Miriam Neigert

Dr Miriam Neigert is a Senior Lecturer in German Studies at the University of New England (UNE), affiliated with the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences. She joined UNE in 2018 as a Lecturer and Discipline Convenor, with expertise in language education spanning over 15 years across Germany and Australia. Her qualifications include a Cotutelle PhD from Justus-Liebig Universität Gießen and Macquarie University, focusing on older language learners in community colleges.

Dr Neigert’s teaching areas include German language/culture, TESOL, and language learning strategies. She pioneered digital language learning tools in collaboration with the Goethe-Institut, using platforms like SecondLife and wikis. Her research interests center on motivation, digital media in education, assessment methods, neurodivergence, and mixed-methods research in SLA. She has supervised PhD, MA, and Honours projects, currently advising Jennifer Evans’ PhD on in-country language study impacts.

Her awards include the 2023 Australian Award for University Teaching and multiple Excellence Citations from UNE (2021–2023). Notable publications include New Perspectives on Older Language Learners (2019) and contributions to Routledge’s Handbook of German Teaching (2024). She actively engages in academic leadership through grants like UNE’s Academic Leadership Programme (2020) and consults on language education policy.

Dr Neigert’s work bridges innovation and tradition, emphasizing humanized assessment (e.g., portfolio systems) and the role of nostalgia in language learning through children’s literature. She collaborates internationally on topics like geopolitics of language decline and online pedagogy’s social dynamics.