Who We Are
Meet the Tutors
Eva Marek was born in Darmstadt, Hessen. She moved to Herrenberg, Baden-Würtemberg, at a very young age where she was to grow up peacefully keeping a variety of pets. Her interest in languages comes from being raised in a bilingual household speaking English and German. She now studies International Literatures and English. In her free time, Eva determinedly tries to diminish the number of books on her ‘must-read’ list and travels as much as possible.
Rebecca Tari was born in Ventura, California, and when she was five years old, her family moved to Stuttgart. Growing up in a German-American household, her interest in languages and cultures surfaced early on. After completing her Abitur in 2020, Rebecca started to study B.A. Interdisciplinary American Studies in Tübingen. In her spare time, she enjoys cooking for family and friends, reading about new topics, traveling, and spending time in nature with her dog, Lilly.
Robin Edds was born in Newcastle upon Tyne, in windswept North East England. His family moved to Luxembourg when he was three, and it was the multilingual environment there that sparked his interest in languages. After completing the European Baccalaureate in 2012, he studied for a master’s degree in Physics and Philosophy in the UK. This was followed by a few years working in a bookshop in London, and he started his MA in English Linguistics here in Tübingen in October 2021. Robin spends his free time learning languages, reading, and playing Dungeons & Dragons.
Ana Ciontoiu likes to describe herself as a free spirit. She loves interculturality and studying new languages because she thinks they facilitate the access to unknown facets of one’s personality and other cultural worlds, which is why she is an Interdisciplinary American Studies student. In fact, she was born and raised in Romania, is currently living in Germany and studying American Studies. Besides her interests in cultures and languages, she is passionate about the human psyche and its workings, so in her free time she loves connecting with people and investing time in her two current main study interests: trauma studies and sexuality.
Emma Barbieux was born in Namur, Belgium. After receiving her B.A. in Modern Languages and Gender Studies from the University of Louvain, she moved to Tübingen to pursue an M.A. in English Literatures and Cultures. In the course of her studies, she also spent two semesters in London and Nottingham. In her free time, she enjoys listening to metal and rock music, cooking vegetarian meals, running and going on long walks.
Meet the Director
Shawn Raisig has been teaching English as a Second/Foreign Language since 2003. She taught English in the U.S. at the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, MI), Eastern Michigan University (Ypsilanti, MI), and the University of Arkansas (Fayetteville, AR). She also taught a variety of academic English courses at the Sprachenzentrum for the Bauhaus University in Weimar, and she has been an instructor for academic English at the University of Tübingen since 2007.
In addition to teaching ESL/EFL, Shawn co-founded the Research and Writing Center for the English Department at the University of Tübingen in 2008, and she has been the acting director ever since. She is currently an active member of the European Writing Center Association (EWCA) and the European Association for the Teaching of Academic Writing (EATAW). Her research interests include writing methods and pedagogy as well as teacher and tutor training.
Shawn received her B.A. in German from the University of Michigan and spent one year studying abroad at Albert Ludwigs University in Freiburg. She received her M.A. in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) from Eastern Michigan University and was actively involved in the professional organizations MITESOL (Michigan TESOL) and TESOL.
In her spare time, Shawn enjoys almost any sports-related activity (running, biking, swimming, and hiking are her favorites!), reading, and drinking coffee and tea with family and friends.