JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (April 25, 2022) – With an eye toward expanding global opportunities for students and building French into a concentration within the foreign language major, East Tennessee State University’s Department of Literature and Language is adding two full-time instructors this fall.
Joining ETSU will be Amy Laws and Mallory Nischan.
“I’m thrilled that Amy and Mallory have joined the Literature and Language family,”
said Dr. Daniel Westover, professor and chair of the department. “French is one of
the truly global languages, spoken on five continents by over 300 million people.
It’s invaluable to anyone pursuing a career in business, international affairs, government,
global health or the humanities. French is also the language of fashion, culinary
arts, dance, theater and film, so its applications are vast.”
Laws earned a master’s degree in teaching from ETSU and a master’s degree in French
from the University of Georgia. She also earned a certificate in teaching french as
a foreign language from CAVILAM (the Centre d’Approches Vivantes des Langues et des
Médias) in France. Laws has worked, taught, volunteered and studied abroad in such
locations as Cameroon, Senegal and France, and she has taught French at ETSU, the
University of Georgia, Battle Ground Academy and other K-12 schools throughout the
southeast.
Laws has also contributed to The Greeneville Sun as a travel columnist under the name
of “The Vivacious Voyager.” She is a member of Alliance Française de Knoxville, the
Tennessee Foreign Language Teachers Association, the American Association of Teachers
of French and The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages.
Nischan is a doctoral candidate in modern foreign languages and literatures at the
University of Tennessee, with concentrations in French and applied linguistics and
a certificate in women, gender and sexuality. She earned a master’s degree in French
from the University of North Texas, and she has taught at Middle Tennessee State University,
the University of North Texas, the University of Tennessee and the University of Lille
in France.
In addition to extensive work as a volunteer and translator, Nischan has earned certificates in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) and applied linguistics, and she has served as the editor-in-chief of “Vernacular,” a graduate-student journal at the University of Tennessee. Her research interests are in 20th and 21st century French literature with a focus on North Africa. She is currently working on her dissertation, titled “Retelling Resistance: Orality, Writing and the Kahina in North African Francophone Literature.”
“French is taught in nearly all regional high schools, and many students come to ETSU
eager to increase their proficiency,” Westover said. “Others are eager to study French
for the first time. Amy and Mallory are dynamic educators, prepared to work with students
at every skill level and prepare them for global opportunities. Their presence solidifies
our French minor and opens up new avenues for cultural exchange, study abroad and
teacher training, among other things. We feel fortunate to have them here.”
To learn more about the department, visit etsu.edu/cas/litlang/.