Professor Sharon DiFino - University of Florida Department of Germanic and Slavic Studies



GEW 2240 GER 6060/6061 T.A. Info Utrecht Info German Club Links CV Home Sharon DiFino Professor 365 Dauer Hall Telephone: 392-2101x221 difino@ufl.edu Office hours Tuesdays: 12:00-12:50 Thursdays: 10:00-12:50	Curriculum Vitae Sharon Marie DiFino University of Florida Department of Germanic and Slavic Studies 263 Dauer Hall PO Box 117430 Gainesville, FL 32611-7430 Education 1988 Ph.D., University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA. Concentration: Eighteenth Century Literature. 1982 M.A., University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA. Concentration: German language and literature. 1980 B.A., Magna Cum Laude, Emmanuel College, Boston, MA. Majors: German and Theological Studies. Minor: Russian Awards and Honors 1996 TIP Award, University of Florida 1991/92 College of Liberal Arts & Sciences Advising Award. 1990/91 College of Liberal Arts & Sciences Teaching Award. 1984 Governor’s Recognition Award for German language at University of Massachusetts 1983 Kontakt-Stipendium at the Universität Freiburg, Germany 1980-1981 Rotary International Graduate Fellowship. Grants 2003 Internationalization of Curriculum (Gallo-Meagher, Irani, Rudd and DiFino), University of Florida ($3,000) 1992 Sponsored Research Grant, University of Florida ($7,500) 1991 Sponsored Research Grant, University of Florida ($3,000) Employment 1994 – present Associate Professor of German, University of Florida, Gainesville, Fl. Responsibilities include teaching German language, literature and culture classes, coordinating the language program and supervising the graduate teaching assistants. 1989-1994 Assistant Professor of German, University of Florida. Responsibilities included coordinating the language program, teaching German language courses and supervising the teaching assistants and tutors. Summer 1989 Visiting Assistant Professor of German, University of New Orleans in Innsbruck, Austria. Responsibilities included teaching intermediate and advanced language classes. 1988-1989 Visiting Lecturer of German, University of Florida. Responsibilities included teaching language classes and supervising the graduate teaching assistants. Spring 1988 Visiting Assistant Professor, Wellesley College. Responsibilities included teaching language classes, coordinating free conversation sessions and supervising tutors 1987-1988 Learning Disabilities Tutor Coordinator, University of Massachusetts. Responsibilities included hiring, training and supervising tutors for learning disabled students on campus. 1987-1988 Internship Program Assistant Coordinator, University of Massachusetts. Responsibilities included planning, developing and implementing an adult literacy project in Western Massachusetts. Related Teaching Experience 1985-1987 German instructor for dyslexic students. Responsible for teaching beginning and intermediate levels of German language to dyslexic students. Researched, developed and documented strategies for teaching German to learning disabled students. Member of the assistant provost's ad-hoc committee for modern language and dyslexia. 1982-1984 Teaching Assistant/Associate, Department of Germanic Languages and Literature, University of Massachusetts. Responsible for teaching beginning and intermediate levels of German courses. Carried out classroom instruction, wrote and corrected exams as well as assigned grades for course work at the end of the semester. 1984-86 Designed and instructed adult education workshops for beginning andintermediate conversational German, University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Workshops 2001 “Alternative Strategies for Training Graduate Teaching Assistant,” UCET Workshop, University of Florida. 1997 “TA Training – Classroom Empowerment,” Workshop for Graduate School, University of Florida. 