About the Team

Core LCTL Partnership Personnel

The core personnel at Michigan State University work with faculty, staff, and students across many different institutions in the Big Ten Academic Alliance. We form working groups with Language Coordinators and Language Specialists from the respective LCTLs during the project years.

A picture of Dean Christopher Long on MSU's campus in the fall with beautiful orange and yellow leaves on the trees.

Christopher P. Long

Professor of Philosophy and Dean of the College of Arts & Letters at Michigan State University

Christopher P. Long is Professor of Philosophy and Dean of the College of Arts & Letters at Michigan State University. Dean Long is committed to values-based leadership in higher education capable of expanding the transformative power of liberal arts research and teaching by enriching graduate and undergraduate education, deepening our commitment to equity, recruiting and retaining world-class faculty, and creating new opportunities for collaboration among community partners. He is the PI for the LCTL Partnership Grant.

A picture of Dr. Sonja Fritzsche with leaves in the background.

Sonja Fritzsche

Professor of German and Associate Dean for Personnel and Administration in the College of Arts & Letters at Michigan State University

Sonja Fritzsche is Professor of German and Associate Dean for Personnel and Administration in the College of Arts & Letters at Michigan State University. She is committed to the preservation of the world’s significant linguistic and cultural diversity, which is essential to human storytelling. These thousands of languages and the cultures they shape convey the nuances of other people’s dreams that should never be flattened or lost in translation. This is especially true of the languages of Indigenous peoples. She is the co-PI for the LCTL Partnership Grant.

A picture of Felix Kronenberg in a suit and tie talking with someone. There are books in the background.

Felix Kronenberg

Director of the Center for Language Teaching Advancement (CeLTA)

Felix Kronenberg is currently President of the International Association for Language Learning Technology (IALLT) and is an advisory board member of the Learning Spaces Collaboratory. He has served as the President of the SouthWest Association for Language Learning Technology, has been a fellow for the National Institute for Technology in Liberal Education, has been a learning spaces and language center design consultant for various colleges and universities, and a keynote and plenary speaker at local, state, regional, national, and international conferences. He is the co-PI for the LCTL Partnership.

Head short of Kristin Arola

Kristin Arola

Interim Director of the American Indian and Indigenous Studies Program

Kristin Arola is the Karen L. Gillmor Endowed Associate Professor of Professional and Public Writing and also serves as the Interim Director of the American Indian and Indigenous Studies Program. Her research and teaching — which are rooted in Ojibwe community practices, histories, and futures — focus on how our ways of being and knowing shape our commitments to environmental justice. Through her mother, she is a first-generation descendant of the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community Lake Superior Band of Chippewa Indians. She is the co-PI for the LCTL partnership.

Previous Members of the Core Personnel

  • Susan Gass, University Distinguished Professor, Co-Investigator
  • Gordon Henry, Professor, Co-Investigator
  • Angelika Kraemer, Academic Specialist, Co-Investigator
  • David Prestel, Professor, Co-Investigator

2023-2024 LCTL Working Groups

Western Armenian Working Group 

  • Lisa Gulesserian, Preceptor of Armenian (Harvard University)
  • Charry Karamanoukian, Lecturer in Armenian and Coordinator of the Armenian Language Program (Columbia University)

Russian Working Group 

  • Anna Tumarkin, Director of the Russian Language Program and Associate Director of the Russian Flagship Program (University of Wisconsin-Madison)
  • Shannon Quinn, Associate Professor of Russian (Michigan State University)

Arabic Working Group

  • Mahmoud Azaz, Associate Professor of Arabic (University of Arizona)
  • Ayman Mohamed, Assistant Professor of Arabic (Michigan State University)

Vietnamese Working Group 

  • An Sakach, Assistant Teaching Professor (Arizona State University)
  • Chung Nguyen, Lecturer in Vietnamese and Director of the Vietnamese Language Program (Columbia University)
  • ThuyAnh Nguyen, Lecturer in Vietnamese (University of Michigan)
  • Huy Phung, PhD Candidate (University of Hawai’i at Mānoa)
 

Portuguese Working Group 

  • Leonardo Silva, Assistant Professor (California State University San Marcos)
  • Eugênia Fernandes, Continuing Lecturer (University of California Davis)

LCTL Working Groups

Swahili Working Group (Language 1)

  • Deo Ngonyani, Language Coordinator (Michigan State University)
  • Mary Gathogo, Language Specialist (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
  • Katrina Daly Thompson, Language Specialist (University of Wisconsin-Madison)

Hindi Working Group (Language 2)

  • (2017-2019) Shaheen Parveen, Language Coordinator (Rutgers University)
  • (2017-2019) Syed Ali, Language Specialist (University of Michigan)
  • (2018-2019) Mithilesh Mishra, Language Specialist (University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign)
  • (2018-2019) Sarah Beckham, Language Specialist (University of Wisconsin-Madison)
  • (2017-2018) Sungok Hong, Language Specialist (University of Minnesota)

Hebrew Working Group (Language 3)

  • Adi Raz, Language Coordinator (University of Michigan)
  • Avital Karpman, Language Specialist (University of Maryland)
  • Renana Schneller, Language Specialist (University of Minnesota)

Portuguese Working Group (Language 4) 

  • Saulo Gouveia, Language Coordinator (Michigan State University) 
  • Raquel Castro Goebel, Language Specialist (University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign) 
  • Ana Lima, Language Specialist (University of Chicago) 
  • (2020) Christopher Estrada, Language Coordinator (Michigan State University) 

Advisory Board

  • Catherine Baumann, University of Chicago
  • Julie Evershed, University of Michigan
  • Russ Ganim, University of Iowa
  • Xiaojing Kou, Indiana University
  • Angelika Kraemer, Cornell University
  • Dianna Murphy, University of Wisconsin
Previous Members
  • Jim Lantolf, Penn State University
  • Dan Soneson, University of Minnesota
  • Jimmy Swenson, Rutgers University

Wewaawiindamojig (Advisory Circle)

  • Kristin Arola (Interim Director of American Indian and Indigenous Studies, Michigan State University)
  • Gimiwan Dustin Burnette (Executive Director, Midwest Indigenous Immersion Network)
  • Theresa Marshall (Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians)
  • Shannon Martin (Executive Director, Cultural Pathways Group, LLC)
  • Amy McCoy (Anishinaabe Science and Food Sovereignty Educator, Bay Mills Community College Waishkey Bay Farm)
  • Rose Miron (Director, D’Arcy McNickle Center for American Indian and Indigenous Studies, Newberry Library)
  • Michele Wellman-Teeple (Bay Mills Community College, Program Director of Nishnaabemwin Pane Immersion Program)

Previous Members of the Wewaawiindamojig

  • Gordon Henry (Professor, Michigan State University)
  • Michelle Leask (Schulte) (Program Director, Inter-Tribal Council of Michigan)
  • Margaret Noodin (Professor, Electa Quinney Institute, UW-Milwaukee)
  • Michael Zimmerman, Jr. (Milwaukee Indian Community School)

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