Online Courses for Language Educators

In the summer of 2015, professors from across the University of Missouri-St. Louis (UMSL) and Columbia (MU) were awarded a grant from the University of Missouri system to design and offer online graduate-level courses focused on language and global education. These courses may be taken by non-degree seeking students from anywhere in the world, or already enrolled graduate students at MU or UMSL. All courses are 100% online, allowing educators from across the state to take part. To enroll as a non-degree seeking student at MU, please visit http://online.missouri.edu/admissions/new-nondegree.aspx.


Summer 2017: Leadership and Organization for Language Education
This course will provide an overview of the theories and practices necessary to lead and organize efforts in educational organizations that serve and/or aim to create diverse, internationally-minded, and multilingual publics. Key topic areas include the following: (1) changing demographics across the United States; (2) federal, state, and local policies that shape multi-language schooling and programs; (3) theories of leadership and organization that can be applied to create equitable and just multi-language education; and (4) best practices for leading multi-language communities, schools, and classrooms.

Course number: @MU (ED_LPA 9406), @UMSL (EDUC 7415)
Lead professors: @MU, Drs. Emily Crawford and Lisa Dorner; @UMSL, Dr. Laura Westhoff
For more information: Lisa Dorner, Ph.D., dornerl@missouri.edu


Fall 2017, Fall 2016: The Image of the United States in the World 
Baseball, Hollywood, Jazz, Fast Food, Appliances. These are just a few of the world’s favorite American things! Some of these, like baseball in the Caribbean, were accidental contributions while others, like jazz in Europe and Africa, became tools of diplomacy, and still others, like modern kitchens in the Soviet Union, became objects of international debate over the American way. Come and explore the history and present significance of “America”—an idea and a nation—in the global world. The class focuses on the image, status, and reputation of the United States abroad, and on the importance of America’s global “moral” prestige to the path of international affairs and domestic politics.

Course number: @MU (ED-LPA 9407, class # 67919), @UMSL (HIST 6153)
Lead professors: @UMSL Dr. Deborah Cohen; @MU, Dr. Lisa Dorner
For more information: Deborah Cohen, Ph.D., deborah.cohen@umsl.edu


Summer 2016: Building Language Skills in Multilingual Schools
This course is intended to encourage and support educators who work in multilingual communities, either in the mainstream classroom with English Language Learners or in Immersion or Dual Language schools. Topics include: One Classroom, Many Learners; Classroom Interaction(s); Language Study and Practice; Curricular Design; and Community Outreach.

Course numbers: @MU (SPAN/FRENCH 8087) or @UMSL (TCH ED 6275)
Lead professors: @MU Dr. Flore Zéphir and Dawn Heston; @UMSL Dr. Kim Song
For more information: Dawn Heston, hestondm@missouri.edu


Summer 2016: Building Language Skills in Multilingual Schools (PDF)


Spring 2016: Language Theories and Global Issues (PDF)