Senta Goertler is (Associate) Professor of Second Language Studies and German in the Department of Linguistics, Languages, and Cultures (LiLaC). Currently, Dr. Goertler is serving on two MSU Strategic Plan 2030 committees: the General Education Reform
as well as the Spartan Global Learning Initiative. In the past, Dr. Goertler has served as Associate Chair for Undergraduate Studies in LiLaC, as the Language Program Director in German, as the Academic Director for the Academic Year in Freiburg program, as chair of the College of Arts and Letters Curriculum Committee and as co-chair of the Student Staff Faculty Hearing Board. In addition to her campus service, Dr. Goertler is the co-editor of the Second Language Research and Practice journal of the American Association of University Supervisors, Coordinators, and Language Program Directors (AAUSC). In the past, she served in the leadership of the Computer-assisted Language Learning Consortium (CALICO).
Dr. Goertler’s scholarship is on language program administration, especially issues of access and equity. Her research foci are educational technology and education abroad. Her most recent co-edited volume “Technology-mediated Crisis Response in Language Studies” takes a global perspective on lessons learned during and through the emergency-remote teaching and learning (ERTL) of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this edited volume, Dr. Goertler and Dr. Gleason (2024) argue for the need to collaboratively design policies, procedures, and practices for the “new normal” of higher education based on the lesson learned from ERTL. In their co-authored book “From Study Abroad to Education Abroad: Language Proficiency, Intercultural Competence, and Diversity”, Goertler and Schenker (2021) combine their own experiences as education abroad participants and leaders with theory, empirical research, and practitioner reports to provide practice-proven recommendations for sustainable and impactful education abroad programs. Goertler and Schenker discuss effective and equitable design features of education abroad programs and ways to (re-)invigorate long-term programs.
Dr. Goertler’s intellectual leadership has been recognized with a Best Article Award (Winke & Goertler, 2008); the ACTFL/Cengage Learning Faculty Development Programs Award for Excellence in Foreign Language Instruction Using Technology (2015); an Academic Advancement Network Leadership Fellowship (2021-2022); and a Lilly Fellowship (2020-2021). Two of her articles have been top cited articles in their respective journal for the last two years: Gacs, Goertler & Spasova (2020) in Foreign Language Annals and Goertler & Gacs (2018) in die Unterrichtspraxis.