Kris P.
Private tutor in Los Angeles, CA
Education
MA in German (Middlebury College, expected completion date 2019) PhD in European History (UCLA, 2007) BA in History (Bowdoin College, 1997)
Experience
Hello! My name is Kris. I'm offering lessons in History (Europe and World), as well as in the German language. As an undergraduate, I majored in History at Bowdoin College, where I was awarded the bachelor’s degree with highest honors. From there I continued my studies at UCLA, where in 2007 I earned my doctorate in the history of Early Modern Germany. This summer I returned to graduate school to study the German language. Over the course of the next three summers, I will earn my master’s degree in German at Middlebury College. Teaching is not a "side job" for me - it's my career. For the past fifteen years I’ve been teaching at the collegiate level, first at a large research university, then at a small liberal arts school, then at a first-rate community college. I’ve taught lecture courses with enrollments of three hundred students, as well as intimate seminars with as few as five participants. My courses have ranged from broad surveys of World History, Western Civilization, and Jewish History, to specialized investigations of the Reformation, the Enlightenment, the French Revolution, and Nazi Germany. In addition to teaching European and World History, I can offer in-depth instruction in the German language. I am well prepared to tutor students of German from the Beginner through Advanced Intermediate levels. My teaching effectiveness is due not only to the many hours I’ve spent in the classroom, but also to my travels. My ability to capture students’ attention owes a heavy debt to the first-hand knowledge of European culture that I acquired while living in Germany. During the year-and-a-half that I spent conducting research in that country (financed in part by a Fulbright Fellowship), I became fluent in the German language and gained insights into European politics and society that I could never have gleaned from the pages of any book. Although I have spent most of my professional life instructing undergraduates, I am excited at the prospect of working with younger students as well. Many of the skills that I developed while teaching at colleges are also applicable to tutoring high schoolers and middle schoolers. For example, I know how to create a learning environment that is relaxed yet rigorous, lively yet structured, and conversational yet academic. I am practiced at teaching basic writing skills, which are often lacking even at the collegiate level. And I am adept at holding students’ attention through the use of visual and auditory aids. (I typically bring my laptop computer with me to class, so that I can incorporate text, maps, photographs, and video clips into my lessons). Let me help you improve your grades, prepare for the AP European History exam, or learn the fundamentals of the German language.
Availability
Any day at any time
Can Meet
Up to 25 minutes away for no additional charge
Hobbies
My hobbies include swimming, reading novels, and learning foreign languages!
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