PASCALE LAFOUNTAIN
Department of Modern Languages and Literatures
222 Schmitt Hall, Montclair State University
Montclair, NJ 07043
lafountainp@montclair.edu; 973-655-5577
[updated May 2024]
EDUCATION
Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
Ph.D. in Germanic Languages and Literatures, May 2011
“Flaws, Mistakes, Misreadings: Error and the Human Sciences in Drama around 1800”
Dissertation Advisor: Oliver Simons (director), Eric Rentschler, Markus Wilczek
Middlebury College, Middlebury, VT
B.A. in German, French, and Teacher Education (2004)
Summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa (top 2%)
Semesters Abroad
Sorbonne nouvelle in Paris, France (Fall 2001)
Gutenberg Universität in Mainz, Germany (Spring 2002)
ACADEMIC POSITIONS
Montclair State University, Montclair, NJ
Associate Professor (September 2011-present)
Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
Head Teaching Fellow for Beginning and Intermediate German (2008-2010)
Teaching Fellow (2006-2010)
New Curriculum Development Assistant for Intermediate German (Summer 2008)
Mentor for Junior Tutorials in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (Spring 2007)
Middlebury Summer Language Schools, Middlebury, VT
Full-Time Instructor for Beginning German (Summer 2009 and 2008)
Bilingual Assistant for Co-Curricular Activities (Summer 2004-2006)
Transylvania University, Lexington, KY
Full-Time Lecturer for Beginning and Intermediate German (Fall 2005)
Middlebury Union High School, Middlebury, VT
Student Teacher for French (Spring 2004)
Concordia Language Villages, Concordia, MN
German Language Immersion Program Counselor (Summer 2002)
TEACHING AND RESEARCH INTERESTS
Foreign Language Pedagogy and Program Building
Theories of Performance and Theater
Film Studies
Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
Cultural Studies
Theories of Language, Gesture, and Affect
Eighteenth-Century Netherlandic Literature
German and French Studies, 1750-present
PUBLICATIONS
Book
Theaters of Error. Problems of Performance in French and German Enlightenment Theater. Palgrave Macmillan, 2018.
LaFountain page 2 of 10
Peer-reviewed articles
[in process] Ein sicherer Raum? Photography, Film, and Student Affect Regarding Trans and Non-Binary
Identities in the High School and College German Language Classroom [co-authored article with high school
teachers Tamara Woitas and Brita Schmitz, abstract accepted by Unterrichtspraxis / Teaching German for Spring 2025
publication]
Community Engagement and Teacher Training in Four American SPARK for GermanTeaching Labs. Co-
authored with Nicole Burgoyne (University of Chicago), Stefanie Ohnesorg (University of Tennessee
Knoxville), Susanne Wagner (University of St. Thomas), and Bianca Isabella Zárate Gonzalez (my student).
KONTEXTE Internationales Journal zur Professionalisierung in Deutsch als Fremdsprache 2.1 (Spring 2024), p. 149-163.
Plants, Community, and Emotion Networks in Linnaeus, Buffon, and Humboldt: “Die Pflege des vegetabilischen
Körpers”: Lessing Jahrbuch = Lessing Yearbook 50 (January 2024), p. 17-37.
“Decolonizing German from the Bottom Up: Why How We Teach Matters.” MLN: Modern Language Notes 138.3
(April 2023), p. 1217-1227.
“Beyond Heritage Speakers: Prioritizing Diversity in an Elementary School-University SPARK Teaching
Partnership.” Unterrichtspraxis 56 (May 2023), p. 197-201.
“Reciprocal Reflections: Nostalgia for the Present in Nabokov’s Berlin and Benjamin’s Moscow.” INTERTEXTS
22.1-2 (2018), p. 93-125.
“‘Darkness, waiting, without talking’: Language, Subjectivity, and Utopian Space in Ingeborg Bachmann’s The Book
of Franza.” Utopian Studies 27. 1 (2016), p. 77-92.
“Heteroglossia and Media Theory in Elfriede Jelinek’s Die Liebhaberinnen.” Modern Austrian Literature 43.1 (2010):
43-64.
“Deleuze, Feminism, and the New European Union: An Interview with Rosi Braidotti.TRANSIT. 4.1 (2008).
This article was also selected to be translated into Spanish by Katarzyna Paszkiewicz for the book Entrevistas a
Rosi Braidotti (2022).
