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Kusum Knapczyk

Senior Lecturer of Hindi Language of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies
Asian & Middle Eastern Studies
2204 Erwin Road,, Room 202, Durham, NC 27708

Selected Presentations & Appearances


How to teach literature in language class? · July 6, 2024 International Meeting or Conference World Hindi Secretariat, Mauritius
How to write a Hindi research paper? · May 19, 2024 Invited Talk World Hindi Secretariat,
Challenges and Opportunities for Hindi in the International Context · January 10, 2024 International Meeting or Conference Indraprastha College for Women, Delhi, India
Universal Hindi Test · December 16, 2023 International Meeting or Conference avindraNath Tagore International Literature and Arts Festiva, Bhopal, India
Challenges of Hindi Teaching · November 19, 2023 International Meeting or Conference Kendriya Hindi Sansthan & Vishva Hindi Sachivalay,
Cultural Immersion via Service-Learning: A New Perspective in Hindi Language Education · October 13, 2023 International Meeting or Conference Oxford Business College, London, UK
Advocating Social Justice Topics for Novice and Intermediate Language Learners: A Textbook of Readings and Activities in Hindi · May 18, 2023 International Meeting or Conference Department of Hindi, Diphu Campus, Assam University, Assam, India
Creating an Instructional Website: Design and Content for Engaging Language Learners · April 20, 2023 International Meeting or Conference National Council of Less Commonly Taught Languages (NCOLCTL), Chicago, IL,
Unpacking 21st Century Innovative Language Pedagogy: Service learning · January 18, 2023 International Meeting or Conference California Language Teachers Association, CA
Adapting Virtual Service-learning Language Class through Social Justice Issues - ACTFL Critical and Social Justice Approaches SIG & Less Commonly Taught Languages SIG · June 7, 2022 Invited Talk ACTFL,
Hindi textbooks in the US universities - the One-day International Virtual Conference on 'Hindi as a second language’ · March 25, 2022 Invited Talk Central Institute of Hindi, Agra
“ Migrant Workers Migrated on Cycles during the Corona Period,” - the two-day International Virtual Conference on 'Role of Diaspora Studies in development of Humanities in collaboration with the University of Victoria · March 14, 2022 - March 15, 2022 Invited Talk Canada, sponsored by the Shashtri Indo Canadian Institute,
Role of Education, Literature, Culture and Society in Global Development - International conference · 2022 Invited Talk Soban Singh Jeena University, Almora, Uttarakhand, India, Uttarakhand, India
“Creating contexts for language: Social justice and community-based learning in Hindi-Urdu,” - Virtual Pedagogies Workshop · December 2021 Instructional Course, Workshop, or Symposium American Institute of Indian Studies (AIIS), The University of Texas at Austin
“Bridging the Gap between Research and Practice: What conversation Analysis Can Teach Us?,” - presented with Divya Chaudhry, National Institute of Oriental Languages and Civilizations (INALCO) · November 2021 International Meeting or Conference INALCO, Paris,France
“Remotely Conducted Community-Engaged Language Teaching,” - presented with Divya Chaudhry, American Council for Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) conference · November 2021 Instructional Course, Workshop, or Symposium ACTFL,
“Speak with confidence: Techniques for enhancing speaking skills in L2 classes,” · June 25, 2021 - June 27, 2021 International Meeting or Conference SALTA, University of Wisconsin at Madison
“Teaching four skills,” - (online) two-day international conference · 2021 International Meeting or Conference Soban Singh Jeena University, Almora, Uttarakhand, India
Techniques For Enhancing Speaking Skills In L2 Classes With Podcasts - Duke Language Symposium · February 2020 Instructional Course, Workshop, or Symposium Trinity Language Council, Duke University, Duke University
Supporting student engagement in language classes through social justice topics - East Asian Language Pedagogy Research Cluster · February 2020 Instructional Course, Workshop, or Symposium Duke University , NC
New perspectives on designing reading lessons for novice to intermediate Hindi learners - Online presentation LACE (Language and Culture Educators) roundtable conference · February 2020 Instructional Course, Workshop, or Symposium NYU, NYU
Say My Name - Pronunciation in Hindi workshop for Student Affairs Division · February 2020 Instructional Course, Workshop, or Symposium International House, Duke University
Approaches to the Design of Graded Readers and Activities for Hindi as a Foreign Language - he International Hindi Conference · January 2020 Instructional Course, Workshop, or Symposium University of Delhi, New Delhi
Using technology to design self-guided listening tasks and assessment for Hindi in flipped and traditional classroom settings - The International Conference on Hindi as a Second / Foreign Language · June 2019 Instructional Course, Workshop, or Symposium Faculty of Arts and Humanities of the University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal
Media and Representation of Women's Lives: Challenging Gender Inequality and Violence Against Women - Women’s and Gender Studies Consortium Conference and 4W Summit · April 2019 Instructional Course, Workshop, or Symposium University of Wisconsin-Madison, Wisconsin-Madison
Relevance of Ramayana in Teaching Elementary Hindi - Second International Ramayana Conference · January 2019 Instructional Course, Workshop, or Symposium IIIM, Jaipur, Jaipur, India
Designing Learning Episodes from Cultural Stories · 2018 International Meeting or Conference STARTALK, Philadelphia
Using technology for listening activities in traditional and ‘flipped’ classes - FLANC sharefest · 2018 Instructional Course, Workshop, or Symposium Wake Forest University, NC
Technologic Approaches to Combine Hindi-Urdu Curriculum · 2018 International Meeting or Conference presented with Elliott McCarter, SALTA conference, Princeton University
Modeling Intercultural Communication in Flipped-Classroom Lessons - presented with Elliott McCarter, ACTFL Convention · 2018 International Meeting or Conference ACTFL , New Orleans, LA

