Rebecca Steele
The University of Wyoming College of Arts and Sciences has named Rebecca Steele, an
associate professor of German, as the 2026-27 Seibold Professor.
The Seibold Professorship recognizes exceptional faculty achievement and provides
a dedicated research year to advance scholarly and creative work while enhancing teaching.
Steele’s project focuses on the emerging field of mixed-level second language acquisition,
an approach that integrates students of varying proficiency levels in the same classroom.
Her work responds to enrollment challenges in world language programs while supporting
the university’s commitment to innovative, research-based teaching.
“I’m delighted that my efforts to strengthen the German program have earned recognition
through the Seibold Fellowship. It’s both an honor and a timely boost,” Steele says.
“I’m especially pleased to have the chance to pair time abroad with meaningful progress
on the curriculum revisions.”
Throughout the past two years, Steele has led a comprehensive redesign of the German
language program, introducing stacked, mixed-level courses that offer students greater
flexibility. The model already has contributed to increased enrollments and expanded
access to language study.
Central to this effort is her development of “Deutsch im Alltag,” a series of open
educational resource textbooks designed for mixed-level classrooms.
During her Seibold year, Steele will be based in German-speaking Europe, where she
will expand the series with authentic cultural and linguistic materials and develop
new upper-level “Topics in German” courses.
She also plans to broaden her scholarship through publications and presentations on
mixed-level language instruction, sharing insights from UW’s redesigned program with
a wider academic audience.
Following her research year, Steele will present her work in a public forum.
For more information about Steele’s work, email her at rsteele4@uwyo.edu.
