PROFILE
Dr. Christina Mekonen graduated from the University of Illinois at Chicago with a PhD in Germanic Studies and a Concentration in Second Language Teaching. She holds an MA in Deutsch als Fremdsprache (Teaching German as a Foreign Language) as well as a BA in Germanic Linguistics and American Studies from the Humboldt University of Berlin.
She has taught a wide range of courses: from beginning to advanced German language courses as well as culture, film, and literature courses, including a course on contemporary minority voices in Germany. As a teacher, it is her goal to increase student motivation and facilitate learning. She is a firm believer that students learn best in a learner-centered environment that allows for collaborative learning.
In addition to foreign language pedagogy, her research interests include Diaspora Studies, Genocide Studies, Critical Race Studies, and Transnational Literature. Her dissertation project titled "Somewhere in the flesh mirror I saw myself: Black-Jewish Poetic Encounters vis-à-vis the Holocaust" explores how Black and Jewish authors have imagined each other in poetry.