordon, deputy dean of Yale College; Nancy Ruther, associate director of the MacMillan Center; and Emily Bakemeier, associate provost.

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Campus Notes