Teaching for me is a great pleasure and a form of intellectual stimulation. Some of the courses I have developed and taught over the past few years are listed below.
- MLL 190 The World of Language I
- An exploration of the nature of language, with a focus on the balance between biology and society in the development of human linguistic ability. Includes segments on language origins, sign language, writing, nonverbal communication, animal communication, language acquisition, language and brain, etc.
- MLL 191 The World of Language II
- Further exploration of the nature of language, this time with a focus on language in human relations and on the ways in which language can be used for purposes of persuading, informing, inspiring, and deceiving. Includes segments on language change, dialect, pragmatics, language and religion, language and power, etc.
- MLL 250 Introduction to the French-Speaking World
- A historical and cultural presentation of societies in which French plays a major role, including France, Belgium, Switzerland, Quebec, North and West Africa, Asia and the Caribbean. Readings and discussions in English.
- MLL 301 Textual Analysis: Words, Images, Music
- A cross-disciplinary study of the ways in which communication is structured and of the functions it fulfills in society. Close examination of the communicative situation, textual cohesion, speech acts, etc. Analysis of advertisements, literature, music, painting, and film. Team-taught with a literary scholar.
- MLL 601 Intercultural Pragmatics
- A semiotic and pragmatic examination of communicative behavior across cultures. Focus is on the contextual links among language, nonverbal communication, and the cultural unconscious.
- MLL 602 The Ethnography of Communication
- An ethnographic examination of communication, with examples drawn from cultures around the world. Focus on the links between communication and cultural values. Among the topics: literacy, language shift, communication and modernity, etc. Team-taught with an anthropologist.
- LING 290 Introduction to Applied Linguistics
- A survey of the many areas in which linguistics connects with the world of work, including second-language acquisition, natural language processing, cryptology, discourse analysis, literacy, speech pathology, language hygiene, etc.
- LING 360 Sociolinguistics and Dialectology
- An introduction to the relationships between language varieties and social structures. Both geographical and social dialectology are treated. The course includes an examination of English in Maryland.
- HUM 120H: Introduction to the Humanities
- An introduction to the humanities as both a range of disciplines (history, literature, etc.) and a path toward richer perspectives on the world and on ourselves. Topic: Journeys through the Medieval World East and West. Team-taught.
- FREN 303A Pyrenean Communities
- Advanced work in all four language skills, with a subject focus on the people of the French Pyrenees (and their counterparts on the other side of the border). Progression from travel writing on North Catalunya to history to local newspaper discourse to political writing on the Basque problem.
- FREN 303B Alsace and Lorraine: Between Two Cultures
- Advanced work in all four language skills, with a subject focus on the people of Eastern France. Among the topics: language shift, immigration, the decline of traditional industry, French and German nationalism, and the divided nature of the Alsatian character.
- FREN 410 La Guerre des langues
- The nature and importance of language conflict, studied from perspectives borrowed from the sociology of language and the political economy of culture. Special emphasis on French in North America.
- FREN 440 Occitania: Sociolinguistic and Literary Perspectives on the Other Half of France
- A historical, sociological, and cultural look at the division of France into North and South, with consideration of the myths that surround the distinction. The destiny of the Occitan language, examples of Occitan literature and film.
- FREN 481 A History of Communication in France
- The development of the French language and of communicative practices in France (habits of speech, literacy, etc.) from Roman times to the present. Includes at the same time a review of French cultural history and an introduction to linguistic fields ranging from etymology and dialectology to literacy and creolistics.
- FREN 481 French and English in Canada
- An in-depth study of the evolution of the linguistic and cultural situation of French and English in Canada from the establishment of New France to the tensions of the contemporary Canadian nation. Includes films, debates, and guest speakers representing Quebec, the Canadian government, Anglophone Montrealers, and indigenous peoples.
