Your KRU Members
Dr. Kristen Gunderson (Founder and French Instructor)
American. Ph.D. in Modern French Studies, University of Maryland, 2019. In addition to her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in French studies, she holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism. She has taught at the Université de Nice (various campuses; now the Université Côte d’Azur), IPAG Business School, and Diderot Education in Nice, France. In 2021 she joined the roster of instructional design consultants for the United Nations Institute for Training and Research.
While at the University of Maryland, she worked with experts in communicative and flipped pedagogical methodologies in French second language education and was invited to present her collaborative teaching practices at several teaching conferences. She also designed teaching tools that were adopted school-wide and are still in use at the university today. KRU intensive courses are adapted from popular courses she taught at UMD.
When Kristen is not teaching she can be found outdoors, cycling and hiking, and enjoying good French wines!
CALLAN ROTEN (Social Media Manager and French Instructor)
American. M.A. in French and Francophone studies from Florida State University, 2018. In addition to her degree in French, she holds a bachelor’s degree in political science and a bachelor’s degree in international affairs. Callan has experience teaching French at the Florida State University as well as the University of Maryland. Currently, Callan teaches English at the Université Côte d’Azur and l’École du Journalisme, as well as small group English lessons with private companies and private English tutoring lessons.
At Florida State University and the University of Maryland, Callan carried out research in 19th century French literature in addition to teaching. In her classes, she focused on a communicative and collaborative approach that she still uses in the classroom today.
In addition to teaching, Callan is an aerial dancer and avid crossfitter.
Dr. Ruth Kitchen (KRU Member Emerita)
One of the original conceptualizers of KRU French, Ruth holds a Ph.D. in French studies and has worked at the School of Education at University of Leeds, Cardiff University (2013-2016), the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales in Paris, Sciences Po (Nice), IPAG Business School (Nice) and the International University of Monaco.
Ruth left KRU to dedicate herself (outside of her academic pursuits) to her growing business in emotional management and leadership coaching, The Emotional MBA. We wish her all the best! You may still see her at KRU events, especially if they involve wine, food, and friends!