I’m Stephan, an Assistant Teaching Professor, interested in the adoption of new immersive technologies in language and cultural learning. I’m an educator and Director of The Askwith Kenner Global Languages & Cultures Room at Carnegie Mellon University.

I enjoy making things. I think that it’s a great way to learn, especially if you experiment and fail, and try again. I like to paint and draw, I listen to podcasts, read books, and when I’m outdoors I like to cycle along the trails. Although it’s always a battle to find the time to do these things, perhaps that is why it is so rewarding when you finally do.

These interests tend to inform my teaching, which I think is more probably more craft than science, although the evidence tends to back up what you might intuitively feel works.  I want my students to enjoy their courses and I’m interested in playful experiential learning.  I try to encourage creative ways to tell stories that reflect aspects of their lives, and encourage them to bring as much of themselves into their learning as they are able to. 

The best advice I’ve ever had was from a filmmaker in Dresden when I showed a film there. He told me to be successful you had to seek out your community. I’ve realized over the years that doesn’t just mean one community, but many and I’ve been blessed by the extraordinary support and guidance of colleagues, friends and the many professional networks I’ve found through the work I do. 

I have created these pages to support my scholarly work and develop my teaching practice. Please feel free to get in touch on Twitter @dotsandspaces and subscribe to my weekly newsletter dotsandspaces.substack.com/

Stephan Caspar (updated 2021)