research statement
My primary research interests span two areas, medieval German studies and the design of interactive educational multimedia. In medieval German studies, my research emphasis is on the women mystics of the Helfta convent during the High Middle Ages (ca. 1200-1300 AD), with particular attention being paid to Mechthild von Magdeburg's poetic mystical treatise, Das fließende Licht der Gottheit, and the textual dialectics of wholeness and fragmentation, purity and sin, chastity and concupiscence that Mechthild employs to characterize her embodied condition.
In the design of interactive educational multimedia, my research interests theoretically address how virtual worlds and three-dimensional digital game-based learning environments can be leveraged to teach humanities topics and to assist in the second language acquisition process. My current research project focuses on using narrative structures in first-person 3D computer games as a means of organizing and communicating sociocultural knowledge.
research interests
Computer-assisted language learning (CALL), digital game-based learning (DGBL), digital humanities, game studies, interactive digital media design and assessment, medieval and early modern German language and literature, medieval Franciscan theology and mysticism, medievalism, medieval paleography and codicology, medieval women's mysticism, new media studies, problem-based learning (PBL), situated cognition, text and image in medieval manuscripts, and virtual worlds.
publications
Neville, D. & Shelton, B. (2010). Literary and historical 3D-DGBL: Design guidelines. Simulation & Gaming: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Theory, Practice and Research, 41 (4), 607-629.
Neville, D. (2010). Structuring narrative in 3D digital game-based learning environments to support second language acquisition. The Foreign Language Annals, 43(3), 445-468.
Neville, D., Shelton, B., & McInnis, B. (2009). Cybertext redux: Using DGBL to teach L2 vocabulary, reading, and culture. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 22(5), 409-424.
Neville, D. (2009). In the classroom: Digital game-based learning in second language acquisition. The Language Educator 4(6), 47-51.
Neville, D. (2009). Recession-proofing the profession with technology. The Language Educator, 4(2), 52-56.
Neville, D. (2008). The bodies of the bride: The language of incarnation, transcendence, and time in the poetic theology of the medieval mystic Mechthild of Magdeburg. Mystics Quarterly: The Academic Journal Of Medieval Western-European Mysticism, 34(1-2), 1-34.
Neville, D. & Britt, D. (2007). A problem-based learning approach integrating foreign language into engineering. The Foreign Language Annals, 40(2), 226-246.
Neville, D. (2000). Divergent interpretations of women’s agency and Luther’s political agenda. In Hilary Collier Sy-Quia & Susanne Baackmann (Eds.), Conquering women: Women and the German cultural imagination (pp. 177-198). Berkeley, CA: International and Area Studies.
Neville, D. (1998). Unfashionable observations. The Modern Schoolman: A Quarterly Journal of Philosophy, 76(1), 61-66.
Neville, D. (1996). Giburc as mediatrix: Illuminated reflections of tolerance in Hz. 1104 (Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nürnberg). Manuscripta: A Journal for Manuscript Research, 40(2), 96-114.
presentations
Connecting via webcams: Developing linguistic and cultural competencies in L2. American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages Annual Convention and World Languages Expo 2010 (Roundtable Discussion). With April Post Boston, November 19-21, 2010
3D digital game-based learning for second language acquisition. THATCamp RTP. Franklin Humanities Institute, Duke University. October 16, 2010
Seeing eye to eye: Using webcams in the classroom. 7th Annual Elon Teaching and Learning Conference. With April Post, Sarah Glasco, Ketevan Kupatadze, and Nicole Librandi. Elon University, August 19, 2010
Getting game: Digital game-based learning for second language acquisition. American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages Annual Convention and World Languages Expo 2009 (Poster Presentation). San Diego, November 20-22, 2009
A digital game-based learning approach to developing situated cultural competency. American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages Annual Convention and World Languages Expo 2009 (Panel Presentation). San Diego, November 20-22, 2009
Language instruction to go: Best practices for efficient, student-centered podcasting in the L2 classroom. Lilly Conference on College and University Teaching. With Sophie Adamson. University of North Carolina at Greensboro, February 20-22, 2009
Digital game-based learning: Immersive approaches to German language and culture. Spring Conference of the North Carolina Chapter of the American Association of Teachers of German. University of North Carolina at Greensboro, February 14, 2009
Cybertext redux: Using interactive fiction to teach German vocabulary, reading, and culture. International Conference for the Learning Sciences. Utrecht University, The Netherlands, June 24-28, 2008.
Refining techniques for tying learning objectives to game-based learning activities. Teaching with Technology Idea Exchange 2007: The Open Conference on Technology in Education. Utah Valley State University, June 7-8, 2007.
Embodiment and desire in "The Flowing Light of the Godhead": Analogical language and the poetic theology of the beguine mystic Mechthild von Magdeburg. Invited Lecture at the Aquinas Institute of Theology. St. Louis University. February 18, 2002.
The body as crossroads: Intersecting discourses on self, culture, and authority in Mechthild von Magdeburg's “Das fließende Licht der Gottheit.” Twenty-Fifth German Studies Association Conference. Washington, D.C., October 4-7, 2001.
Web-based video streaming in the German conversation classroom. Eighth Annual Spring Forum on Education. Washington University in St. Louis, May 7, 2001.
Giburc as mediatrix: Illuminated reflections of tolerance in Nürnberg, Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Graphische Sammlung Hz. 1104-1105. Twenty-Fifth Saint Louis Conference on Manuscript Studies. St. Louis University, October 9-10, 1998.
Expanding the printed medieval German Bonaventurian corpus: An edition of “das buoch der betrachtunge” in Codex 396 Palatini Latini. Twenty-Fourth Saint Louis Conference on Manuscript Studies. St. Louis University, October 10-11, 1997.
Divergent interpretations of women’s self-determination in “Eyn Geschicht wie Got eyner Erbarn Kloster Jungfrawen ausgeholffen hat” and Luther’s political imperative. The Fifth Annual Interdisciplinary German Studies Conference on Conquering Women: Women, War, and Sexuality. UC Berkeley, March 14-16, 1997.
grants
Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning (CATL) Grant, Elon University: "Digital Game-Based Learning for Second Language Acquisition." ($1,700).
Fund for Excellence in the Arts and Sciences Grant, Elon University: "Computer Webcams and Headphones for Enhancement of Language Learning." With April Post. ($1,125).
Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning (CATL) Grant, Elon University: "A New Direction for the Language Media Center." ($5,000).
Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst (DAAD) Jahresstipendium. ($15,000).
page info
The image of the Munich Central Station comes from yushimoto_2[christian]'s Munich Photostream.