Dr. Nina Stedman

Dr. Nina Stedman holds a M.A. in English and German literature and language, and a Ph.D. in English literature. Her thesis examines the role of the family and its function for the individual in the novels of Charles Dickens.

Nina was born in Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire, UK, and from an early age enjoyed a bilingual upbringing in Germany and London. After grammar school in Germany, she spent two terms in Paris to obtain the French diploma, 'Cours de Civilisation Française' at Sorbonne University. This was followed by an internship at Arts Express Magazine in London and a year at Hendon College to obtain a Private Secretary's and French Language Diploma from the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Royal Society of Arts. Nina then worked as a trilingual private secretary in various companies in the City and across the West End, and continued to do so during the summer vacations to fund her studies at Universität Hamburg. During this time, she also worked in theatre and television production. Upon completing her degree, she was offered a postgraduate fixed-term position as director of the University Players theatre workshop at IAA, where she realized student productions with a schools outreach programme that garnered large audiences for its performances of Shakespeare and Oscar Wilde, among others. Nina also regularly taught workshops on Shakespeare for students as part of the programme of the Deutsche Shakespeare Gesellschaft and at the Institut für Lehrerbildung, and led excursions and panel debates for students in collaboration with the British Consulate General in Hamburg, the British Embassy and the British Council in Berlin. As part of the literary studies programme at the IAA, she has taught seminars and lectured on Charles Dickens, Mark Ravenhill, and John le Carré, as well as the literary response to 9/11 and the 'special relationship' between the UK and the US. She was delighted to win US scholarships to the Salzburg Seminar, and to the School of Criticism and Theory at Cornell University.

Nina was then invited to serve the IAA in her current capacity as Lecturer for English. Since taking up her position in 2003, she has continuously developed both her own teaching concepts as well as the curriculum for English language at the department.

From the beginning of the ‘Studienreform’ in January 2014, she has taken the lead in redesigning the ‘fachspezifische Bestimmungen’ (module descriptions) for the Bachelor and Master programmes in ‘Sprachpraxis’ as well as promoting their further development as part of the accreditation procedures for German university degrees, ensuring that the English-language curriculum is fundamentally realigned. It has been harmonized with the requirements of the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of the Länder in the Federal Republic of Germany (Kultusministerkonferenz) and the Common European Framework of Reference CEFR, as well as with the study requirements of the literary and cultural studies and linguistics programmes at IAA. The teaching degree course English modules are also aligned with the curricula for Hamburg schools (FHH Bildungspläne).

The aims of the programme have been redefined to focus on authentic English-language sources and promote student autonomous learning under the guiding concepts of ‘media literacy’ and ‘educating for democracy’. A shift towards a content and integrated language (CLIL) approach ensures that language learning goes hand in hand with developing intercultural competencies in the context of the political, ethical, and postcolonial debates of the English-speaking world. The aim is to provide students with the best possible support in meeting the language demands of their studies and to promote their individual language development for academic and professional purposes.

 In the course of the digital requirements under Covid conditions, tailor-made e-learning offerings were developed in close collaboration with colleagues, and Nina initiated a cross-faculty digital forum for fellow lecturers to share their experiences in the digital teaching of Latin, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Russian, among others. Collaborative programme development and the mutually supportive forum are set to continue in the future.

Nina has served on a variety of committees. From its inception in response to the requirements of the quality control and accreditation processes, she was a member of the ‘Qualitätskonferenz’ for many years; she was also a member of the ‘Sozietät’ that liaises between the IAA, the department of education, and other institutions involved in teacher training. She has served on the cross-faculty ’Ausschuss für Studium und Lehre’, and is currently serving on the ‘Fachbereichsrat’ committee. She has in the past also served on the FHH ‘Behörde für Inneres und Sport’ examinations board (Eignungsfeststellungsverfahren) for publicly appointed and sworn interpreters and translators for English.

For nearly a decade, Nina produced English translations for the public relations department of the ZEIT-Stiftung, and over the years has helped edit many academic publications. She has also taught a range of science communication workshops with a particular focus on grant writing within the EU Horizon frameworks, for TuTech Innovation, Universität Harburg, Desy, and Medizinische Hochschule Hannover, among others.

Nina has been closely involved in human resources management for the ‘Sprachpraxis’ programme for many years. She has participated in the recruitment and onboarding of a considerable number of new colleagues, and occasionally feels tempted to list ‘headhunting’ as a hobby, especially as this has resulted in a wonderfully supportive working environment for which she is grateful to her fellow English teachers. It also gives her great pleasure to see so many students benefit from the results of this collaborative development of the programme, its continuity, and transparency.

Nina greatly enjoys hiking the coastpaths of Cornwall and Menorca, cooking (and eating, preferably with friends) French, English, and Italian food, terracotta-pot gardening, and reading across a wide variety of genres. She is a keen member of the Arts Society https://theartssociety.org and the National Trust https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk, and very much welcomes the debates on social and colonial legacies and diversity currently informing both organizations.