Over the last two years, I have put a lot of energy into exploring new technologies, especially open source software such as Moodle and Linux.  I have run a number of workshops on using open-source course management systems and others on integrating GIS technology into the classroom.  Way back in 1998 I developed a presentation on using openly available texts ("Appropriating Texts: On-line Literature and it's Applications." Inter-departmental Colloqium Series, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee) to teach literature by having students create their own annotated editions of classic works.  That of course was no great leap from my dissertation on French 17th-century novels in which meta-fiction, quotation and parallel and embedded narrations form the storytelling bedrock.  Not surprisingly, then, wikis, open-source technology, collaborative writing and other modern ways of (re)creating and experiencing text and other media resonate strongly with me.  

My manuscript on 17th-century comic novels, Traits d'union, is now available:

In addition to serving on as a panelist for the National Endowment for the Humanities in November 2009, I also gave two talks regarding language placement testing, one for the PAMLA conference in San Francisco and another for NITLE.  The focus was  on opportunities to harmonize placement and assessment practices in the most economical and time-saving manner possible.  I was then off to ACTFL for a proficiency workshop to learn about assessing language proficiency.  I'm working on a French Culture Inventory--100 or so questions to assess student acquisition of cultural products, practices and perspectives.  When finalized, I hope to pair these discrete questions with a self-efficacy tool, to gather information on students' views of their skills.

I'm also serving as a grant consultant on technology at Whittier, and maintaining active collaborations with associates at NITLE (National Institute for Technology and Liberal Education). 

Finally, from teaching a course on food and literature in 2001 to finishing a stint team-teaching Introduction to Globalization in Spring 2009, I have also become increasingly interested in "engaged" literature, economics and cultural studies.  This is leading to some presentations (PAMLA 2010) and forthcoming work on food, environment and literature.  My work here is also reflected in my courses--reinventing how I teach Francophone "civilization," or creating a course called Riots and Revolutions, for example--but I've also become active in the Global Studies Association and presented there.  This is also why my study guide on David Harvey's Brief History of Neoliberalism is included below since it gets quite a few downloads.  I've also included a selection of articles too--a selection I'll add to as I get a chance to scan them. 

2011 has brought me some added joy in the form of undergraduate research.  I'm really proud to have sponsored Nicole Beauchamp's work on language and politics in France, which she presented at the SCCUR conference in November.  And it's with a note of sadness that I stepped down chairing my second "Teaching and Technology" session at PAMLA.  I look forward to seeing it grow and thrive.

If you're looking for my on-line quizzes that can be used, adapted and uploaded into your own course management system, you can go to my experimental page or directly to Andytopia.