Christina Frei

Christina Frei serves as Executive Director of Language Instruction for the School of Arts & Sciences, Academic Director of the Penn Language Center, and Adjunct Associate Professor in the Graduate School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania. She oversees language instruction across multiple schools, including Wharton/Lauder, LPS, Engineering, and the Graduate School of Education, managing programs in over 42 languages. Her work focuses on constructivist curriculum design, technology-enhanced language teaching, and intercultural communication.

Frei holds a Ph.D. in German from UC Davis with emphases in Second Language Acquisition and Feminist Theory. Her research explores digital pedagogy, theme-based curricula, and partnerships with Indigenous communities through grants like NEH's EPIC initiative. She co-authored Augenblicke: German through Film, Media, and Texts (2023) and directs the Fulbright pre-semester orientation for teaching assistants.

• Grants: NEH, Fulbright, STARTALK, and IIE-funded projects
• Leadership roles: Chair of Penn Language Center, curriculum designer for FUBiS (Berlin) and Middlebury
• Awards: 2017 AATG, ACTFL-NYSAFLT, and SAS Dean's Teaching Awards

Her advising and grants emphasize sustainability in language education, including tribal scholar collaborations and technology-driven teaching innovations. She leads the Penn Language Center's mission to expand access to less commonly taught languages.