Articles in Edited Volumes
“Gesture and Acting.” Cambridge History of German Opera. ed. Estelle Joubert and Austin Glatthorn. (in progress;
slated for publication in 2025)
“Beyond Slapstick. Humour, Physicality, and Empathic Performance in G.E. Lessing’s Comedies.Humor in the
Arts: New Perspectives. ed. Shun-liang Chao and Vivienne Westbrook. New York and London: Routledge, 2018, 128-
145.
“‘Das Gefühl des Rechts’: Gesture, Evidence, and Law in Kleist’s Die Familie Schroffenstein.” Heinrich von Kleist: Style
and Concept. ed. Dieter Sevin and Christoph Zeller. Berlin and Boston: Walter de Gruyter, 2012, 271-284.
BOOK REVIEWS
Fritz Bennewitz in India: Intercultural Theatre with Brecht and Shakespeare by Joerg Esleben with Rolf Rohmer and David
G. John. (Seminar 56.1 February 2020).
Der Augen Blödigkeit. Sinnestäuschungen, Trugwahrnehmung und visuelle Epistemologie im 18. Jahrhundert by Evelyn Deuck
and Natalie Vuillemin. Lessing Yearbook 2016.
Kostümierung der Geschlechter. Schauspielkunst als Erfindung der Aufklärung by Beate Hochholdinger-Reiterer. Goethe
Yearbook 2015.
Mittelpunkt neu B1+: Deutsch als Fremdsprache für Fortgeschrittene: Lehr- und Arbeitsbuch mit Audio-CD by Birgit Braun,
Stefanie Dengler, Nadja Fügert, and Sandra Hohmann. Unterrichtspraxis Spring 2015.
LaFountain page 3 of 10
Wissensfiguren im Werk Heinrich von Kleists by Yixu Lü, Anthony Stephens, Alison Lewis, and Wilhelm Voßkamp,
eds. Germany Quarterly Spring 2014.
Theatralität und Öffentlichkeit. Schillers Spätdramatik und die Tragödie der französischen Klassik by Alexander Pleschka.
Lessing Yearbook 2014.
Bennewitz, Goethe, Faust. German and Intercultural Stagings by David G. John. Goethe Yearbook 2014.
Beyond the Mother Tongue: The Postmonolingual Condition by Yasemin Yildiz. Seminar 49.4 (2013): 438-441.
Citation and Precedent: Conjunctions and Disjunctions of German Law and Literature by Thomas O. Beebee. German Studies
Review 36.3 (2013): 694-5.
The Mask and the Quill by Mary Helen Dupree. Lessing Yearbook 2012.
Über das Zaudern by Joseph Vogl. Eighteenth Century Current Bibliography 2010.
Bewegliche
!
Dichtung: Sprachtheorie und Poetik bei Lessing, Schiller und Kleist by Dirk Oschmann. German Quarterly 82.3.
(2009): 399-401.
Housing Problems by Susan Bernstein. Modern Language Notes 124.3. (2009): 756-9.
Blicke von Außen: Österreichische Literatur im internationalen Kontext by Franz Haas, Hermann Schlösser and Klaus
Zeyringer. Focus on German Studies 11 (2004): 211-213.
COURSES TAUGHT
Montclair State University
German 101 and 102: Beginning German I and II
German 121/135: Intermediate German I and II; German in Contemporary Contexts
German 221-226: Advanced German courses on “Advanced German through Graphic Novels,” “Advanced
German through Detective Genres,” “Advanced German through Film I and II,” and “Advanced German
through Music”
German 300: German Theater
French 101 and 102: Beginning French I and II
French 121: Intermediate French I
Graduate courses in French: “The Body and Senses in Enlightenment France,” “Research Seminar,” “Power and
the People: Democracy in Revolutionary France,” “French Origins of Modern Democracy”
General Humanities 202 General Humanities II Western Culture from 1400 to the Present
Introduction to LGBTQ+ Studies
Fairy Tales from Grimm to Disney
The Art of Science Communication: 7-week course taught as part of student summer “Green Teams” Internship
Harvard University
German A, B, Bab: Beginning German, first and second semester
German Ca, Cb, and Dab: Intermediate German, first and second semester
Foreign Cultures 76: “Nazi Cinema” taught by Eric Rentschler
Culture and Belief 16: “Performance, Tradition and Cultural Studies: An Introduction to Folklore and
Mythology” taught by Stephen Mitchell
Middlebury German Summer School
German 101, 102, 103: Beginning German (Summer 2008 and 2009)
Transylvania University
German 1014: German I: The Personal World (Fall 2005, two sections)
German 1034: German III: Topical Issues (Fall 2005)
LaFountain page 4 of 10
GRANTS AND AWARDS
Initiator of Montclair State University Application for Kade Foundation Grants for Students to Study Abroad
(Awards approved: $9,000 in 2021; $9,000 in 2022; $12,000 in 2023; $12,000 in 2024)
Modern Language Association (MLA) Pathways Grant 2024. Selected with a team of four other World Languages
and Cultures faculty to create a “World Languages and Cultures Career Hub” for student professionalization.
