Visiting Instructor
Focuses on 18th-century French literature, re-enchantment of knowledge, Second Language Acquisition and teaching with technology, early modern print culture and engravings.
Neill 410
651-696-6303
[email protected]
Sean Killackey is fascinated by eighteenth-century French authors who sought to write a better future for humanity through critical efforts to de-mystify the physical world, increase transparency and rationality in governing institutions, and who often did so in an entertaining or esthetically pleasing way. His work on Bernardin de St. Pierre, Rousseau, Buffon, and Raynal has focused on the balance between de-mystification and figurative creation (disenchantment and re-enchantment). Text and image combine in many of the works he studies, so early modern print culture, particularly engraved illustration, occupies an important place in his research as well.
In the language classroom, he explores how students can acquire richer French expression more quickly and gain greater competence to do more with it. His pursuits in Second Language Acquisition and teaching with technology have led to a multitude of workshops and conference presentations, including his 2018 presentation on French language proficiency gains among university students, given at the annual convention of the American Association of Teachers of French (AATF) on the island of Martinique.
Awards include an Equal Access Award from the Department of Equity and Diversity at the University of Minnesota and an Excellence in Teaching Award from the Department of French and Italian at the University of Minnesota.
Sean Killackey received his B.A. From Saint Olaf College, his M.A. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and is currently completing his Ph.D. at the University of Minnesota.