On January 1, 2014, Dina Khapaeva transitioned from her role as chair of the School of Modern Languages to a senior faculty position as full professor to focus on her research and teaching in Russian literature and culture. David Shook, associate chair of Undergraduate Studies, is serving as interim chair of the department.

Shook has worked in an adminstrative capacity since starting in Ivan Allen College in 1990 as a Spanish instructor and coordinator of first and second year Spanish programs.  In 1991, he joined the college as tenure-track faculty.  He was instrumental in the development and implementation of faculty course proposals for the school’s innovative B.S. degree in Applied Language and Intercultural Studies (ALIS) that was inaugurated in 2010.  Shook supervises the school’s Spanish instructors, heads advising activities for ALIS and the college’s joint major in Global Economics and Modern Languages (GEML), and co-advises for the International Affairs and Modern Languages (IAML) degree.   For the past decade, he has represented Georgia Tech on the University System of Georgia Foreign Languages Academic Advisory Council. 

Shook received his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois, Urbana/Champaign. His research interests lie in teaching methodology and curriculum development, grammar acquisition through reading, and the use of literature for language acquisition. His research papers appear in national journals, and he presents papers at local and national conferences. He frequently fields offers to produce and review textbooks material, and is the author of the workbook ancillary to the successful Temas first-year Spanish textbook.

Read more about Dr. Khapaeva

Read more about Dr. Shook