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Culpeper Language Center Director
Gustavus Adolphus College

I am currently employed as the Director of the Culpeper Language Center at Gustavus Adolphus College. I began working at Gustavus in July of 2005.

What do I do?
My job at Gustavus is very interesting and allows me to do a variety of things related to both second language acquisition and emerging technologies. My main duty as the director of the Culpeper Language Center is to manage the center and explore new ways of using technology to assist the language learning process. When the language department faculty choose to use a new technology, whether it is a technology I have presented to them or one they have discovered on their own, it is my job to support them by offering assistance to both them and their students. I work very closely with both the language department and Gustavus Technology Services to keep everything running as smoothly as possible and to continually move forward in the field. The Modern Language department at Gustavus offers French, German, Japanese, Russian, and Spanish. I also occasionally work with the Scandinavian Studies, Classics, and English departments.

As of the 2006-2007 academic year I also began teaching a January Term course in introductory Chinese language and culture. The course is designed to be foremost an intensive language course, however I believe that integrating cultural studies into a language course gives the students context and helps them appreciate the language more. Therefore the course has a strong cultural component in addition to the study of the Chinese language. I also have had the opportunity to aid with the Intro to East Asian History course. I helped the instructor by suggesting textbooks, attending class to add my perspective, and giving several full lectures on topics in Chinese history.

As a member of Gustavus Technology Services, I have had the chance to work on several technology related projects outside the Culeper Center. Once such project is Moodle. I am one of three primary support persons for Moodle, an open-source course management system hosted locally on Gustavus servers. I am a primary contact for faculty across campus who wish to use Moodle in their courses. I have also created the vast majority of Gustavus-specific online documentation for the use of Moodle.

What is the Culpeper Language Center?
The Culpeper Language Center is a computer lab, study space, and multimedia classroom designed specifically to aid the study of foreign languages. The center contains 23 Mac Mini core duo computers, each has the software necessary to aid Gustavus faculty and students in foreign language education. The center also has a teacher's station with a Mac G5 tower, region-free DVD and multi-region VCR players and projection system. The lab is often used by faculty for in-class activities such as word processing, iChating, podcasting, and website creation. The center also houses three specialty areas outside of the main computer lab: the media development station, the international television and movie viewing station, and the reading/studying lounge.

The Culpeper center employs 12 work-study students. Students are trained to use the center's various technologies and are available to help students and faculty trouble shoot problems during open lab hours. These students are trained and supervised by me. They are a great help to the lab and are generally a joy to work with.

Current Projects
Chinese Course
Moodle
Podcasts
Vodcasts
International TV
Software documentation
French Major ePortolios
Website development