1997 “Exploring Techniques that Enhance Memory Mechanisms,” Northeast Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, New York. 1993 “Advanced Placement Exam for German,” a half day Workshop for HS Teachers in the State of Florida, West Palm Beach, FL. 1993 "Advanced Placement Workshop in German," a 10 hr. Workshop conducted at the SCOLT-FLAG, Atlanta, GA. 1991 "Advanced Placement German Workshop," Florida Foreign Language Association, Tampa, FL. 1990 "Understanding the German Achievement," Florida Foreign Language Association, Jacksonville, FL. 1990 "Language Acquisition and Dyslexia," Florida Foreign Language Association, Jacksonville, FL 1989 "Let's Get Political," Florida Foreign Language Association, Hollywood, FL. 1988 "Foreign Languages and Dyslexia," Brown University, Providence, RI. 1988 "Teaching a Foreign Language to Learning Disabled Students," Topsham, ME (sponsored by the New England Branch of the Orton Dyslexia Society/MaineRegional Group and Maine Association for Children and Adults with LearningDisabilities). 1988 "What Does It Take to Succeed at College As a Learning Disabled Student?"University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA. Papers and Presentations “Multi-media Approach to Popular Culture in the German Language Classroom” (SAMLA, Atlanta, 2003) “German Heritage Speakers: Who Are They and How Can We Help Them?” (SAMLA, Baltimore, 2002) “TA Video Diary as an Alternative Training Strategy” (ACTFL, Boston, 2000) “Language Program Coordinator as a Symphony” (ACTFL, Dallas, 1999) “The Afro-German Theme in the Classroom” (ACTFL, Nashville, 1997) "The Foreign Language Requirement and the Student with Learning Difficulties” (Modern Language Association, Toronto, Canada, December 1993). "Female Bonding: The Importance of Relationships Between Women Portrayed in Eighteenth-Century Journals." (German Studies Association, Washington, DC, October 1993, in progress). "Women's Literacy in Eighteenth-Century Germany: The Question of the 'gelehrtes Frauenzimmer'." (GSA, Minneapolis, Minnesota, October 1992). "Filling in the Gaps: Unearthing Women's Literary Achievments in Eighteenth-Century Germany." (American Association of Teachers of German, Washington, DC, November 1991). "Patriotism in Gottsched's Moral Weeklies." (GSA, Los Angeles, CA, September 1991). "A Look at the Involvement of German Women in Eighteenth Century Literary Journals" (Florida State University, Conference on Social and Political Change in Literature and Film, Tallahassee, FL, January 1990). Conference Moderator "The Quest for National Identity: Travelogues, Criminals, and the German Language." (GSA, Washington, DC, October 1993). "Feminist Approaches to Kleist and Fontane." (GSA, Minneapolis, Minnesota,October 1993). PUBLICATIONS Book The Intellectual Development of German Women in Selected Periodicals from 1725 to 1784. New York: Peter Lang, 1990 (180 pp). Articles "Didactization of Wellershoff's 'In Erwartung der Gäste'" in Dieter Wellershoff (ed. by K. Bullivant and M. Borries), Iudicium Verlag, Munich, June 1993 (in the 'Werkheft' Series of the Goethe Institute). “Making a Smooth Transition from the Community College Foreign Language Classroom to the University” ( Spring, 2002 in FLICC newsletter, vol. 4, issue 1) Work in Progress “Foreign Languages and Students with Learning Disabilities: Identifying L.D. Students in Foreign Language Class and Employing Methodologies to Help Them Succeed” (article was submitted 3/2003 to the Foreign Language Annals and is accepted with revisions) “The Impact of the European Union’s Position on Food Biotechnology on the U.S. and Africa” (co-author with Fulford, Gallo-Meagher, Irani and Rudd) Article will be submitted to the International Journal of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Education. Globalization and World Citizenship (editor of anniversary volume commemorating the 30 year exchange program between University of Florida and University of Utrecht, the Netherlands). “University of Florida-Utrecht Summer Study Program as a Paradigm for Summer Exchange Programs” (article being prepared for publication). BOOK Reviews 1990 present Regular Reviewer for Prentice Hall, all levels of German language texts. 2000 Effective Language Learning: Clevedon, Philadelphia, Toronto, Adelaide & Johannesburg: Multilingual Matters LTD, 1997. In: Unterrichtspraxis, No. 1 (Fall 2000) 1997 Tragedy in Paradise: Family and Gender Politics in German Bourgeois Tragedy 1750-1850: Columbia, S.C.: Camden House, 1996. In: South Atlantic Review,62, No. 2 (1997) 1995 Spiralen: Intermediate German for Proficiency, Boston: Heinle & Heinle Publishers, 1994. In: Unterrichtspraxis, No. 1 (1995) 1993 Displacements: Women, Tradition, Literature in French, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1991. In: South Atlantic Review, 58, No. 1 (1993), pp. 120-121. 