English Language Tutoring Program
For information about English Language tutoring, contact:
Shelby Speer, Program Administrator, at 781-736-3992
or visit the English Language Program.
Gateway Faculty
Sabine von Mering is an associate professor of German and director for the Center for German and European Studies at Brandeis. As a German national who has lived in the United States for 17 years (and is now a naturalized U.S. citizen) with U.S.-born children, von Mering understands very well what it means to be an international student and to navigate the challenges of a multicultural existence.
Von Mering began her exploration with five years of training as a teacher of English as a second language at the Universities of Köln and Göttingen in Germany. (She also studied Latin, French and Dutch). After her state exam in Göttingen, she worked as a translator and interpreter at Business Language Consultancy in London. In 1992 she became the German language scholar at Reed College in Portland, Ore., where she studied Spanish and organized German cultural events. At the University of California-Davis, she earned a doctorate in German literature and women's studies.
Von Mering's pedagogical training includes courses in second-language acquisition and pedagogical psychology. In 1998, she joined the faculty at Brandeis, where she currently teaches courses in German language, European cultural studies and film studies, as well as Jewish-German cultural history. She has also taught cross-cultural introductory humanities courses to first-year students and directed a six-week Berlin summer program for three years. As director of the Center for German and European Studies, she produces a rich co-curricular program on the Brandeis campus, with lectures, conferences, author readings and film screenings throughout the academic year.
Vinodini Murugesan serves as Academic Specialist for the English Language Program and Gateway Scholars Program at Brandeis University. She holds a B.Ed. (Hons.) TESL degree from Exeter University (UK), an MA in English Literature from the University of Malaya, and a joint MA in English Literature and Women’s and Gender Studies from Brandeis University. She is currently completing a PhD dissertation in English and American Literature, also at Brandeis. She has served as University Writing Seminar instructor and as Teaching Fellow for various courses as part of her doctorate degree. She has also served as a tutor for the English Language Program for several years.
Vino has had extensive international experience in the field of education, whether as commercial enterprise, government policy or cutting-edge academic theory. She has worked with an independent international publisher as an ELT editor and marketing consultant, having previously served for some years as a lecturer at a teacher education center under the Ministry of Education, Malaysia. As a teacher educator, she researched, planned and taught both in-service and pre-service teacher education programs. She designed these programs based not only on education theory but the practical reality of ESL situations in various places. She has presented several papers at international conferences and has had several ELT articles published. She co-authored an EFL resource book published in 2007 in tandem with an accompanying teacher-training program. Vino is a firm believer in the value of continuous professional development, and she endeavors to keep abreast of current developments in both education and literary criticism.
Cheryl Brintnall is in her second year with Brandeis University, teaching graduate and undergraduate students. She enjoys learning about her students’ cultures as much as teaching them about American culture and communication skills. Cheryl has studied several languages, including French, Spanish, Japanese, Arabic, Italian, and German and especially loves to read in French and Spanish. She loves to travel and practice using these languages as well. Cheryl holds a TESL/TEFL certificate, a bachelor’s degree in Business Law and Entrepreneurship from Babson College, and a master’s degree in English Literature from SSU. In addition to teaching at Brandeis, Cheryl teaches writing at NECC. Previously, Cheryl ran her own business where she worked with multinational corporations and universities to develop communications programs for international executives and graduate students.