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Chin-Sook Pak received her Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in Romance Linguistics (Spanish). She also holds a MA in Romance Linguistics and a MA in Spanish Literature from the University of Michigan, as well as a BBA in Business/Finance from the College of William and Mary.

Her current research and teaching interests are in community engagement and affordability for second-and heritage-language students of Spanish. For over 20 years, she has incorporated community-based learning components into all levels of Spanish language, content, and interdisciplinary honors colloquium courses. This work has resulted in numerous publications, workshops, and collaborations that promote language learning through community engagement.

She has received multiple honors, including the Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor Award (University of Michigan), the Outstanding Teaching Award and Excellence in Teaching Award (Ball State University), and the Brian Douglas Hiltunen Faculty Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Scholarship of Engagement (Indiana Campus Compact). In 2020, she was named Teacher of the Year by the Indiana Foreign Language Teachers Association and Collegiate Teacher of the Year by AATSP-IN.

More recently, she received the 2022 AATSP Outstanding Scholarship Publication Award for the article in Hispania, the 2023 Outstanding Diversity Advocate Award (Ball State University) for promoting inclusive excellence and the 2024 Immersive Learning Faculty Award for her work with heritage students of Spanish.

 

Selected Publications

Pak, C.-S. & Brunet, M.-L. (2025). Textbook Affordability Matters: World Language Faculty Perspectives on Open Educational Resouces (OER) Implementation and Challenges. Connections: A Journal for Foreign Language Educators, 13, 24-42.

Pak, C.-S. (2025). College and High School Collaboration in the Heritage Language Classroom: Relational Support Through a Service-Learning Mentoring Project at a Predominantly White Institution. Journal of Latinos and Education, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1080/15348431.2025.2461292

Pak, C.-S. & Stallings, L. (2023). Culturally relevant community-based learning for heritage students of Spanish: A virtual collaboration with dual language immersion schools. Connections: A Journal for Foreign Language Educators, 11, 151-172.

Pak, C. (2020). Exploring the long-term impact of service-learning: Former students of Spanish revisit their community engagement experiences. Hispania, 103(1), 67–85. https://doi.org/10.1353/hpn.2020.0004

Pak, C. (2018). Linking service-learning with sense of belonging: A culturally relevant pedagogy for heritage students of Spanish. Journal of Hispanic Higher Education, 17(1), 76-95.
https://doi.org/10.1177/1538192716630028

 

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