William B. Fischer (email)
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last modified: |
Immediately below are links to my various long-term projects. Further below are individual publications, conference presentations, and other short-term activities, which are listed in approximate newest-oldest order. Below that are concert appearances. Click on the linked text or picture to see more information in a separate window.
Long-Term Projects
CosmoLingua Language Learning Software - Learning resources for several languages, mainly German and Spanish. Includes Wie, bitte? - Introductory German for Proficiency, a full-service first-year college German course; a limited version of ¿Cómo? - Introductory Spanish for Proficiency, the Spanish equivalent of Wie, bitte?, and several special-purpose software programs. Coming soon: iPhone/iPod/iPad resources. Many of the resources are offered as free (donationware) download.
SpeakEasy language student entrepreneurship - a language course and a sheltered company created by language students
Humboldt Project - about Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859), German explorer, scientist, social scientists, and human rights advocate; support for experiential learning in Humboldt-named schools
Moonlighting in 'Turandot' - essays about my semi-amateur operatic life and the perspectives it has given me on my education and profession, on history, culture and politics, especially war and the 'clash of civilizations'. Link coming soon.
separate list of culture tutorials and presentations for German classes (Christmas, elections, taxes, Martin Luther King, etc.) - link coming soon
Bach's German (and not just Bach's) - contributions to "BachBeat", the newletter of the Portland Bach Cantata Choir
QTVR (QuickTime Virtual Reality) - 360-degree panoramic photos
Publications, Grants, Presentations, Guest Lectures
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SECCLL: Southeast Coastal Conference on Languages & Literatures, 11th Annual COnference, March 27-28, 2014, Savannah, GA |
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It's a Proficiency-Oriented Language Course! It's a Sustainability-Based Student-Run Company! |
SECCLL: Southeast Coastal Conference on Languages & Literatures, 11th Annual COnference, March 27-28, 2014, Savannah, GA |
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Language Teacher Preparation in Oregon: Group Discussion |
Annual Spring Conference of the Confederation in Oregon for Language Teaching, Forest Grove, OR, 1 March 2014 |
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Annual Spring Conference of the Confederation in Oregon for Language Teaching, Forest Grove, OR, 1 March 2014 |
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Promoting Innovation in World Language Instruction: Issues, Examples, Action |
Twelfth Annual Hawaii International Conference on Arts & Humanities, Waikiki, organized by University of Hawaii, Manoa, 11 January 2014. Annual panel discussion, with rotating selection of topics. Self-nominated panelists solicited - email fischerw@pdx.edu; next HICAH January 10-13, 2015 |
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Twelfth Annual Hawaii International Conference on Arts & Humanities, Waikiki, organized by University of Hawaii, Manoa, 12 January 2014 |
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| Promoting Innovation in World Language Instruction |
Eleventh Annual Hawaii International Conference on Arts & Humanities, University of Hawaii, Manoa, 13 January 2013 |
| SpeakEasy: It's a Language Course! It's a Sustainability-Based Student-Run Company |
Eleventh Annual Hawaii International Conference on Arts & Humanities, University of Hawaii, Manoa, 11 January 2013 |
| Ring aus Feuer: Deutsche Country-Western-Musik / German Country-Western Music |
First presented at Deutsche Sommerschule am Pazifik, Portland, Oregon, 8 July 2012 |
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I Really Give My Students the Business – A Language Course That Is Also a Student-Run Company |
Annual Conference of the Centers for International Business Education & Research (CIBER), University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, 21-23 March, 2012 |
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Promoting Innovation in World Language Instruction: Issues, Examples, Action |
Tenth Annual Hawaii International Conference on Arts & Humanities, University of Hawaii, Manoa, 12 January 2012 (organized and conducted panel discussion, with Culley Carson-Grefe, Austin Peay University, and Erin Watters, Portland State University); link is to panel proposal / summary |
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Tenth Annual Hawaii International Conference on Arts & Humanities, University of Hawaii, Manoa, 11 January 2012 |
