My name is Dan Walter and I am an Associate Professor of German and Linguistics at Emory University’s Oxford College, located about 30 minutes east of Atlanta in Oxford, Georgia. My approach to education and research has been strongly informed by my own education and is a product of my own experiences as an undergraduate at a small liberal arts school (BA in German at Dickinson College), and post-graduate work at a large state school (MA in German Studies from Michigan State University) and research 1 private institution (PhD in Second Language Acquisition from Carnegie Mellon University). This is one of the many reasons I love to work at Oxford, a unique liberal arts environment nestled in a large research university. I have been able to explore my role as a teacher-scholar in a supportive, diverse learning environment where I get to form close relationships with students and colleagues. I also get to teach in a cross-disciplinary role in German and Linguistics and engage in innovative research with colleagues from other fields of study. I particularly love mentoring first and second year students through their explorations of their intended fields of study and working with them on cutting-edge research projects.