Office of Study Abroad
Michigan State University
109 International Center
East Lansing, MI 48824-1035
Phone: (517) 432-9544
Email: plagwitz@msu.edu
Elizabeth Plagwitz is an assistant director in the Office of Study Abroad and is responsible for supervision and professional development of study abroad coordinators, spear-heading major office tech initiatives, and teaching a course on cross-cultural communication (AL 200: Cultural Difference and Study Abroad). She also has experience in leading and coordinating study abroad programs in Canada and Europe and continues to maintain regular contact with partners overseas through site visits.
Elizabeth has taught in five different universities and published on data collection issues around post-program student evaluations. She has presented at numerous regional and national/international conferences on topics ranging from group dynamics in study abroad programs to exchange agreements.
Born and raised in Nova Scotia, Canada, Elizabeth's international experiences began as a high-school student in 1982, when she was awarded an all-expenses-paid month-long trip to Germany through a competitive world-wide competition organized by the PAD (Pädagogischer Austauschdienst). She received her PhD in German Language and Literature from Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario in 1995. Her dissertation focused on four plays of the Goethezeit and the depiction of female rulers in them. This research drew a close connection between socio-political events of the late 18th and early 19th centuries and the literature of the time.
After developing her professional skills in Canada under the mentorship of Wayne Myles, she moved to East Lansing in 2000 to work at MSU's Office of Study Abroad.
Student development through study abroad; professionalizing the study abroad coordinator position
Assistant Director Office of Study Abroad Michigan State University (East Lansing, MI) 2008 to present
Adjunct Assistant Professor
College of Arts & Letters
Michigan State University (East Lansing, MI)
2008 - present
Senior Study Abroad Program Administrator
Office of Study Abroad
Michigan State University (East Lansing, MI)
2008
Academic Specialist / Coordinator
Office of Study Abroad
Michigan State University (East Lansing, MI)
2003-2008
Study Abroad Program Coordinator
Office of Study Abroad
Michigan State University (East Lansing, MI)
2000-2003
Education Abroad Adviser
Queen's University (Kingston, Ontario, Canada)
1997-2000
Assistant Professor of German and Course Instructor and Coordinator
Mount Allison University (Sackville, New Brunswick, Canada)
1996–1997
International Exchange Program Assistant
Ontario / Baden-Württemberg Student Exchange (Kingston, Ontario, Canada)
1995-1996
Course Developer and Instructor
Enrichment Studies, Queen's University (Kingston, Ontario, Canada)
1995
Assistant Professor of German and Course Instructor and Coordinator
Augustana University College (Camrose, Alberta, Canada)
1995
Instructor and Course Coordinator
Universität Karlsruhe (TH) (Karlsruhe, Germany)
1994
Teaching Assistant (Doctoral Candidate)
Queen's University (Kingston, Ontario, Canada)
1991-1994
Teaching Assistant (Masters Candidate)
Dalhousie University (Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada)
1987-1988
"Taming the Tiger of Data Collection: Post-Program Student Evaluations". In International Educator (NAFSA, Winter 2003)
"'Wem geziemt die Aufopferung?': Sacrifice in Charlotte von Stein's Dido". In Weibliche Perspektiven: Literatur– und sprachwissenschaftliche Untersuchungen, eds. M. Henn and B. Hufeisen (Narr/Stauffenberg, 1997)
"Pacifism" In The Feminist Encyclopedia of German Literature, eds. F. Eigler and S. Kord (The Greenwood Press, 1997)
"Positivism" In The Feminist Encyclopedia of German Literature, eds. F. Eigler and S. Kord (The Greenwood Press, 1997)
Review of Catherine E. Rigby's Transgressions of the Feminine Tragedy, Enlightenment and the Figure of Woman in Classical German Drama In: Seminar: A Journal of Germanic Studies (1997).
Review of Hellmut Ammerlahn's Aufbau und Krise der Sinn-Gestalt: Tasso und die Prinzessin im Kontext der Goetheschen Werke. In: Seminar: A Journal of Germanic Studies (1996).
Non-Traditional Alliances between Study Abroad and the Campus, NAFSA Region V (Madison, Wisconsin), November 2006
To Think or Not to Think … What was the Question?: Providing Mediated Structures for Students' Cognitive and Affective Growth During Study Abroad, CIEE (Santa Fe, New Mexico), November 2004
Exchanges 101, NAFSA Region V (Milwaukee, Wisconsin), November 2003
Taming the Tiger of Data Collection, and One Rotten Apple: Group Dynamics in Study Abroad Programs, NAFSA Region V (Grand Rapids, Michigan), November 2001
The Research Investment Model for Marketing Study Abroad: Balancing Research, Data Collection and Resources, and Research on Study Abroad at Michigan State University: How our Research Findings Help Shape Communication / Marketing Strategies, MAFSA (Kalamazoo, Michigan), March 2001
Putting Policy into Practice: The Impact and Implications of Risk Management Policies on Education Abroad Programming, Ontario Association of International Educators (Waterloo, Ontario, Canada), May 2000
Wem geziemt die Aufopferung?: Sacrifice in Charlotte von Stein's Dido, Frauen-Literatur-Sprache (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada), August 1995
Women in Power: Schiller's Maria Stuart, AATG / IDV (Stanford, California), August 1995
Margarete von Parma and the Problems of Female Regency: Reflections on Goethe's Egmont, Public Lecture (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada), March 1995
Women in Power: Female Rulers in Plays of the Goethezeit, Public Lecture (Kingston, Ontario, Canada), September 1994
Women in Power: Schiller's Maria Stuart, Canadian Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada)
From the Eye to the Idea: Winckelmann's Understanding of Nachahmung and Schönheit, Canadian Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies (St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada), October 1992
Götz von Berlichingen and the Paradox of Activity, Canadian Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies (Kingston, Ontario, Canada), October 1990
From Lenz to Büchner: The Birth of Realism, Canadian Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies (Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada), October 1988
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council doctoral fellowship (1989-1993)
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