Overall team award: $10,000.
Montclair State University Teaching Innovation Program (TIP) 2023-2024. Selected with a team of four other
World Languages and Cultures faculty to assess belonging and develop decolonizing curriculum for beginning
language courses. Stipend included.
Montclair State University Community Engaged Teaching and Learning (CETL) Fellow (2022-2024) Two-year
stipend included.
Montclair State University Undergraduate Research and Scholarship Program (Summer-Fall 2023). Summer
research program with student approved to research SPARK for German program effectiveness. Summer stipend
and attendance at national conference in Chicago for myself and undergraduate student included.
“Deutsch macht Spaß” mini-grant from American Association of Teachers of German (AATG) to fund materials
and refreshments for German program open house. (Fall 2023)
“Distinguished Teacher Award.” Montclair State University College of the Humanities and Social Sciences Dean’s
Recognition Award for Faculty Excellence, awarded to one professor at each rank each year. (Spring 2023)
Honorarium included.
Montclair State University’s designation as a German Center of Excellence by the American Association of
Teachers of German (AATG) (November 2020)
Fulbright Baden-Württemberg Seminar for American Faculty in German and German Studies (Summer 2012)
Graduate Society Dissertation Completion Fellowship (2010-2011)
Bok Center for Teaching and Learning Certificates of Distinction in Teaching. Awarded to teaching assistants
receiving over 4.5/5.0 on student evaluations. (Spring 2009, Spring 2008, Fall 2006)
Graduate Student Council Conference Travel Grant (2007)
German Dept. Nominee for University-Wide Award for Excellence in Graduate Student Teaching of
Undergraduates (2007)
Esther Sellholm Walz Prize. Awarded for the best German graduate student essay (2005)
Beinecke Scholarship. Awarded to 30 students nationally for graduate study (2004)
Vermont Teachers Full Scholarship for Middlebury German Summer School Master’s Program (2003)
CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS AND INVITED LECTURE
Building Peer Support and Advising Networks through German Community Engagement”: American
Convention of Teachers of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) in Philadelphia, PA (November 2024) (anticipated)
“Building Student Belonging by Decolonizing World Language and Culture Classrooms” Co-Presented with
Professor of Italian Marisa Trubiano at Montclair State University Faculty Teaching and Learning Showcase
internal conference as part of the Teaching Innovation Program (TIP). May 2024.
“Filling in the Missing Links: Connecting Elementary, High School, and University Programs through SPARK for
German”: American Convention of Teachers of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) in Chicago, IL (November 2023)
“Linear Stagnation vs. Cyclical Dynamism: Productive Paradoxes in the Mixed Intermediate-Advanced German
Classroom”: American Convention of Teachers of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) in Chicago, IL (November 2023)
“Acting and Gesture in German Opera to 1820”: International Society of Eighteenth Century Studies (ISECS) in
Rome, Italy (July 2023)
LaFountain page 5 of 10
Promoting Intercultural Awareness and Leadership through a World Language Community Engagement
Program” Co-Presented with two students at Montclair State University Faculty Teaching and Learning Showcase
internal conference. May 2023.
