Janet Eckerson

Assistant Professor of Spanish; Graduate Program Chair

Office: THMH 215 | Phone: (308) 865-8051 | Email: eckersonjm@unk.edu

Biography

Dr. Janet Eckerson teaches courses in undergraduate Spanish for both traditional and heritage language learners, as well as graduate courses related to language pedagogy. She received her Doctorate in Education from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL). Before joining the faculty, she was an adjunct instructor for UNK, a Practice Fellow Lecturer at UNL and a secondary Spanish teacher in Lincoln, Crete and West Palm Beach, Florida. She has served many roles in professional organizations for language teachers, including as the current President of the Nebraska International Language Association (NILA) and a former President of the Nebraska Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese (NATSP). She taught Spanish for fifteen years in public secondary schools at every level, but in particular, Spanish for Heritage Speakers courses. Her research interests include foreign language teaching methods, assessment and curriculum development, language teacher professional learning, Spanish to Heritage Speakers pedagogy, heritage language maintenance and educational policy and practice impacting Latinx students in U.S. public schools.