Susan Fiksdal

Susan Fiksdal is a sociolinguist at The Evergreen State College who studies conversation, particularly rapport, metaphor, and gender. She began her college studies in French, and has a BA from Western Washington University and a masters from Middlebury College. After her studies, she discovered a brand new college being planned in her home town of Olympia, Washington—The Evergreen State College. She began teaching French and Spanish language and literature there in 1973. After 8 years she moved with her family to Ann Arbor where she earned a masters and doctorate in linguistics at the University of Michigan. Once back at Evergreen, she was puzzled about the quality of her seminars—sometimes they were great and sometimes not. Her colleagues reported the same mysterious outcomes. She began videotaping seminars and talking to students and colleagues about them. A Guide to Teaching Effective Seminars: Conversation, Identity, and Power is the result of years of research and reflection. Susan is a world traveler, most recently to Hong Kong where she has had a Fulbright and a Fellowship. She also taught in Japan and France.