Education: Dr. Gaddy received her B.A. in Psychology and Education from the University of Stockholm, her M.A. in Germanic Languages and Literatures from Duke University, and her Ph.D. in German Literature and Linguistics from Georgetown University in 1997.
Teaching: Professor Gaddy joined the German faculty at CUA in 1997, where she first was a lecturer and then a Visiting Assistant Professor. Since 2000 she has been Assistant Professor for Professional Practice in German. She has previously taught German at Duke University, Georgetown University, and the Goethe Institute in Washington, D.C. At the Swedish School for Children, she has taught Swedish (1991-1997), and she was also the School’s principal for two years (1995-1997). At CUA, Gaddy is primarily responsible for the language program, but she also teaches German literature in German and in English translation.
Research and Publications: Professor Gaddy’s research and publications focus on language pedagogy, modern German drama, and literature from the post-reunification (1990) period. Gaddy is very active at scholarly conferences and has presented numerous papers on language pedagogy and German and Scandinavian literature. Most recently she participated in the NECTFL conference (2005) where she and two CUA colleagues presented a project on using Voice-over-Internet-technology, Horizon Wimba, in oral proficiency testing. A follow up presentation on using Horizon Wimba in language instruction is scheduled for NECTFL 2006. Gaddy has published many articles and encyclopedia entries on among others, Gerhart Hauptmann, Herrmann Sudermann, Stefan Zweig, and Brigitte Burmesiter. Most recently she published five entries on German naturalist drama in the Encyclopedia of Modern Drama (2005). Gaddy is also a prolific reviewer of German scholarly books and has published 17 book reviews.
Service: Professor Gaddy has been a member of the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures's language teaching committee since she joined the CUA faculty. She was also its chairwoman from 1999-2001. She has been instrumental in the department’s technology initiatives, especially the implementation of Wimba. Professor Gaddy’s special interest on campus is to promote knowledge of German speaking countries and to help freshmen adjust to college life. In this vein, she is the faculty advisor for the German Club, and she can be seen in the Pryz chatting in German with students during the bi-weekly Kaffeeklatsch. Every year she participates in the Readers Program, where freshmen get the opportunity to discuss a book with a faculty member during orientation. As an academic advisor for undecided majors, she also assists freshmen during their first year at college.
