Deb Reisinger

Dr. Deb Reisinger is an Associate Professor of the Practice in Duke University’s Department of Romance Studies, affiliated with Duke’s Language Outreach Initiatives. She directs the Cultures and Languages Across the Curriculum (CLAC) program and oversees the Duke-UVA-Vanderbilt Consortium for Less Commonly Taught Languages (LCTL), fostering cross-institutional language education. Her work emphasizes interdisciplinary collaboration, community-based learning, and global linguistic accessibility.

Research interests focus on expanding access to languages like Malagasy—taught at Duke for the first time in 2022—to support conservation research in Madagascar and global academic engagement. She advocates for diverse language education to bridge cultural divides, leveraging frameworks like CLAC to integrate non-English perspectives into disciplines such as environmental studies and global health.

Her articles highlight transformative pedagogy, medical humanities, and intercultural communication, reflecting her commitment to innovative language programs. Collaborations with Duke’s Lemur Center and other research groups underscore her advocacy for language as a tool for conservation, healthcare, and international scholarship.