Research interests: Language Teaching, Business German, German Romanticism and 19th century literature.

Education

Ph. D. in German Language and Literature, Queen’s University, 2000
M. A. in German Language and Literature, Carlton University, 1991
B. A. in German and French, University of Guelph, 1989

About

Professor Holzschuh began her teaching at Queen’s with third-year Business German courses for which she compiled her own teaching materials, Deutsch in Beruf und Wirtschaft, and also co-ordinated our second-year Business German courses. She has also taught our introductory Literature Courses, GRMN 311 and 312, as well as second-year language courses. Most recently, Dr. Holzschuh has focused on our introductory language courses.

During the existence of the graduate program in the Department of German, Dr. Holzschuh was supervising MA and PhD students’ teaching, and coordinating the introductory language courses. She also reorganized the curriculum for the first-year language textbook, Kontakte, which is now used over three semesters, including in GRMN 201.

Recently, Dr. Holzschuh presented on the role of videoconferencing (Skype exchange) in intermediate German language classes at the DAAD German Studies North America Conference. She is currently working on papers on the use of clickers in teaching German, and on managing large introductory language classes. She is also involved with the AP German Language and Culture Reading happening annually in June in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA.

Teaching

Professor Holzschuh teaches  following course(s):

GRMN 101 and 102: Beginner German I and II
GRMN 201 and 202: Intermediate German I and II
GRMN 306: Business German I: German in the Workplace
GRMN 307: Business German II

Curriculum Vitae 

(PDF 28 KB)
(updated May 2014)

Research interests: Classical Arabic literature, Arabic Language and translation

Education:

BA (With Distinction ) in Spanish Language and Literature, Queen's University, 2010
BA, Faculty of Languages and literatures, Ein Shams University, Cairo, Egypt.

About:

Professor Amal's interests are in medieval Arabic Literature in Muslim Spain, Classical Arabic Literature, Religious interpretation and history.

With a background as a student in languages and literature and as a teacher of over 10 years of Arabic as a second language, she understands that each student has both strengths and weaknesses when learning a new language. Some prefer the cultural aspects solely, others thrive in the mathematical analysis of grammar rules and linguistic skills. Professor Amal tries to bring both together as being instrumental in learning the Arabic language.  Emphasis is placed on word decoding and correct grammatical application as they are vital in speech as well as in writing.

She incorporates both traditional learning methods and some new ones to strengthen the linguistic skills, and to stir an appreciation for the rich Arabic culture.

Teaching: 

Professor Eldiaby teaches the following courses:

ARAB 100 Introductory Arabic
ARAB 201 Intermediate Arabic
LLCU 216 Introduction to Arabic Culture
 

Research interests: Mohawk language & culture, learning language through culture,  Adult second language acquisition, traditional Mohawk belief & spirituality

Education

M Div    Wycliffe College, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON
B Th       Master’s College & Seminary, Peterborough, ON

About

Thanyehténhas (Nathan Brinklow) is Turtle Clan from the Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory. He grew up without the language in a community that had largely lost its heritage language as an everyday spoken language.  Nathan’s interest in the language was sparked through the “Mohawk Hymns” he sang with his grandmother as a young man and following his formal studies, he went on to study at Shatiwennakará:tats, the intensive adult language program at Tyendinaga.  He now teaches in that program.

In Nathan’s experience of learning and teaching, the language and culture are inseparable.  This informs his approach to teaching constantly passing on elements of the culture as they present themselves in the language.  Kanyen’kéha (Mohawk) is also a descriptive language and paints vivid pictures with the way words have been created, so learning to recognize the actual meanings of the words allows the contemporary speaker to actually “see” how previous generations encountered and interacted with the world.

Professional interests include second language acquisition methodologies, especially for adults; the canon of Mohawk Hymns, with attention to the unique compositions; early Bible translations and how Christian concepts were translated using traditional ideas; and the development of the traditional Mohawk cycle of ceremonies.