1993 The Courtship Novel, 1740-1820: A Feminized Genre. Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky, 1991. In: South Atlantic Review, 58, No.1 (1993), pp. 139-140. 1993 Interaktion, A Text-Based Intermediate German Course, Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1990. In: Unterrichtpraxis, (Spring 1993 edition). 1990 Bitter Healing, German Women Writers, 1700-1830, Lincoln & London: University of Nebraska Press, 1990. In: South Atlantic Review, 56, No.3 (1991), pp. 110-112. Research Collaborations 2003 Collaboration with CALS faculty designing and implementing assessment instruments and a course module dealing with students’ critical thinking on European Attitudes on Biotechnology. Responsible for acquiring data on critical thinking dispositions and attitudes toward plant biotechnology of European students. This objective was accomplished in the Utrecht Summer 2003 Program. I administered a critical thinking disposition test to collect data on students’ levels of critical thinking relative to American students, and a UF designed critical thinking skills assessment instrument to test pilot for future use. Conducted and digitally recorded interviews of Europeans regarding their attitudes on food biotechnology. This was done in summer 2003. The footage will be integrated into course material for AGR 2612-Seeds of Change with an introductory piece (Gallo-Meagher, Rudd and DiFino) for a teaching module to be posted on the UF website (see http: //biotechcriticalthinking.ifas.ufl.edu). Development and publication of case studies for use by students taking the class and educators at other institutions that want to integrate the module into curriculum. Collaboration with Department of Speech and Communications acquiring and analyzing data that involves testing students acquisition of German as a second language. Responsible for supervising and assisting testing in April 2003 and June 2003 of UF students in beginning German (GER 1120). Data is currently being analyzed and submitted for publication in language acquisition journals. Service and Committees 2000- present University Minority Mentor 1999- present Pathways to Teaching Advisory Board. 1998-present UCET Advisory Board. 1996- present Ruth McQuown Women’s Scholarship Committee. 1994- present Fresh Start Petitions Committee. 1994- present Utrecht Exchange Program Committee. 1992-1994 Member of the Foreign Language Requirement Committee. 1990-1994 Member of Innsbruck Exchange Committee. 1990-1992 Charter Member of the Undergraduate Research Symposium. 1989-1994 Member of College's Language Learning Center Committee. National Committees 1989-1993 Member of Educational Testing Service German Achievement Committee. (Developed and implemented the listening comprehension component.) Advising 1990-present German Club Advisor. Supervise and Organize Annual Scholastic Achievement Award. 1991-1995 Golden Key National Honor Society, Florida Chapter Advisor.(attended National Convention in Scottsdale, Arizona, August 1992.Florida Chapter received "Key Chapter Award for Most Active Chapter" and "Best Academic Project Award.") TA Supervisory Achievements 1997 Graduate Teaching Assistant Will Lehman received a CLAS Teaching Award. 1995 Graduate Teaching Assistant Margit Grieb received the CLAS Calvin A. VanderWerf Award. 1993 Graduate Teaching Assistant Elaine Schesventer received a CLAS Teaching Award. 1991 Graduate Teaching Assistant Nicolle Puts-Warnecke received a CLAS Teaching Award. 1990 Graduate Teaching Assistant Benita von Heynitz received the CLAS Calvin A. Vanderwerf Teaching Award. International Experiences 1996 present Utrecht Summer Program Advisor 1994 Co-Director of the Mannheim Summer Program. 1989 Participated as a visiting assistant professor in the Innsbruck Summer Program. Organizations AATG (American Association of Teachers of German) MLA (Modern Language Association) WIG (Women in German) ACTFL (American Council of Teachers of Foreign Languages) SAMLA (South Atlantic Modern Language Association) FFLA (Florida Foreign Language Association) AAUS (American Association of University Supervisors) Languages German, Dutch and reading knowledge of Russian Top>>