“Wild Women? Representations of Female Emancipation in Humboldt’s Reise in die Aequinoctial-Gegenden”:
Northeastern Modern Language Association (NeMLA) in Niagara Falls, NY (March 2023)
“Prioritizing Diversity in an Elementary School University SPARK Teaching Partnership”: German Studies
Association (GSA) in Houston, TX (October 2022)
“Mein Aktivismus: Anti-Racist Pedagogy in the Intermediate German Classroom”: American Association of
Teachers of German (AATG) national online conference (April 2022) following direct invitation by President of
AATG Priscilla Layne
“Wo ist meine Stimme?” Learning to Open the Conversation in a Minority-Serving German Program”:
Northeastern Modern Language Association (NeMLA) in Baltimore, MD (March 2022)
A Dutch Werther? Rhijnvis Feith’s Epistolary Novel Julia (1783) and the Netherlandic Sturm und Drang”:
German Studies Association (GSA) online (October 2021)
“Welcoming Gender Diversity in the World Language Classroom”: Foreign Language Educators of New Jersey
(FLENJ) Summer Refresher Conference; co-presented online workshop with Wendy Timmons (Vanderbilt
University) (August 2021)
“Geen woord drukt mijn ellende uit”: Gender and Crisis of Language in Rhijnvis Feith’s Epistolary Novel Julia
(1783)”: International Conference of Netherlandic Studies (ICNS) online hosted by University of California,
Berkeley (June 2021)
“Kostenlos Deutsch: Exploring New Resources for the German Classroom”: Northeastern Modern Language
Association (NeMLA) hosted online by University of Buffalo (March 2021)
“Navigating Gender in the World Language Classroom: An Open Conversation”: Foreign Language Educators of
New Jersey (FLENJ) Summer Refresher Conference; co-led online workshop led with Wendy Timmons
(Vanderbilt University) (August 2020)
“Performing Perception: Self-Stylization and the Five Senses in Alexander von Humboldt’s Reise in die Aequinoctial-
Gegende des neuen Continents”: Northeastern Modern Language Association (NeMLA) in Boston, MA (March 2020)
“Neverending Conversations: Acoustic Ecology and Active Listening in Alexander von Humboldt’s Reise in die
Aequinoctial-Gegenden des neuen Continents”: International Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies (ISECS) in
Edinburgh, Scotland (July 2019)
“Fairy Tale Expo as Capstone Experience”: Northeastern Modern Language Association (NeMLA) in
Washington, D.C. (March 2019)
“‘Was haben Sie gegen das Lachen?’ Lessing’s Laughing Bodies”: Modern Language Association (MLA) in New
York, NY (January 2018)
“Androgyn in Berlin: Student Perspectives and Lessons for the Intermediate German Classroom”: American
Convention of Teachers of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) in Nashville, TN (November 2017)
Kleist’s Amphitryon: Adapting Absurdity for the Romantic German Stage: German Studies Association (GSA) in
Atlanta, GA (October, 2017)
Laughing Bodies and Empathic Minds: Humor, Physicality, and Affect in G.E. Lessing’s Minna von Barnhelm:
Northeastern Modern Language Association (NeMLA) in Baltimore, MD (March, 2017)
Of Minds and Hands: German Deafness in the Eighteenth Century: German Studies Association in San Diego,
CA (October, 2016)
Beyond Tiresias: Blindness and Truth in Kleist’s Die Familie Schroffenstein: German Studies Association (GSA) in
San Diego, CA (October, 2016)
“Two and a Half Truths”: Mathematics, Rhetoric, and Legal Proof in Eighteenth-Century Germany: Northeastern
Modern Language Association (NeMLA) in Hartford, CT (March, 2016)
LaFountain page 6 of 10
“Phantomschmerzen einer fehlenden Gesellschaft.” Affect and Community in René Pollesch: German Studies
Association (GSA) in Denver, CO (October 2013)
“Wie ein Mädchen”: Crises of Language and Masculinity in Heinrich von Kleist’s Prinz Friedrich von Homburg
(1811): German Studies Association (GSA) in Milwaukee, WI (October 2012)
The Queen’s Two Bodies: Doubling the Double in Schiller’s Maria Stuart: German Studies Association (GSA) in
Louisville, KY (September 2011)
“Das geheime Räderwerk”: Body and Mind in La Mettrie’s Man a Machine and Schiller’s Theatrical Mechanics of
Revolution: University of Michigan Graduate Student Conference in Ann Arbor, MI (November 2010)
“From Sound to Skit: Using Performance as a Goal for Pronunciation Lessons” American Convention of
Teachers of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) in San Diego, CA (November 2009)
“Und sprach sie nicht?” Pantomime and the Misreading of Physical Signs in Kleist’s Die Familie Schroffenstein:
German Studies Association (GSA) in Washington, D.C. (October 2009)
