Undergraduate
Elizabeth O'Dowd
Title:
Professor of Applied Linguistics
Education:
B.A. University of Lancaster, England; M.A. New Mexico State University; M.A., Ph. D. University of Colorado at Boulder
Areas of Expertise/Research Interests:
Teaching English to speakers of other languages; English grammar and discourse structure; World English
Testimonial:
Saint Michael's is a small enough community that you know most people you see when you cross campus. But it's large enough that we have a great variety of research interests and expertise, as well as the opportunity to hook up for cross-disciplinary work. The faith-based tradition allows faculty and students to explore moral issues and clarify their values more holistically than you would find at a public academic institution.
What inspires students the most in your classes and/or your academic area? Learning how different languages work - for example, how the same "word" said with different tones in Chinese or Vietnamese might mean five completely different things; or learning about "mystery" languages like Basque, which has no known relatives and is nothing like its neighboring languages, French and Spanish.
What inspires students the most in your classes and/or your academic area? Learning how different languages work - for example, how the same "word" said with different tones in Chinese or Vietnamese might mean five completely different things; or learning about "mystery" languages like Basque, which has no known relatives and is nothing like its neighboring languages, French and Spanish.
What do you like about Saint Michael's students?
Their commitment to service - at least 70% of them do some kind of outreach either through their coursework or voluntarily - and their close solidarity with each other
What kinds of unique opportunities are available to students in your classes or department?
Since the Applied Linguistics Department deals with teaching English as a second or international language, it is the best place to make friends with international students, whether graduate, undergraduate, or short-stay intensive English students. Because we're also a receiving center for Fulbright scholarships, some of our students come from countries that rarely send visitors to the U.S. - for example, Niger, Afghanistan, Mozambique, Iraq, Rwanda, Palestine, and Turkmenistan, to name a few.
Favorite quote: "It is a good thing for an uneducated man to read books of quotations." - Winston Churchill
Favorite quote: "It is a good thing for an uneducated man to read books of quotations." - Winston Churchill
E-mail Address: eodowd@smcvt.edu
