Meet Dr. Sheila Turek!
- World Languages and Cultures
- Apr 8, 2022
- 2 min read
Dr. Sheila Turek is currently a professor of French at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater at the Beginning, Intermediate, and Advanced levels. Along with these courses, she also teaches a Paris travel study, courses in French literature, French conversation, and others.
Currently, Dr. Turek's research and focus areas include
Translation studies
Cinema
Issues of linguistic and social inequity
Dr. Turek started teaching at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater in 2003 and had a number of careers beforehand, including legal assistant, fundraiser for a nonprofit, and even singer. She went back to school to get a graduate translation certificate and fell in love with teaching. Her Ph.D. from the University of Maryland College Park is in French Cultural Studies, and her dissertation, In the Margins: Representations of the Other in English-Subtitled French Films, explores ways in which marginalized groups are represented in films translated from French to English.
While Dr. Turek was getting her Master's, she was offered a teaching assistantship and immediately became fascinated with teaching French to university students.
"Seeing them [students] discover a non-English language as adults (where their life experience informs their learning process), adapting (constantly!) to changing conditions, and helping students through a different lens--through study abroad, faculty-led travel study to Paris, on-campus experiences, or in the professional world beyond graduation through employment opportunities and network connections--has been and continues to be thoroughly a gratifying and necessary aspect of my job. It is thrilling to witness the success of current students and alumni, and I'm proud to play a role in helping students grow and succeed!"
Dr. Turek has published articles in French Review, French Cultural Studies, and The Journal of Popular Culture.
Throughout her time at the university, Dr. Turek has earned the following awards:
Debra Heiber Academic Advising Award, College of Letters and Sciences, UW-Whitewater, February 2022
Women in Leadership Award, UW-Whitewater, March 2021
Outstanding Professor During Pandemic, UW-Whitewater Student Government, 2020
Outstanding Service to Students Award for Doctors Without Borders Faculty Advisor Role, May 2020
Distinguished Alumna Award, George Mason University, Department of Modern and Classical Languages, Fairfax, VA, October 2019
David Saunders Award for Excellence in Teaching in the Humanities, College of Letters and Sciences, UW-Whitewater, 2016
3104 Laurentide
Whitewater, Wisconsin 53190, USA
T: +1-262-472-1066; F: +1-262-472-1037
tureks@uww.edu; http://facstaff.uww.edu/tureks
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