Meet the Authors
Faith Adler; Logan Fisher; Bibi Halima; Cameron Keaton; Addy Orsi; Abhay Pawar; and Keli Yerian
Authors are introduced below in alphabetical order, and project roles are described beneath each author introduction.
Authorship of each section of the 10 chapters is shown at the top of each page. The lead author for each section is listed first, and the two editors, Bibi Halima and Keli Yerian, are listed at the end of each section. Occasionally other significantly contributing student authors are listed in second or third position in sections where there are more authors listed. Also, in cases where Halima or Keli are listed as first authors, this signifies that they contributed most of the content in that section.
Addy and Abhay are not listed as section authors but are given attribution for their important contributions at the bottom of each page on which their illustrations or multimedia work appears.
Faith Adler
Faith was a junior at the University of Oregon at the time of this project, studying Japanese and Second Language Acquisition and Teaching. Her love for Japanese language and culture began in her junior year of high school when she studied abroad in Isesaki City in Gunma Prefecture. Since then, she has fallen in love with language and started studying Mandarin and Korean as well. She hopes to teach language in the future and spread the message of the importance of communicating across barriers like differences in language and culture.
Faith’s primary role on the team was as a writer. She was the lead author for Chapter 4 Culture, Intercultural Competence, and Pragmatics, the ‘intermission section’ on integrating skills, Chapter 9 Writing Skills, Chapter 10 Facing Fears and Finding Opportunities, and our Letter to Readers in the Front Matter and the Closing Statement in the Back Matter. She also contributed significantly to Chapter 5 Metacognition and Metacognitive Strategies, created some H5P materials, and appears in one of the project videos in Chapter 2.
Logan Fisher
Logan is a 2027 graduate of the University of Oregon, pursuing majors in Linguistics and General Music, a Spanish minor, and two Second Language Acquisition and Teaching (SLAT) certificates in English and Spanish. When not studying languages or linguistics, you can find them in the Oregon Athletic Bands where they play mellophone for the Oregon Marching Band, Oregon Basketball Band, and the Yellow Garter Band where they are the logistical director, or in the School of Music where they play french horn. They are also a member of the Wayne Morse Scholars program. They hope to pursue a career in second language education while continuing their passion as a researcher in the field of linguistics.
Logan’s primary role on the team was as a writer. They were the lead author on Chapter 2 Approaches to (Language) Learning, Chapter 6 Listening and Viewing Skills, and Chapter 7 Speaking and Signing Skills. They also contributed significantly to Chapter 1 The Secrets of Language Learning and to the introduction sections of the Skills chapters. They also helped to design H5P materials and conceptualized (and appears in) one of the project videos in Chapter 2.
Cameron Keaton
Cameron was a senior at the University of Oregon during the creation of this OER, graduating with a B.S. in Political Science and a minor in English. He is driven to make education more affordable and accessible. One of his passions is language learning; he has taken a variety of language courses, including classes in French, Spanish, and Arabic. He hopes these OER materials will be the first of many in the genre of Open Pedagogy. His hobbies include watching Detroit sports, traveling, reading, and collecting sports cards.
Cameron’s primary role on the team was as a writer. He is lead author on key sections of Chapter 3, Access and Power in Language Learning, and in Chapter 8, Reading Skills. He also helped to design H5P materials and appears in one of the project videos in Chapter 3.
Addy Orsi
Addy was a first-year student at the University of Oregon at the time this project was created. They are studying Linguistics and Communication Disorders and Sciences. As an illustrator, Addy wants to assist readers’ learning experience by creating supporting images to help convey information. They are proficient in Spanish and are learning American Sign Language; they look forward to improving their skills in these languges and others in the future. Addy’s hobbies include making art and crafting, creating ceramic sculptures, spending time with their cat Wilfred, and gardening.
Addy’s primary role on the team was as illustrator for the entire book. All of the original images throughout the chapters were created by Addy. They also created the time-lapsed video in Chapter 5 and contributed to some sections of Chapter 5 and some H5P design. Please note that the illustrations and time-lapse video have a different Creative Commons license from the rest of the content from the book.
Abhay Pawar
Abhay is a 2027 graduate of the University of Oregon, pursuing a double major in Advertisement and Media Studies. Being a second-generation immigrant, he was raised speaking English and Punjabi which started his love for languages and communication. His main drive for this project was the idea of delivering information from student to student. He took this as an opportunity to have a platform to show that sometimes, something being hard to learn isn’t about what is being taught, but who it is coming from and how it is delivered. When he isn’t working, he is out with his friends, conjuring up video ideas, playing golf, crate digging for music, at car shows, etc.
Abhay’s primary role on the team was as a multimedia content creator. He envisioned and created original videos for Chapters 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8. and 9. He also designed or contributed to various H5P materials.
Bibi Halima
Halima was pursuing her Master’s in Language Teaching Studies at the University of Oregon during the project period. As a language teacher, she is passionate about making education accessible through the inclusion of additive multilingualism. As an international student from Pakistan, she grew up speaking and learning four languages including Punjabi, Urdu, Arabic, and English. In future, she seeks to create an impact in the field of language education by advocating for solutions to global challenges threatening multilingualism. She feels that the experience of working on Open Pedagogy Project has brought her “one step closer to a dream of making education more multilingual, accessible, and open for all”. Outside of her academic life, she loves connecting with family and friends and spending time in nature.
Halima’s primary role on the team was threefold: 1) as project manager, holding meetings, managing Teams, and communicating and meeting with students throughout the project, 2) as lead author for sections of Chapter 1, The Secrets of Language Learning, Chapter 2, Approaches to (Language) Learning, and Chapter 3, Access and Power in Language Learning and 3) as a final editor of the project with Keli Yerian, editing writing content and creating and making decisions about final Pressbooks design elements.
Keli Yerian
Dr. Keli Yerian is a Distinguished Teaching Professor at the University of Oregon. She is passionate about language education and sharing this passion with students and other colleagues. She directs the Masters of Arts Program in Language Teaching Studies and the undergraduate certificate in Second Language Acquisition and Teaching. She speaks French and Spanish and has learned some German and Wolof in the past as well. Her hobbies include river paddle boarding, hiking, and traveling when she can, and also doing plenty of extensive reading and movie-watching in her second languages.
Keli’s primary role on the team was twofold: 1) as project lead and mentor and 2) as a final editor of the project with Bibi Halima, particularly with regards to editing writing content and making decisions about the final Pressbooks design.
