Jutta Schmiers-Heller

Jutta Schmiers-Heller is a Senior Lecturer and Director of the German Language Program in the Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures and has worked at Columbia since 2002. She holds a B.A. and an M.A. in Foreign Language Pedagogy from the University of Münster, Germany, as well as an M.A. in Applied Linguistics from Montclair State University. Prior to joining the Department, she taught German at Oberlin College and ESL, French, and German at Montclair State University.

At Columbia, Jutta teaches language classes at all levels from beginning to advanced, as well as a pedagogy class for graduate students and she mentors graduate students on their journey to becoming successful educators. Creating community in the German language classroom, among colleagues, and through extracurricular activities for students is at the heart of Jutta’s teaching and by extension the language program. Her research interests include second language acquisition, foreign language pedagogy and methodology, technology-enhanced language learning and the creation of teaching materials for all levels.

In 2024, she received the inaugural Arts and Sciences’ Award for Community Building and Engagement and in 2026 she was the recipient of the Presidential Award for Outstanding Teaching.