“Die Insel im Rhein”: Heinrich Heine as Literary Diplomat between France and Germany”: Northeast Modern
Language Association (NeMLA) in Buffalo, NY (April 2008)
Convention Session: “Teaching German with Loriot”: Co-Presented with Bettina Matthias and Tin Wegel;
American Convention of Teachers of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) in San Antonio, TX (November 2007)
Nostalgia for the Present in Nabokov’s “Guide to Berlin” and Benjamin’s “Moscow”: German Studies
Association (GSA) 2007 in San Diego, CA (October 2007)
“Dunkel, warten, redelos”: Language, Subjectivity, and Utopian Space in Ingeborg Bachmann’s Der Fall Franza:
8
th
International Utopian Studies Society Conference in Plymouth, UK (July 2007)
Invited Lecture: “Trauma and Nostalgia: Remembering Nazi Persecution in the Documentary Film Paragraph 175”:
Williams College, MA (April 2007)
Shame and Nostalgia: Remembering Nazi Persecution in the Documentary Film Paragraph 175: New England
Modern Language Association (NeMLA) Conference in Baltimore, MD (March 2007)
“kennen Sie dieses SCHÖNE land?” Spatial Alienation and the Media in Elfreide Jelinek’s Die Liebhaberinnen,
Kentucky Foreign Language Conference (KFLC) in Lexington, KY (April 2006)
“Theater Performance in the German Curriculum”: Workshop led with Bettina Matthias and Tin Wegel,
American Convention of Teachers of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) in Baltimore, MD (November 2005)
“Zwei ist das finstre Chaos. Drei ist die Welt.” The Subversion of the Binary Gender Model in Kleist’s Der
zerbrochne Krug, Kentucky Foreign Language Conference (KFLC) in Lexington, KY (April 2005)
CONFERENCE PANEL ORGANIZATION AND MODERATION
“German History of Opera to 1820”: Roundtable Moderator at the International Society of Eighteenth Century
Studies (ISECS) in Rome, Italy (July 2023)
“Colonies and Critique: Reassessing German-Language Representations of Empire”: Panel Organizer and
Moderator at the Northeastern Modern Language Association (NeMLA) in Niagara Falls, NY (March 2023)
“Subverting Reality: The Politics of Representation in German Fairy Tales”: Panel Moderator at the German
Studies Association (GSA) in Houston, TX (September 2022)
New Approaches to Reading in the German Curriculum”: Panel Co-Organizer and Moderator at the
Northeastern Modern Language Association (NeMLA) in Baltimore, MD (March 2022)
“Open-Source German Teaching Materials: Crisis and Radical Innovation”: Organizer of two roundtables and
moderator of one roundtable) at the Northeastern Modern Language Association (NeMLA) hosted online by
University of Buffalo (March 2021), with distinguished participants such as Jamie Rankin and Adam Oberlin
(Princeton University) and Lisa Parkes (Harvard University). Co-Organized with Catherine Baird from Montclair
State University.
“New Readings of Kleist and Tieck” Panel Moderator at the German Studies Association (GSA) hosted online
(October 2020).
LaFountain page 7 of 10
“Cosmos and Community: 250 Years of Alexander von Humboldt”: Panel Organizer and Moderator at the
Northeastern Modern Language Association (NeMLA) in Boston, MA (March 2020).
“Staging the Post-Dramatic: 21
st
-Century German Theater”: Panel Organizer and Moderator at the Northeastern
Modern Language Association (NeMLA) in Pittsburgh, PA (March 2018). Co-Organized with Lisa Parkes from
Harvard University.
“Funny Germans? German Humor from the Eighteenth Century to the Present” Panel Organizer and Moderator
at the Northeastern Modern Language Association (NeMLA) in Baltimore, MD (March 2017). Co-Organized
with Danny Bowles from Boston College.
“New Perspectives on Deafness and Blindness (1): Historical Frameworks” Panel Organizer at the German
Studies Association (GSA) in San Diego, CA (October 2016). Co-Organized with Jillian DeMair from the
Universtity of Central Arkansas.
“New Perspectives on Deafness and Blindness (2): Contemporary Approaches”: Panel Organizer at the German
Studies Association (GSA) in San Diego, CA (October 2016). Co-Organized with Jillian DeMair from the
Universtity of Central Arkansas.
“Precision, Correction, and Performance: Creative Process in Lessing’s Works”: Panel Organizer and Moderator
at the American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies (ASECS) in Pittsburgh, PA (April 2016)
“Of Crime and Justice: New Questions on German Law and Literature”: Panel Organizer and Moderator at the
Northeastern Modern Language Association (NeMLA) in Hartford, CT (March 2016) Co-Organized with Julia
Assaiante from Trinity College.
