Emily Groepper

I received my PhD in Medieval Germanic Studies at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities in July 2022 with Latin and Medieval Studies minors.  My dissertation was titled "The Intentional Curation of Short Verse Narratives in a Compilation Manuscript for a Medieval Audience,” and it discusses a fourteenth-century Middle High German manuscript and its intended audience to better understand how, why, and for whom such anthologies were produced.  I examine the ways in which 68 short verse narratives are organized to demonstrate that it is a purposefully curated collection.  By analyzing individual stories and clusters of texts according to their stylistic, thematic, linguistic, and didactic features, I demonstrate that the collection is not randomly but intentionally constructed with a specific audience in mind.  To this end, my research probes the interpretive mode of communication for a medieval audience through their reading and listening practices as well as the presentational mode as it is employed by the scribe and compiler.  This research has led to several conference presentations related to how communities of texts are formed around emotional expressions.  My approach contributes to the reconstruction of the medieval reception of short narratives and proposes an explanation of how, why, and for whom such manuscripts were produced.

I have also been actively involved in Second Language Acquisition research initiatives and curricular revisions in GNSD and in partnership with the Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition (CARLA) and the CLA Language Center.  This has included publishing an article that discussed curricular interventions implemented in an upper-level undergraduate literature course as part of the Proficiency Assessment for Curricular Enhancement (PACE) project, a Flagship-funded longitudinal study measuring the proficiency of undergraduate language learners across languages and levels.  I have also been involved in a number of additional curriculum development projects within GNSD in my time as a graduate student and now as an instructor.

During the 2024-2025 academic year, I was involved in two CLA Faculty Engagement: Generative AI and Large Language Models Readiness Teaching Fellows Cohorts, resulting in the development of an AI chatbot for GER 1001, several presentations, and a CARLA workshop focused on AI policies in the language classroom.

My current role is first-year German coordinator, managing GER 1001, GER 1002, and GER 1022.