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Deborah Reisinger

Professor of the Practice of Romance Studies
Romance Studies
Box 90257, Durham, NC 27708-0257
114 Allen Building, Durham, NC 27708-0257

Overview


Deb Reisinger, Ph.D., is Professor of the Practice in Romance Studies and affiliate faculty in the Duke Global Health Institute. She is Director of Duke's Language Outreach Initiatives, overseeing the Cultures and Languages Across the Curriculum (CLAC) program and the Shared Course Initiative for Less Commonly Taught Languages with UVA and Vanderbilt. She currently serves as Dean of Undergraduate Education for Trinity College.

Deb is lead author of Affaires globales: S'engager dans le monde professionnel en français - niveau avancé (Georgetown Press, 2021), co-author with Joan Clifford of Community-based Language Learning: A Framework for Educators (Georgetown Press, 2019), and author of Crime and Media in Contemporary France (Purdue Press, 2007). She has published numerous articles on language pedagogy, community-based learning, and French for Specific Purposes. 

Deb teaches courses in service-learning, global displacement, and French for Specific Purposes, including global health, public policy, and marketing. Her current research focuses on transformative learning and community-based pedagogies.

She chaired the College Board's World Languages Academic Advisory Committee from 2016-2023 and served as co-chair of the AP French Language and Culture Exam development committee from 2018-2021. From 2013-2018, she served as Chair of the American Association of Teachers of French (AATF) Commission on French for Specific Purposes. 

Deb regularly directs Duke summer study abroad programs, including Duke in ProvenceDuke in Provence-virtualDuke in Aix-en-Provence, Duke in Montréal, and Duke in Paris.  

In 2022, she was named Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Palmes Académiques by the French Republic.

Current Appointments & Affiliations


Professor of the Practice of Romance Studies · 2023 - Present Romance Studies, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences
Director of Language Outreach Initiatives · 2023 - Present Romance Studies, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences
Dean of Undergraduate Education · 2024 - Present Trinity College of Arts & Sciences
Affiliate, Duke Global Health Institute · 2013 - Present Duke Global Health Institute, University Institutes and Centers

In the News


Published August 20, 2024
Trinity’s New Undergraduate Curriculum to Focus on Values
Published January 26, 2023
The Making of the First Malagasy Course at Duke
Published December 5, 2022
Deborah Reisinger Receives Official Knighthood from French Government

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Recent Publications


Transformative Learning and Critical Consciousness: A Model for Preclerkship Medical School Substance Use Disorder Education.

Journal Article Acad Psychiatry · April 2023 OBJECTIVE: Preparing medical students to provide compassionate person-centered care for people with substance use disorders (SUD) requires a re-envisioning of preclerkship SUD education to allow for discussions on stigma, social determinants of health, sys ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Language as a Bridge to Other Disciplines

Chapter · January 1, 2023 The Cultures and Language Across the Curriculum (CLAC) program at Duke University positions language use throughout the university by offering courses taught in languages other than English (LOTE) in schools such as global health, public policy, and enviro ... Full text Cite

Ten Years of Collaboration: The Duke-UVA-Vanderbilt Consortium

Chapter · January 1, 2023 This chapter explores the creation and expansion of an online consortium for less commonly taught languages (LCTLs) among three universities: Duke University, the University of Virginia (UVA), and Vanderbilt University. Founded in 2013, the consortium aims ... Full text Cite
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Recent Grants


2023 Cohort of United-States University French-speaking career forums and fairs project

ConferencePrincipal Investigator · Awarded by American Association of Teachers of French · 2023 - 2024

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Education, Training & Certifications


University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill · 2001 Ph.D.

External Links


Faculty profile