The purpose of this session is to demonstrate and discuss instructional videos that incorporate the “5 C’s” as a model for flipped classroom material. The presentation will draw upon recent materials created through a partnership between Hindi-language faculty at Duke and Vanderbilt universities. The presenters will discuss the lesson design process, technologies employed, and the problems and benefits of the video medium. The session will highlight the materials’ focus on cross-cultural communication as native speakers and non-native speakers dialogue on their understanding of various features of the target language and culture; the videos under discussion not only provide linguistic instruction but also exemplify the language learning process as an act of intercultural engagement.

New Ideas for Using Readers with Beginning Language Students - The Fourth International Hindi Conference · 2017 Instructional Course, Workshop, or Symposium GITAM University, Vishakhapatnam, India

Service to the Profession


President - The South Asian Language Teachers Association SALTA · 2024 Committee Service the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Madison,
Vice President - The South Asian Language Teachers Association SALTA · 2021 - 2024 Event/Organization Administration the University of Wisconsin at Madison, Madison
ACTFL (American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages) WPT Tester · 2019 - 2024 Committee Service
Hindi Mentor ACTFL (American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages) · 2018 - 2019 Consulting
Hindi Language Expert, AAPPL Development project, AAPPL, NY · 2018 - 2019 Committee Service
Evaluator, Critical Language Scholarship program, American Councils for International Education · 2014 - 2018 Committee Service CLS,
ACTFL (American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages) OPI Hindi Tester · 2014 - 2024 Committee Service
Hindi Annotator - Institute of Cognitive Science · 2013 - 2014 Consulting University of Colorado-Boulder , Colorado-Boulder

Service to Duke


Departmental POP and lecturer bylaws committee member (Department) · 2022 Committee Service
Indian cooking workshop, Bridges connection for international students, Duke University · May 8, 2021 Curriculum Innovations
South Asian Language Workshop, South Asian Students’ Association, Duke University · March 27, 2021 Event/Organization Administration Duke Diya,
Exploring Disinformation (University) · 2019 - 2025 Committee Service
Trinity Language Committee (University) · 2018 - 2021 Committee Service