My name is Felix Kronenberg, and I am the new director of the Center for Language Teaching Advancement (CeLTA) and an associate professor of German. After working for 4 years at Pomona College and 9 years at Rhodes College, I am excited to be back at a research university, with all of its potential, resources, and, most importantly, so many really smart and creative people. My work has always been interdisciplinary; that’s why I am so excited to work for CeLTA now. 

I’ve always loved learning languages. When I was ten, I started learning English, and I remember always looking at the next unit to know what we would learn next. I went on my first study abroad program at the age of 14 (3 weeks with a host family in Bath, England). I was hooked after that, and went on to spend my junior year in high school in Porterville, CA (go Panthers!), several weeks in 12th grade in Poland (Warsaw), my third year in college at Wesleyan University, and I conducted my doctoral research at Penn State. 

Language learning has always been very personal, and I try to make it meaningful and engaging for others through my teaching, my research, and my service to the university. Over the years, this has taken on many different forms: for example, through digital storytelling, board and video games, portfolios, karaoke, study abroad, redesigning physical learning spaces, curriculum (re)design, and through my work in the International Association for Language Learning Technology and the Learning Spaces Collaboratory. 

One part of my job I enjoy most is to test out completely new ideas and share that with others. Currently, I work on physical language space design and am interested in many different aspects of it: the normalization of the classroom, transitory spaces, different models of flexibility, the history of educational furniture, ways of assessing effectiveness of learning spaces, built pedagogy, … The list goes on. I like that much of this is new research territory, and that the field of (language) learning spaces is still in its infancy. I particularly enjoy showing others what the possibilities are, through presentations, keynotes, workshops, and consulting for other universities. 

If you want to learn more about my work, here is my professional portfolio: http://www.felixkronenberg.com