Dr. Jeannette Okur (Project Director and Author)
The University of Texas at Austin
Jeannette Okur has coordinated the Turkish Studies program at the University of Texas at Austin since 2010, and teaches a variety of courses in language, literature, film, and cultural studies in the Department of Middle Eastern Studies. Drawing upon extensive experience teaching not only Turkish, but also German and ESL, she continues to develop new curricular materials for Turkish language instruction at the Novice, Intermediate and Advanced proficiency levels.
Vildan Karaca (Caption text, Quizlet cards)
Vildan Karaca is a multilingual, multidisciplinary graphic illustrator and full time student at the University of Texas at Austin studying Graphic Design and German (g.2022). Her interests include creating editorial illustrations, documenting nature and hiking, and lately, reading German science fiction.
Nihan Yilmaz (Copy editor)
Born and raised in Turkey, Nihan Yilmaz has her Ph.D. in English Language Teaching and has 7 years of experience in teaching English at Hacettepe University. She was a Fulbright scholar at University of Texas at Austin in 2014-2015, where she assisted Dr. Okur teaching Turkish language and culture. Yilmaz currently lives in Plano, TX and works at Wells Fargo.
Carl Blyth (Director of COERLL)
The University of Texas at Austin
Carl Blyth is the Director of the Center of Open Educational Resources and Language Learning (COERLL) and Associate Professor of French Linguistics in the Department of French and Italian. He has held several administrative positions prior to COERLL: Coordinator of Lower Division French (1993-2002), Acting Director of Technology, Literacy and Culture (2001-2002), and Director/Asst Director of the UT Summer Program in Lyon, France. He has worked with colleagues on an online reference grammar of French (Tex’s French Grammar), and a multimedia-based first year French program (Français interactif).
Sarah Sweeney (COERLL)
The University of Texas at Austin
Sarah Sweeney is the Project Coordinator for COERLL. She holds degrees in French and Global Communications. She enjoys learning and teaching languages and has worked on marketing, communications, education, and online projects in various fields.
Nathalie Steinfeld Childre (COERLL)
The University of Texas at Austin
Nathalie Steinfeld Childre is the Publications Manager/ Web Developer for COERLL. She has taken over the maintenance and deployments of all COERLL projects after she joined the team in 2008. She is a graduate of Texas State Univesity, San Marcos with a major in Fine Arts and a minor in Computer Science. Previously to moving to Austin, Nathalie studied art history at the University of Zürich and completed an art program at the local art academy. She then graduated with degrees in art history and computer science. She has a passion for art, languages, and cultural studies and creates tailored websites and tools that enhance the student’s online experience with foreign languages and culture.