Laura Eidt Ph.D.
Affiliate Assistant Professor of Modern Languages, Humanities Program Director; Faculty Advisor for K-12 Classical Curriculum Project
Dr. Laura Eidt teaches in the German, Spanish, Comparative Literature, Humanities and Classical Education programs at the University of Dallas, and is Director of the Humanities Program and of UD’s K-5 Latin curriculum Latin Through Stories.
Laura Eidt grew up in Germany and received her B.A. in English, Spanish, and German Literatures and Linguistics from Hamburg University. After a year-long scholarship to study at the Universidad Complutense of Madrid, she decided to pursue a career in Comparative Literature at the University of Texas in Austin. She wrote her M.A. thesis entitled Poetry of German Expressionism and the Spanish Avant-garde: Re-Contextualizing García Lorca’s Poeta en Nueva York and her doctoral dissertation, Writing and Filming the Painting: Ekphrasis in Literature and Film, which was also published as a book. Having studied English, Spanish, French, Italian and Latin (in addition to her native German) at various points in her life, she is also highly interested in how languages are learned, how they are related, and in effective ways of teaching foreign languages. This interest has led her to develop various classes on foreign language pedagogy, as well as the K-5 Latin curriculum for UD’s St Ambrose Center.
- Ph.D., Comparative Literature, University of Texas at Austin
- M.A., Comparative Literature, University of Texas at Austin
- B.A., University of Hamburg, Germany (major: English Literature and Linguistics, minors: German Literature and Spanish Literature, with study abroad at Universidad Complutense de Madrid)
- Foreign language pedagogy
- The history of language teaching and learning
- Classical Education
- Classical Children’s Literature
- 20th Century Literature
- Director of Humanities (2015-present)
- Co-Director of Comparative Literary Traditions (2009-2015)
- Affiliate Assistant Professor of Modern Languages (2007-present)
- Adjunct Instructor of German and Spanish (2006-2007)
- HUM 6330 Great Works of the Modern World
- HUM 6V78 Teaching Classical Children's Literature
- HUM 6377: Beginning Latin/Language Pedagogy
- MGE 1601 Intensive First Year German
- MGE 2612 Intensive Second Year German
- MGE 3343 German Literary Tradition III
- MGE 3V50 German Children's Literature
- MSP 1301 First Year Spanish I
- MGE/MFR/MIT/MSP 3331 Applied Linguistics: Introduction to Foreign Language Pedagogy
- Märchen und Legenden, published by TPRS books December 2022
- Writing and Filming the Painting: Ekphrasis in Literature and Film. Amsterdam and New York: Rodopi, 2008.
- National Symposium for Classical Education, Phoenix, March 20-22, 2024. “Teaching Latin and Modern Languages Through Stories” (60-minute workshop)
- Biduum Latinum, Fort Worth, January 26-27, 2024. Led entire beginning track; 7 sessions of immersion language teaching in Latin
- ACTC Conference Presentation, Dallas, April 31, 2023. Presentation on “The Trivium as Core in a Core Language Class”.
- National Symposium for Classical Education, Phoenix, February 22-24, 2023. Two presentations: “Teaching Latin and Modern Languages Classically” (lecture) and “Teaching Latin and Modern Languages Classically in K-5” (workshop)
- Biduum Latinum, Fort Worth, January 27-28, 2023. Presented two sessions on language teaching in the tradition of the Trivium, and a teaching demonstration of a lesson from Latin Through Stories, Level 1
Various workshops at Classical Schools and Conferences:
- Introduction to Socratic Teaching and Socratic Circles
- Narration as a Classical Teaching Tool
- Teaching Latin and Modern Languages Classically in Elementary through High School
- Teaching and Learning Languages in the Catholic Liberal Arts Tradition
- Teaching English Grammar, 3rd-8th Grade
- Webinar Series for Latin Through Stories for Levels 1, 2 and 3
Podcasts
- “Narration and Latin” A Podcast Interview for “Educating Humans” an Australia-based Classical Education Podcast. May 23, 2023.
- Teaching Literature with Dr. Laura Eidt and Robin Johnston (pt. 1) Beautiful Teaching Podcast, August 18, 2022.
- Teaching Literature (Plus Book List) with Dr. Laura Eidt and Robin Johnston (pt. 2) Beautiful Teaching Podcast, August 18, 2022.
- Dr. Eidt and Dr. Owens: Teaching & Learning Latin (at home and in classrooms) Beautiful Teaching Podcast, April 14, 2022.
- University of Texas at Austin University Graduate Continuing Fellowship
- DAAD scholarship for a year-long study at the Universidad Complutense of Madrid