In addition to German language, literature, and culture, Dr. Shaughnessy has a professional interest in educational technology. He is particularly interested in the perception of technology within education and the role it plays within the humanities. He has published a CD-ROM for introductory German, is currently editor of a CD-ROM series for German-American studies, and has given lectures on the subject of educational technology. His latest projects involves a multi-media approach to German lyric poetry and the authenticity of multimedia imagery. Dr. Shaughnessy is also the chief editor of the German section of the REALIA project. In April 2007, his book German Pittsburgh (Arcadia Publishing) comes out highlighting the contributions of German speaking immigrants to our area.

Questions regarding the German program at W&J should be directed to Dr. Shaughnessy.

Dr. Judith K. Atzler

Assistant Professor of German

Office: Burnett 204

Phone: 724-503-1001, EXT 3366

E-Mail: jatzler@washjeff.edu

Ph.D. University of Texas, Austin
M.A. University of Kentucky
B.S. Clemson University

Dr. Judith Atzler is an Associate Professor of German in the Department of Modern Languages. Her primary research focus is on Second Language Acquisition with a secondary focus on Literature and Cultural Studies. She is currently working on developing an online language learners’ dictionary (based on the principles of frame semantics) focusing on the specific needs of language students. Her project has been picked up by The Center for Open Educational Resources & Language Learning (COERLL) at the University of Texas, Austin and she is working on this project in collaboration with other members of the University of Texas, Austin. In addition, to creating the online frame-based dictionary she is also working on analyzing frames between languages (specifically German and English) in order to understand if certain frames are harder to learn in a foreign language, what those frames are, why those frames are harder to learn and how we can help students with learning vocabulary. Apart from linguistically influenced research she is interested in Early Modern to 18^th century literature and culture, specifically encounters with the other, travel accounts, witchcraft, secret societies and technology and science.

Mrs. Cathy Altmeyer

German Instructor

MA WVU German

BA WVU German

BS WVU Secondary Education

Office: Burnett 211

Phone: 724-503-1001, ext 3344

E-mail: caltmeyer@washjeff.edu

Cathy Altmeyer is a PA-certified teacher of German K-12 and has been teaching at W&J since 2001. Her interests include everyday life in Germany, East Germany past, present, and future, and the use of film, music, and children’s literature as a tool in undergraduate German courses. She has taught students of ages 5 to 70 years in German, Spanish, and ESL. She is very active in the Western Pennsylvania Chapter of the American Association of Teachers of German, and helps to arrange biannual workshops for foreign language teachers. She also enjoys working with future foreign language teachers. Cathy is the W&J coordinator for the Three Rivers German Day Competition for secondary students, which is held annually at W&J

Assistant Professor of German

Office: Burnett 204

Ph.D. University of Texas, Austin M.A. University of Kentucky B.S. Clemson University

Ph.D. University of Texas, Austin
M.A. University of Kentucky
B.S. Clemson University