John M. Grandin

(Ph.D., University of Michigan)

John M. Grandin is Professor of German and Director of the International Engineering Program at the University of Rhode Island, an interdisciplinary curriculum, through which students complete simultaneous degrees (BA and BS) in German, French, Spanish, or Chinese, and in an engineering discipline. Grandin has received numerous awards for his work combining languages and engineering, including the Federal Cross of Honor from the Federal Republic of Germany, the Award for Educational Innovation from ABET, and the Michael P. Malone Award for Excellence in International Education from NASULGC, the National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges. He has published widely on such cross-disciplinary initiatives and has been the principle investigator for several funded projects related to the development of the International Engineering Program. Grandin also organizes and hosts an Annual Colloquium on International Engineering Education, bringing together university faculty and business representatives to develop a more global engineering education nationally. Grandin has served as associate dean and acting dean of URI’s College of Arts and Sciences, and as chair of the Department of Languages. He also has published several articles and a book on Franz Kafka.

Special Honors

• Global Engineering & Engineering Technology Award, American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE), June 2006.

• University of Rhode Island Administrative Excellence Award, 2004.
• NASULGC – National Association of State Universities and Land-grant Colleges – Malone Award for Leadership in International Education, July 2004.
• Outstanding German Educator Award, presented at annual meeting of American Association of Teachers of German, November 2000, by the AATG and Check Point Charlie Foundation.
• College of Engineering Chester H. Kirk Faculty Excellence Award, presented at University of Rhode Island May 2000.
• 2001 edu.de Cooperation Prize: An award granted by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) in recognition of the URI-Braunschweig
  Exchange ($20,000)
• 1995 URI Quality Award - presented by President Robert Carothers, 1995
• ABET Educational Innovation Award 1992 - an award extended to the University's International Engineering Program by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, Inc.
• Order of the Cross of Merit (Bundesverdienstkreuz) of the Federal Republic of Germany -- bestowed December 1989 for extraordinary service on behalf of the German language and culture in the United States.

Scholarship

Books

• Kafka's Prussian Advocate: A Study of the Influence of Heinrich von Kleist on Franz Kafka. Columbia, South Carolina: Camden House, 1987. (191 pages)

Chapters

• "Kafka's Defenestrations," in The Kafka Debate, ed. Angel Flores (New York: Gordian Press, 1977), pp. 216-223.
• "Kafka's Windows to Life," in The Dove and the Mole, ed. Moshe Lazar (Los Angeles: Undena Publications, 1987), pp. 213-226.
• "Language and Engineering: The Next Step," Proceedings of the Clemson Conference on Language and International Trade, ed. S. Carl King and Sixto E. Torres (Clemson, South Carolina: Clemson University, 1989), pp. 29-42.
• "The Changing Goals of Language Instruction," (with Kandace Einbeck and Walter von Reinhart), in Languages for a Multicultural World in Transition, ed. Heidi Byrnes (Lincolnwood, Illinois: National Textbook Company and Northeast Conference, 1992), pp. 123-163.
• "Foreign Language Education: An Agenda for the 1990's," to be included in a forthcoming volume edited and published by the United States Department of Education (in press).
• "The University of Rhode Island's International Engineering Program," in Language and Content: Discipline and Content-Based Approaches to Language Study, ed. Merle Krueger and Frank Ryan (Lexington, Massachusetts: D.C. Heath and Company, 1992), pp. 130-137.
• "The Evolution of the Business-Language Program at the University of Rhode Island," (with Norbert Hedderich) in Handbook for German in Business and Technology, edited by Bettina F. Cothran and published jointly by the Goethe Institute and the American Association of Teachers of German, 1994, pp. 123-137.
• "Educating American Engineers for the Global Workplace," in Proceedings of the Fourth World Conference on Engineering Education, October 15-20, 1995, Saint Paul, Minnesota, edited by E. R. Krueger and F.A. Kulacki, University of Minnesota, vol 4, pp. 29-33.
• "The International Engineering Program at the University of Rhode Island," with Thomas J. Kim, in Navigating the New Engineering World: Proceedings of the 11th Conference on Engineering Education, July 5-7, 1998, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, pp. 519-523.
• "Languages Across the Curriculum in the Context of Higher Education Reform," in Next Steps for Languages Across the Curriculum, edited by Robert E. Shoenberg and Barbara Turlington, published by the American Council on Education, 1998, pp. 5-12.
  Also in Languages Across the Curriculum: Interdisciplinary Structures and International Education, ed. Maria-Regina Kecht and Katharina von Hammerstein, Ohio State University, 2000, pp. 3-13.
• “German and Engineering: An Overdue Alliance,” published with update and “Reflective Statement” in Teaching German in America: Past Progress and Future Promise,” ed. George Peters (Baltimore, American Association of Teachers of German, 2002), pp. 129-144.
• “Globalization: A Look at the Positive Side,” to appear in a volume on globalization and language, ed. Bernd Huppauf, NYU, spring 2004.

