CourseShare Grows in Fall 2023 – Thanks to UMN Instructors

This semester, a total of 160 students are participating in the CourseShare program through the University of Minnesota (UMN), making Fall 2023 the largest cohort to date! Currently there are 62 UMN students registered for a class taught at another Big Ten university and 98 students from another Big Ten university joining our less commonly taught language and culture courses.

The CourseShare program allows undergraduate and graduate students to access the language instruction they need to achieve their personal and professional goals. It connects students to the language of their heritage, and bridges communication with friends and family. It supports local and international research initiatives. CourseShare classes can be used to complete an undergraduate or graduate degree requirement or for a more personal reason. UMN offers a wealth of languages locally, including two indigenous languages. Nevertheless, there are critical gaps in language availability for students, and this is where the languages offered through CourseShare step in. 

Many individuals from across the university help make CourseShare possible for students, from the advisors who promote options, to the registrars who work for weeks to ensure students have access to course materials. At the center of it all are the language and culture instructors who teach the courses that we share with other universities in the Big Ten. The generosity and flexibility of CLA instructors is well established, and this positive reputation ensures that when a UMN student requests a new language or course, there is a good chance a partner university will step up to help them.

A big thank you to the following instructors for sharing their courses Fall 2023:

• Meraj Ahmed: Beginning & Advanced Hindi; Beginning, Intermediate & Advanced Urdu
• Sophia Beal: Portuguese Conversation and Composition 
• Zoe Brown: Beginning & Intermediate Ojibwe 
• Hangtae Cho: Language and Society of the Two Koreas 
• Ingela-Selda Eilert Haaland: Beginning & Intermediate Swedish
• Khadar Jama: Beginning Somali
• Sugyung Kim: Intermediate Korean
• Brendan Kishketon: Advanced Ojibwe Language
• Kyle Korynta: Beginning Norwegian
• C̣aƞte Máza: Dakota Mastery, coordinator and interim instructor for Beginning Dakota
• Lily Obeda: Beginning & Intermediate Finnish
• Jenneke Oosterhoff: Intermediate Dutch
• Renana Schneller: Beginning, Intermediate & Advanced Modern Hebrew 

Several of these instructors are teaching in unique or challenging circumstances. For example, Meraj Ahmed is sharing five different classes. C̣aƞte Máza is teaching his own classes while serving as an interim instructor and coordinator for other classes. Zoe Brown has a total of 45 students in her beginning class. Lila Obeda is sharing her course with four different universities simultaneously. Instructors are willing to accept the additional instructional and administrative work of the CourseShare program in order to promote their language and culture to a broader audience. These instructors’ time, energy and expertise support the program overall, having a positive impact on students at our university, and across the Big Ten.