“Subversive Voices and Revolutionary Bodies: Heiner Müller’s Legacy”: Panel Organizer and Moderator at the
Northeastern Modern Language Association (NeMLA) in Toronto, Ontario (May 2015)
“Music in Today’s Language Classroom”: Panel Organizer and Moderator at the Northeastern Modern Language
Association (NeMLA) in Harrisburg, PA (April 2014). Co-Organized with Lisa Parkes from Harvard University.
Contextualizing René Pollesch”: Panel Organizer at the German Studies Association in Denver, CO (October
2013). Co-Organized with Matthew Cornish from Yale University.
“Enlightenment and the Politics of Spectatorship”: Organizer and chair for two panels at the Northeast Modern
Language Association (NeMLA) in Boston, MA (April 2012)
“Tragedy and the Tragic around 1800”: Co-Organizer and chair for a panel at the Northeast Modern Language
Association (NeMLA) in Boston, MA (February 2009)
“Violence in the Works of Heinrich von Kleist”: Organizer for two panels and chair for one panel at the
Northeast Modern Language Association (NeMLA) in Buffalo, NY (April 2008)
“The Limits of the Body and Language”: Panel Moderator at Harvard University German Department Graduate
Student Conference, “In the Flesh.” (April 2007)
PROFESSIONAL WORKSHOP PARTICIPATION AND ADVANCED TEACHER TRAINING
“Lernwelten verbinden: Zusammenarbeit und Innovation”: National German High-Impact Instructor
Networking Meeting for SPARK for GermanMentors and German Education Multipliers (all costs paid by
Goethe-Institut, Washington, D.C. February 11-14, 2024)
Faculty mentor for Structured Program for the Acquisition of German in the U.S. Resources and Know-How.
Regular attendee at monthly national SPARK for German mentor meetings. (Fall 2020 present)
Co-Presenter: “Daten zum Aufbau nachhaltiger Deutschprogramme: SPARK Surveys, Data, and Student
Outcomes.” Interactive Presentation for SPARK mentors and student participants with Stefanie Ohnesorg
(University of Tennessee Knoxville), Susanne Wagner (University of St. Thomas), and one of my
undergraduate students (May 2024)
“Best Practices of SPARK for German Labs.” Presentation to virtual national meeting of SPARK for
German Lab Network: (October 2023)
LaFountain page 8 of 10
Faculty Participant at “A Cross-Institutional Teaching Workshop: Meaningful Redesign for Troublesome
Moments in Teaching” organized by Montclair State University Office of Faculty Advancement (June 15, 2022)
Participant at the American Association of Teachers of German (AATG) Northern New Jersey Chapter
professional development workshop on “STEM in the German Classroom” in Montclair, NJ (March 2017)
Pilot Program Participant for ACUE Effective Teaching Practices course run by the Office for Faculty
Advancement at Montclair State University (Spring 2016)
Invited Paid Participant for “Culture in the Intro German Course” Review of Kontakte Beginning German
Textbook, 8
th
edition; featured on acknowledgments page of Kontakte 8
th
edition (May 2014)
Participant at the American Association of Teachers of German (AATG) Pennsylvania Chapter conference on
Study Abroad held at Lycoming College in Williamsport, PA (November 2012)
Massachusetts Teaching Certificate: German and French, Grades 5-12 (November 2009)
Advanced Discussion-Leading Seminar. Hosted by campus Center for Teaching and Learning. (Fall 2009)
Goethe Institut certification workshop for evaluating the written and oral segments of the Goethe Institut Tests
“Zertifikat Deutsch” and “Goethe-Zertifikat C1 (ZMP)” (Summer 2008)
AATG/Goethe Institut Boston: “Fremdsprache Inszenieren” with Manfred Schewe (September 2006)
American Association of Teachers of German (AATG): “Using Drama and Theater in the Foreign Language
Curriculum” with Bettina Matthias (February 2006)
Student Teacher for French at Middlebury Union High School, Middlebury, VT (Spring 2004)
Counselor in Immersion Program at Concordia Language Villages, Concordia, MN (Summer 2002)
SERVICE TO THE PROFESSION
Franklin and Marshall College External Reviewer of World Language Programs Four Departments: French &
Francophone Studies; Italian & Hebrew; German, Russian, and East Asian Languages; and Spanish & Linguistics
(February-March 2024)
Chapter Secretary of American Association of Teachers of German Northern New Jersey Chapter (AATG NNJ)
(Spring 2024-present)
SERVICE TO THE UNIVERSITY
Montclair State University Senate Executive Board, Chair of Student Affairs Council (2024-2026 two-year term)
University Senate IT Liaison, including monthly meetings with VP of IT/CIO (2020-present)
University Senate Calendar Committee Liaison, including semi-weekly meetings with VP of Enrollment Management
(Spring 2023-present)
Appointed Search Committee Member for the Montclair State University VP of IT/CIO (Fall 2023)
Vice President of Montclair State University Senate, re-elected for two two-year terms (2020-2024).