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Ein deutschsprachiger Dorfpfarrer in Nebraska um die Jahrhundertwende 1900 |
A German-Speaking Small-Town Minister in Nebraska at the Turn of the Century (1900) - PSU Deutsche Sommerschule am Pazifik, 9 July 2011 |
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PSU WLL Department "World of Languages" Course, 8 April 2011 |
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Alexander von Humboldt: The Origins of Sustainable Environmentalism |
PSU Geography Department Lecture Series, 26 January, 2011 |
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Building Sustainability Themes into the Humanities: Case Studies & Pipe Dreams |
Ninth Annual Hawaii International Conference on Arts & Humanities. University of Hawaii, Manoa. 12 January, 2011. |
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Popular Movie/TV Clips about Learning Foreign Languages, and How to Use Them to Help Learners Learn and Teachers Teach. Ninth Annual Hawaii International Conference on Arts & Humanities. University of Hawaii, Manoa. 10 January, 2011. |
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presented annually at PSU WLL fall quarter TA orientations; see also 2006 NCLB-USP Grant for Language Teacher Training ($50K) |
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| A Quarter Century of Creating Language Textbooks & Software |
Presented at Deutsche Sommerschule am Pazifik, 26 July, 2010. |
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20+ two-minute topics (13 January, 2010, PSU "World of Languages" course) |
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| I'm Giving My Students the Business: Language Course Becomes Startup Company |
Presentation about SpeakEasy, the German business simulation course that is trying to become a real company. ACTFL Conference, Orlando, 21 November 2008 |
| Brief History of German Science Fiction |
presented 21 July 2008 at Deutsche Sommerschule am Pazifik |
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Confederation in Oregon for Language Teaching (COFLT) • Fall Conference |
Business Language, Language Business: 'SpeakEasy, Inc.' Reaches Its First Goal |
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Strategy and Styles-Based Instruction: Results of Implementation Study and Future Implications |
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Article (2006/7) about German Science Fiction radio play using "synthetic head stereo" (Kunstkopf, binaural) |
"Literatur für Leser and Listeners: Herbert W. Franke's 'Papa Joe & Co.'" Literatur für Leser v. 29.4 (2006). Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang. Download publisher's announcement (.pdf) and article excerpt (first and last pages, .doc.); link to document archive (scans of early publications; photos; audio clips) |
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Transformation of conventional "Age of Goethe" German course into an outreach project that uses the life and work of Alexander von Humboldt, scientist and explorer of the New World, to encourage better learning among children in schools named for Humboldt (Bronx, Portland, Canada, Latin America). The project has won two small PSU grants and has been presented at two international conferences. |
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| 2006 NCLB-USP Grant for Language Teacher Training ($50K) |
Oregon/No Child Left Behind grant (University/School Partnerships), funded through the Teaching Research Institute at Western Oregon University. Proposal Chief activities: Teacher training workshop 26-30 June 2006 at Portland State University; implementation; research. |
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2001-03 Pew Foundation Grant for Redesign of Large-Enrollment Courses ($200K) |
Awarded to sponsor redesign of first-year Spanish at Portland State University, on the basis of ¿Cómo? - Introductory Spanish for Proficiency, my first-year Spanish textbook and software package (links to ¿Cómo? background information on this page, and - Internet Explorer only - the on-line version) |
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Palm OS software for introductory German and for language students at higher levels. |
For Palm OS handhelds that have the application Documents to Go™, which is bundled with several major brands of handheld. Includes files for Wie, bitte?, maps, and a comprehensive Reference Grammar of German. NOW (2012) obsolete; thus the broken link. May be revived for Kindle's and similar. Some of the material is included in the CosmoLingua Language Learning Software. |
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PalmLexikon™ Requires the shareware reader TealInfo from TealPoint (included in the download here). |
