Lara Ducate is originally from Aiken, SC and received her PhD from the University of Texas at Austin. She has been at USC since 2003 and teaches courses on German language and culture and foreign language teaching methods, including using technology in language classes. In addition to getting  students excited about studying the German language and culture (visit http://people.cas.sc.edu/ducate/cc.html  for information about the Checkpoint Charlie Program – a summer study abroad program she leads), she is dedicated to training future foreign language teachers to be motivated and passionate members of the teaching profession.  She is also intrigued by how to effectively use technological applications, such as blogs, wikis, and podcasts, to enhance the learning of language and culture and her research focuses on using new technological tools and applications in the classroom.

Education
M.A.: University of Texas at Austin, 1999
Ph.D.: University of Texas at Austin, 2003

Teaching Interests
German Language and Culture, all levels
Foreign Language Teaching Methodology
Second Language Acquistion
Computer-assisted language learning

Dr. Ducate is on sabbatical for the academic year 2012-2013.