Montclair State University Senate Liaison to Montclair Votes Coalition (2020-2024)
PUBLIC-FACING WORLD LANGUAGE ADVOCACY PRESENTATIONS
“Building Your German for College and Careers,” Online Presentation to High School Students and Faculty at
Monroe Township Public School (February 2024)
LaFountain page 9 of 10
“Study and Career Pathways with German in College and Beyond,” Online Presentation to High School Students and
Faculty at Washington Township Public School (February 2024)
“Glimpse of the German Program,” Presentation to 35 New Jersey Guidance Counselors hosted by College of
Humanities and Social Sciences Dean at Montclair State University showcasing innovative humanities programs
(October 2023)
WORLD LANGUAGES AND CULTURES DEPARTMENT SERVICE
Beginning French Coordinator for seven class sections (coordinating adjunct faculty, managing syllabus and
assessment, adding curriculum, integrating “simple syllabus) (2024-2025)
French Undergraduate Advisor 2024-2025
Member of Department Faculty Assessment Committee (Fall 2021-present)
SERVICE TO THE COLLEGE OF HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES
Distinguished Teacher Committee 2024-2025
GERMAN PROGRAM OUTREACH AND SERVICE
SPARK for German Mentor to Students leading an after-school German teaching program (2021-present)
Primary Applicant for Successful bid to become an AATG German Centers of Excellence (2020)
Delta Phi Alpha German National Honor Society Advisor, Montclair State University (2016-present)
German Club Faculty Mentor, Film Series and Event Organizer; Montclair State University (2011-present)
Harvard German Department Kaffeestunde, Stammtisch, and Film Series Organizer (2009-2010)
Coordinator of Harvard German Graduate Student Website (2007-2009)
Member of the Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Tutorial Board (2007-2009)
Non-Resident Tutor for students in Harvard’s Undergraduate Quincy House: Hosted weekly language tables,
chaperoned parties, participated in residential life activities (2006-2007)
German Department Representative to the Harvard Graduate Student Council (2005-2006)
Member of the Harvard Graduate Student Council’s Finance Committee (2005-2006)
TRANSLATION, TRANSLATION MENTORING, AND RELATED WORK
Organization and translation of letters, contracts, music scores, and other materials dating from 1927-1980 from the
Wilhelm Berg estate in preparation of an outside assessment and acquisition by Exil.arte Center archive for Jewish
music history, including mentoring three student translator / researchers. Additional online archival and genealogical
research on Jewish family history under National Socialist rule in Vienna (March May 2024)
Transcription and translation of letters from the 1950s for the Arnold and Sharon Cohen, including mentoring of a
student translator (December January 2024)
PEER REVIEWER OF ACADEMIC ARTICLES
Peer reviewed articles for TRANSIT, Seminar (article on Elfriede Jelinek, 2018), Goethe Yearbook (article on German
Enlightenment drama, 2020), Neohelicon (article on Elfriede Jelinek, 2020; multiple articles on contemporary
German literature and Hegel in 2024, often with multiple drafts)
LaFountain page 10 of 10
LANGUAGES
German (near native)
Dutch (advanced)
French (advanced)
Middle High German (reading knowledge)
Latin (reading knowledge)
PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS
American Association of Netherlandic Studies (AANS)
American Association of Teachers of German (AATG)
American Association of Teachers of German Northern New Jersey Chapter (AATG NNJ)
American Society of Eighteenth Century Studies (ASECS)
German Studies Association (GSA)
Modern Language Association (MLA)
New England Modern Language Association (NeMLA)
American Convention of Teachers of Foreign Languages (ACTFL)