PalmLexikon™, for handhelds using Palm OS, is a set of high-frequency word list organized by topic. The lists include more than 1200 words of greatest value in everyday contexts. The topics are: Actions (Verbs); Qualities (Adjectives & Adverbs); Buildings & Rooms; CLothes & Fashion; Education: Equipment & Accessories; Food & Drink; Leisure & Culture; Nature-Speace-Time; People; Store & Business; Street; Travel & Transportation. The lists can be accessed in either direction (German>English, English>German), and the lists for both languages are available as single A-Z lists. Presently available only for German and English. Versions for Spanish, French, Portuguese, Italian, Swedish & Chinese (pin-yin) are in development, as are linked files with digitized native-speaker sounds. Commercial version anticipated for 2005. NOW (2012) obsolete; thus the broken link. |
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"Hi-tech, Mid-tech, Lo-tech, No-tech: Technological and Pedagogical Considerations in Course Redesign." Hawaii International Conference on Arts and Humanities." Honolulu. 11 January 2004. Summary, graphics, documents (PDF), and links. |
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article "Goethe and Schiller and Me: Reflections on Figuring out Literature While Teaching Others about It and Life Too in a Language They Don’t Talk Very Good Yet" Teaching German in America: Past Progress and Future Promise, George F. Peters, ed., Cherry Hill, NJ: American Association of Teachers of German, 2002; ISBN: 0-924017-90-0 |
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Wie, bitte? and ¿Cómo? - Introductory German and Spanish for Proficiency - conventionally published textbooks and www/cd-rom versions |
Pew Foundation Grant ($200,000) for Redesign of Large-Enrollment Courses, using ¿Cómo? (see above)
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CosmoLexikon - Multilingual Talking Pictorial Dictionary (on-line and CD-ROM) - link to information page - NOW OBSOLETE, BUT WITH A NEW VERSION UNDER DEVELOPMENT. The link above does lead to useful information, but for even better information email me or go to www.cosmolingua.pdx.edu, which has free downloads of various parts of the larger project. |
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CosmoCourseware - software for language learners - NOW OBSOLETE, BUT WITH A NEW VERSION UNDER DEVELOPMENT. The link above does lead to useful information, but for even better information email me or go to www.cosmolingua.pdx.edu, which has free downloads of various parts of the larger project. |
 Click the picture or the link at upper right to show more information in a separate window. |
Papa Joe & Co. - German science-fiction radio play using binaural stereo
The project is an English-language version of the binaural stereo [Kunstkopf] science-fiction radio play by Austrian-German author Herbert W. Franke). "Papa Joe & Co." appeared originally as a short story, in 197-. In 1976 it was produced by Bavarian Broadcasting as a binaural stereo (Kunstkopf) radio play (Hörspiel). I have translated the play and, as part of a Hörspiel course at Portland State University, supervised a prototype English production, also in binaural stereo. With funding from a faculty development grant I am working on an expanded English version. |
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CosmoBabel - software for second-language conversation exercise and initial oral proficiency evaluation - NOW OBSOLETE, BUT WITH A NEW VERSION UNDER DEVELOPMENT. The link above does lead to useful information, but for even better information email me or go to www.cosmolingua.pdx.edu, which has free downloads of various parts of the larger project. |
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SpeakEasy - a language-for-business course for college language students is transformed into a virtual (and later actual) e-business |
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CosmoLyrica - a multimedia exploration of a cosmological-theological poem - NOW OBSOLETE, BUT WITH A NEW VERSION UNDER DEVELOPMENT. The link above does lead to useful information, but for even better information email me |
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ForReal - collections of authentic cultural-linguistic materials for language learning
(go directly to ForReal site) |
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The Empire Strikes Out - study of modern German science fiction |
Early publications (some available as PDF here):1986 "Master's Voice" - CALICO (Computer-Assisted Language Instruction Consortium) Journal article about natural (digitized) speech and its potential for language instruction.
Concert & Opera Appearances
Street Scene, PSU Opera, spring 2011 (as Officer Murphy)