Teaching

Professor Brinklow teaches the following courses:

Queen's campus:
MOHK 101: Beginning Mohawk Language and Culture I
MOHK 102: Beginning Mohawk Language and Culture II

Tyendinaga:
MOHK 103/3.0  Oral Mohawk Language - Beginning I (TMT) 
MOHK 104/3.0  Beginning Mohawk Language and Culture II Tyendinaga 
MOHK 201/3.0  Intermediate Mohawk Language and Culture 
MOHK 202/3.0  Oral Mohawk Language 

Research interests: Morphology, syntax, semantics, verbal inflection, morphophonology. 

Head of Department

Education

Ph. D. in Linguistics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2011.
B. A. Joint Honours in Linguistics and Philosophy, McGill University, 2006.

About 

Professor Bjorkman arrived at Queen’s in 2015. Prior to her arrival, she was a Banting Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Linguistics at the University of Toronto. Her main research focus is on the morphology, syntax, and semantics of tense and aspect, particularly expressions of anteriority (past, perfect, and perfective) and their representations in terms of syntactic features. In the domain of syntax, she is more broadly interested in questions of how information is represented and manipulated in terms of syntactic features. She has also worked on topics in morphophonology, especially the morphological conditioning of processes such as stress assignment and reduplication, and on the syntax and semantics of coordination, especially asymmetric coordination.

Personal Website

Teaching

Professor Bjorkman teaches the following courses:

LING 100 : Introduction to Linguistics
LLCU 110: Linguistic Diversity and Identity
LING 330: Morphology
LING 340: Syntax
LING 350: Historical Linguistics
LING 360: Morpho-Syntax
LING 400: Linguistic Analysis and Argumentation

Research interests: Second language acquisition, Chinese as a second language, Chinese language and literature, Chinese text book editing, and translation.

Education

B.A.H. equivalent in Chinese Linguistics and Literature, Nankai University, Tianjin, China, 1982

About

Professor Bai has over 30 years of experience in teaching Chinese as a second language in China and Canada. She held teaching Appointments at Beijing Language and Culture University in China and the University of Regina in Canada. She has been teaching Mandarin Chinese at Queen’s University since 1995.

Professor Bai is the Winner of the Frank Knox Teaching Excellence Award in 2013 as well as the recipient of the Overseas Chinese Teacher’s Award of Outstanding Contribution 2011, presented by the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council & China Overseas Exchanges Association, P.R. China. In 2009 she received the Outstanding Overseas Chinese Teachers Award, given by Chinese Consulate General in Toronto & Chinese Culture and Education Society of Canada (CCESC).

Professor Bai believes that teaching a second language is basically teaching people how to use a target language to communicate properly with others in daily and social situations. It is an integrated process characterized by the following features: teaching-directed, learner-centered, practice-intensified, and task-oriented. In addition, teaching Chinese as a second language is a great challenge since it involves a difficult phonetic system and character writing skills which require specifically selected teaching methods. It is essential to stimulate students’ passion for learning Chinese while maintaining high standards and strict requirements, as well as targeting special difficulties in learning Chinese for students from diverse backgrounds.

Teaching

Professor Bai teaches the following courses:

CHIN 100: Introductory Mandarin Chinese I
CHIN 200: Introductory Mandarin Chinese II
CHIN 300: Intermediate Mandarin Chinese

Research interests: Italian as a second language, German as a second language, 20th century German literature,  Jewish-German women writings

Education

Ph.D. (ABD) in German language and literature, Queen’s University
M.A. in German language and literature, Queen’s University, 2004
B.A. (Hons.) in German language and literature, Queen’s University, 2002
Degree in Business, Swiss Trade School of Business, Switzerland

About

Professor Bachmann received her undergraduate and graduate education from Queen’s University. She was born in Switzerland and has lived in the French, German and Italian parts of this multilingual country. Before moving to Canada she taught German to the employees of a pharmaceutical company, while working as assistant of the CFO. She also taught German and Italian at schools in Switzerland and Canada. She has been teaching Italian and German at Queen's since 2002. However, since 2009 she has concentrated on teaching Italian. Prof. Bachmann was nominated for the Frank Knox Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2005.

