Department of Germanic Studies

• foreign language pedagogy
• innovative teaching and learning approaches
• performative pedagogy
• intercultural and multilingual competence
• fairytales
• Kiner- und Jugendliteratur
• curriculum development for higher education

Susanne Even is Clinical Professor and Language Program Coordinator in Germanic Studies. She trains and mentors the associate instructors in the department and is the first point of contact for pedagogical concerns. She is MAT supervisor, official CEFR examiner and faculty advisor for ICAN Service Dogs at IU. Her own service dog Oliver is her constant companion on campus and co-researcher into accessibility issue in Germany, Ireland, and the United States.

Susanne holds a Ph.D. in German Language Teaching Research from University College Cork, Ireland, and has taught at University College Cork (Ireland), University of Leicester (UK), and in Massachusetts at MIT, Boston University and Worcester Polytechnic Institute. A passionate teacher and teacher educator, she writes on performative pedagogy in foreign  language teaching and learning, and her book Drama Grammatik. Dramapädagogische Ansätze für den Grammatikunterricht Deutsch als Fremdsprache was published in 2003. She co-edited the bilingual anthology Perfomatives Lehren Lernen Forschen – Performative Teaching Learning Research (2016) and the festschrift Lernbewegungen inszenieren (2019). Susanne specializes in innovative teaching and learning approaches and has conducted workshops at numerous universities and Goethe-Institutes in Austria, Canada, Germany, Italy, and the United States.

Susanne is co-founder and co-editor of Scenario, the peer-reviewed, trilingual online journal for performative teaching, learning, research. She is co-editor of the Scenario book series and has co-organized three international Scenario Forum Conferences between 2014 and 2024. The Scenario Project has received four awards since its inception in 2007, including the European Language Label Award in 2010 and the Diamond Open Access Publishing Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Open Access Publishing Field in Ireland (2024).

Books

• Lernbewegungen inszenieren (edited volume with Dragan Miladinović and Barbara Schmenk). Tübingen: NarrAttempto, 2019.
• Performative Teaching, Learning and Research (edited volume with Manfred Schewe). Berlin: Schibri, 2016.
• Drama Grammatik. Dramapädagogische Ansätze für den Grammatikunterricht Deutsch als Fremdsprache. München: iudicium, 2003.

Book chapters

• “Old and New Magic: The Grimm Brothers and Cornelia Funke’s Mirrorworld.” Powers, Heather (ed.), Fairy Tales in the College Classroom. McFarland Press (2024), pp. 196-212.
• "Doing a Manfred." Even, Susanne; Miladinović, Dragan & Schmenk, Barbara (eds.), Lernbewegungen inszenieren. NarrAttempto (2019), pp. 57-68.
• "Nothing moves if you don't let go. Performative teacher training." Mentz, Olivier & Fleiner, Micha, The Arts in Language Teaching. International Perspectives: Performative – Aesthetic – Transversal. LIT Verlag (2018), pp. 91-106.
• "Mit Gerüchten durch die Wüste. Dramagrammatik in Theorie und Praxis." Schlief, Ann-Katrin; Betz, Anica; Stark, Linda & Schuttkowski, Caroline (eds.), Sprache handelnd begreifen. Dramapädagogische Ansätze für den Sprachunterricht. Narr (2016), pp. 7-22.
• "Dramapädagogik und Ästhetisches Lernen im Fremdsprachenunterricht." Bernstein, Nils; Lerchner, Charlotte (eds.), Ästhetisches Lernen im DaF-/DaZ-Unterricht. Literatur – Theater – Bildende Kunst – Musik – Film. Materialien Deutsch als Fremdsprache 93 (2014), pp. 191-203.
• "Bilingual Texts as Landmarks for Language and Cultural Awareness" (with David Dollenmayer). Plews, John & Schmenk, Barbara, Traditions and Transitions: German Curricula. Wilfrid Laurier Press (2013), pp. 143-156.
• "Mit Vergnügen und Verstand. Performative Grammatik Deutsch als Fremdsprache." Schmenk, Barbara & Würffel, Nicola (eds.), Drei Schritte vor und manchmal auch sechs zurück. Internationale Perspektiven auf Entwicklungslinien im Bereich Deutsch als Fremdsprache. Narr (2011), pp. 37-47.
• "Studiosus cognens und studiosus ludens – Grammatik inszenieren." Küppers, Almut; Schmidt, Torben & Walter, Maik (eds.), Inszenierungen im Fremdsprachenunterricht: Grundlagen, Formen, Perspektiven. Diesterweg, Klinkhardt (2011), pp. 68-79.

Journal articles

• "Presence and Unpredictability in Teacher Education." Scenario1 (2020), pp. 6-11.
• "A Performative Approach to Teacher Education: Inspiration, Innovation, and Independence" (with Erin Noelliste). The Chronicle of Mentoring & Coaching 2 (October 2018), Special Issue, pp. 130-135.
• "Drama Grammar: Towards a Performative Postmethod Pedagogy." Language Learning Journal (2011), pp. 299-312.
• "Dramagrammatischer Unterricht in der Fremdsprache: Denken und Handeln." Informationen zur Deutschdidaktik 2 (2010), pp. 104-112.
• "Moving in(to) Imaginary Worlds: Drama Pedagogy for Foreign Language Teaching and Learning." Unterrichtspraxis Deutsch2 (2008), pp. 161-170.
• "Mensch, be careful! Bilinguale Jugendliteratur für fortgeschrittene Anfänger" (with David Dollenmayer). Unterrichtspraxis Deutsch1 (2006), pp. 9-18.