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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 is currently serving as Interim Dean of Academic Affairs 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
Interim Dean of Academic Affairs · 2024 - Present Trinity College of Arts & Sciences
Affiliate, Duke Global Health Institute · 2013 - Present Duke Global Health Institute, University Institutes and Centers

Education, Training & Certifications


University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill · 2001 Ph.D.
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill · 1995 M.A.
University of Kansas · 1992 B.A.