Dr. John Benjamin

John D. Benjamin received his BA in German in 2005 from the University of California, Berkeley following a year abroad at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin in 2003–04. After teaching English in Austria via the Austrian-American Educational Commission/Fulbright Program, he earned his MA in German from Princeton University in 2011. From 2011–15, he taught German at Princeton University, Westminster Choir College (Princeton, NJ), The College of New Jersey, and the University of Manchester (UK). He then earned his PhD in 2019 in Germanic Studies from the University of Texas at Austin with a dissertation that considered the role of multimodality in reading in a second language using the example of graphic novels. His scholarship focuses on reading in a second language, applied linguistics, and multimodal adaptation; German graphic novels; music; and the role of form in cultural development. His publications have appeared in Die Unterrichtspraxis, The German Quarterly, and Second Language Research & Practice, as well as in edited volumes on applied linguistics and visual culture. In addition to his teaching and research, he also acts as Officer in Charge of the Polish Language Forum (Kościuszko Squadron). Finally, he is an avid language learner and music enthusiast.