• Forward to new edition of Opportunities in Foreign Language Careers , ed. Wilga Rivers, (New York, VGM Career Books, 2004).

• “Globalization and Its Impact on the Profession,” in Realizing Our Vision of Languages for All , ed. Audrey Heining-Boynton, American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, 2005.

• “Preparing Engineers for the Global Workplace: The University of Rhode Island,” in Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the American Society for Engineering Education,” June 2006.

Journal Articles

• "Kafka's Ein plötzlicher Spaziergang," Modern Language Notes, 80, No. 5 (October 1974), pp. 866-872.
• "The Demand for German in International Business," Die Unterrichtspraxis, No. 2 (1977), pp. 32-39.
• "Woyzeck and the Last Judgment," German Life and Letters, 31, No. 2 (January 1978), pp. 175-179.
• "Kafka's Prague Today," Modern Austrian Literature, 11, No. 3/4 (1978), pp. 293-301.
• "Direction and Focus for a Department of Foreign Languages" (with McNab, Morin, and Viglionese), Association of Departments of Foreign Languages Bulletin, 10, No. 3 (March, 1979), pp. 25-33.
• "The Business-Language Program at the University of Rhode Island," ADFL Bulletin, 16, No. 3 (1985), pp. 42-44.
• "Teaching German Business Correspondence: A Computer Assisted Approach," Die Unterrichtspraxis, No. 1 (1986), pp. 49-55.
• "German and Engineering: An Overdue Alliance," Die Unterrichtspraxis, No. 22 (1989), pp. 146-152.
• "Deutsch für Ingenieure: Das Rhode Island Programm," in Das Jahrbuch Deutsch als Fremdsprache, Vol. 15, (Fall 1989), pp. 297-306.
• "Developing Internships in Germany for International Engineering Students," Die Unterrichtspraxis, No. 2 (1991), pp. 209-214.
• "Foreign Languages for 1992," in The RIFLA Gazette (Publication of the Rhode Island Foreign Language Association), January 1992 (non-refereed).
• "International Experience for Engineers," with H. Viets, in The International Journal of Engineering Education, Vol. 9, Nr. 1 (1993). pp. 93-94.
• "The International Engineering Internship Program at the University of Rhode Island," with Kristen Verducchi, in The Journal of Chemical Engineering Education," May 1996, pp. 126-129.
• "Educating Engineers for the Global Workplace: A Study of Cross-Cultural Issues'" with Eric W. Dehmel, Journal of Language for International Business, Vol 8, Nr. 2 (1997), pp. 1-15.
• "German and Engineering - ein interdisziplinäres Programm an der University of Rhode Island" with Doris Kirchner, in Wirtschaftsdeutsch International: Zeitschrift für sprachliche und interkulturelle Wirtschaftskommunikation, WDi 1/99, pp. 109-119.
• “German and Engineering at the University of Rhode Island: Preparing Students for the Global Workplace,” with Jennifer Dail, in Lernwelten: Eine Zeitschrift des Goethe-Instituts für Deutschlehrende in den USA, Heft 3, January-August 2000, pp.9-10.

On-Line Publications:

• “Where the Greeks Were: Merging Academic and Residential Life,” in Reaching Partners, Winter 2000/2001, Editor: Peter Kerrigan Assistant Editor: Justin Kavanagh, a publication of the Institute of International Education (IIE).