Bianca Potrykus

Coordinator of Undergraduate Certificate German for Engineering

Spring 2024 Office Hours:

In Person MW 5:15-6:15PM and Online 11:30AM-12:30PM and by appt.

Bianca Potrykus is a Senior Lecturer of German. In addition, she serves as Director of the German for Engineering Certificate program and Coordinator of the University of Kassel partnership. She has been the faculty director of the study abroad spring break program in Berlin, Germany, since 2017. She studied Applied Linguistics, German Language and North American Studies at the University of Hamburg, Germany, and the University of Vienna, Austria. She holds a Master’s degree from the University of Hamburg and is currently a PhD candidate in Language and Communication at the Hellenic American University in Athens, Greece. Second Language Acquisition, Multilingualism, Language and Trauma, Critical Discourse Analysis and Holocaust studies are her primary scholarly interests. She has taught a large variety of courses, ranging from German language classes for beginners, intermediate and advanced students to courses on German literature, culture and history. She has taught at Universities and Goethe Institutes in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, South-East Asia, the United States and Sub-Saharan Africa. She was a DAAD language assistant at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte from 2008-2009 (one year) and a DAAD lecturer in Namibia from 2012-2013 (two years). She is now a DAAD Associated Lecturer at UNC Charlotte, informing students and faculty about DAAD scholarships and research grants.

Education

Ph.D. Candidate Language and Communication, Hellenic American University, Greece (2020)

M.A. Applied Linguistics, University of Hamburg, Germany (2008)

Appointments

Senior Lecturer of German, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, NC, 2019 – present.

Lecturer of German, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC, 2016- 2019.

Adjunct Instructor of German, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC, 2014-16.

DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) Lecturer-German, University of Namibia, Namibia, 2012-13.

Summer School Lecturer-German, Universiti Malaysia Pahang, Malaysia, 2011.

Lecturer-German, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology – Shanghai-Hamburg College, China, 2010–11.

Lecturer-German, Tongji University – Chinese German College, Shanghai, China, 2010 –11.

Lecturer-German, Goethe Institute, Shanghai, China, 2010 –11.

DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) Language Assistant –German, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, USA, 2008–09.

Lecturer-German, Goethe Institute and GIZ, Lithuania, Summer 2006.