Catherine Ritz, clinical assistant professor and director in BU Wheelock’s Curriculum & Teaching and English, Social Studies and Modern Foreign Language programs has been elected the 2020–2022 vice president for the American Association of Teachers of French (AATF).

The AATF promotes the teaching and learning of the French language and French-speaking cultures and civilizations throughout North America. The organization supports educators of French language and culture at various academic levels as they seek to broaden their own and their students’ linguistic and cultural horizons to foster and strengthen cross-cultural understanding.

Ritz’s work at BU Wheelock focuses on developing proficiency-based thematic curricula and performance assessments, effective foreign language methods and pedagogy and foreign language teacher development.

Ritz was president of the Massachusetts Foreign Language Association (MaFLA) in 2015 and 2016 and is currently their programming coordinator, overseeing professional development event. She is also on the board of the Northeast Council for the Teaching of Foreign Languages (NECTFL).