While teaching she is not only transmitting the material, but also trying to create a positive and encouraging atmosphere to motivate the students to perform at their best. To broaden the approach to the language as well as to the culture she includes songs, short videos, and short stories.

In May 2022 Professor Bachmann was named a Champion for Mental Health by the Queen’s Student Mental Health Network.

Teaching

Professor Bachmann teaches the following courses:

ITLN 111: Beginning Italian I (Fall)
ITLN 204: Italiano intermedio (Fall)
ITLN 112: Beginning Italian II (Winter)

Research interests: Japanese as a foreign language, second language acquisition, linguistics 

Education

M.A. in Japanese Linguistics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA
B.Ed. in English, Hokkaido University of Education, Japan              

About

Professor Aoki joined the Japanese program at Queen’s in 2000. She had teaching appointments at Austin Independent School District, TX, USA, Middlebury College Summer Japanese Language School, VT, USA, Hokkaido International Foundation, Japan, and Saint Mary’s University, Halifax, NS.

Prof. Aoki was nominated for the Frank Knox Teaching Award in 2015 and the W.J. Barnes Teaching Award in 2016.

She volunteers at Japanese as a Heritage Language School in Kingston since its foundation in March 2010. Now the program is recognized as an International Language course by the Limestone District School Board.

Teaching

Professor Aoki teaches the following courses:

JAPN 100: Introductory Japanese I
JAPN 200: Introductory Japanese II

Research interests: 19th century literature and culture, material culture and literature, photography (and/in literature), Medical Humanities

Education

Ph.D. German Literature, Johns Hopkins University, 2006
Staatsexamen Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn, 2000

About

Christiane Arndt's research encompasses literary, cultural, media studies, and the medical humanities in a predominantly German-language context.

Her research on materiality and literature emphasizes the role of practices like gardening and knitting in recent German-language literature. She explores how these practices are represented in reactions to societal crises and questions how literature responds to the demand for tangible change. This study includes the material potential of storytelling in drafting alternative futures. She has an upcoming article on gardening in literature for a volume on Literature and Agriculture and is compiling a special topics issue together with Karin Krauthausen. She conducted research on this topic at the Cluster of Excellence Matters of Activity at the Humboldt University Berlin, supported by a DAAD Research Fellowship.

Another project examines the use of visuals in medicine from the period around 1900. This research examines the literary and cultural engagement with microphotography, the application of statistics in popular media, the use of medical imagery in evidence production, and the development of medical mapping. Her articles discussing these individual media are published in Fotogeschichte, the Jahrbuch der Raabe Gesellschaft and The Germanic Review as well as an edited volume on scientific evidence production. This project includes a special focus on the visual rhetoric used by the historic anti-vaccine league. Her work on this project was supported by two Alexander von Humboldt Fellowships which provided her the opportunity to conduct research at the Humboldt University in Berlin and the Institute for the History of Medicine and Epistemology in Lübeck.

Beyond these focal research projects, Christiane Arndt's scholarly inquiries extend to the broader correlations between literature, medicine, and science. While the main focus lies on late 19^th-century literature and culture, her publications include Romantic Science, specifically Kleist, Novalis and a forthcoming article on Lorenz Oken. Her research also explores the interplay of photography and literature, most recently in an article on Annemarie Schwarzenbach’s photography. German literary Realism constitutes a focal research interest for Christiane Arndt. More details on her work and publications can be found in her CV.

For more further publications, academic background and public presentations, see Christiane Arndt’s Curriculum Vitae (updated: 23 July 2024).

Teaching

Professor Arndt teaches the following courses:

GRMN 101: Beginner’s German I
GRMN 308: Survey of German Cultural History I
GRMN 311: Culture Through Stories in the 18th and 19th Century
GRMN 312: Culture Through Stories in the 20th and 21st Century
LLCU 325:  Is Less More? Historic and Current Cultural Aspect of Minimalism and Reduction
LLCU 327/GRMN 427: Sickness and Health – Cultural Representations in Medical Discourse
LLCU 329/GRMN 429: Uncanny Encounters - Narrative Analysis of the Fantastic Genre
LLCU 403:  Stories that Matter. Connecting Languages, Literatures and Cultures