Email Dr. Julia Austin

I am currently an Adjunct Instructor for the Graduate Program for Teaching English as a Second Language at UAB. I have also previously served as the Principal Investigator for UAB grants from the US Department of Education: Teaching ESL professional development grant, Shelby STARS, NTNS, Project ACCESS, Project EQUAL, and the Co-Principal Investigator for Project HEART. I have been involved in ESL teacher training for over twenty-five years, and I have taught Teaching ESL courses at both UAB and the University of Alabama.

I hold a PhD in English (Concentration: Rhetoric and Composition, first and second language), an MA in TESOL, and a Master's in English - all from the University of Alabama.

Before retiring in September 2014, I directed UAB's Graduate School Educational Services Program, which I established in 1990. This program provides skills training to graduate students and postdoctoral fellows in the following areas: written and oral scientific and professional communication, teaching at the college level, career development, and grant writing. I have presented extensively on effective teaching strategies and on a variety of cross-cultural topics at professional meetings, conferences, and symposia. I was the Chair of the 2008 Southeast Regional TESOL Conference in Birmingham and the Co-Chair of SETESOL's 1999 conference. I was also the local Co-Chair of the 2011 International TESOL Convention in New Orleans and served as the Co-Chair for the 2013 International TESOL Convention in Dallas.