Visiting Professor; Acting Program Head, English Language Studies, Program Head for EAPP
Professor Marie Butcher teaches English for Academic and Professional Purposes within the Graduate School of Translation, Interpretation, and Language Education (GSTILE). She specializes in assisting international students and non-native speakers of English with their oral and written proficiency in English.
Marie came to the Institute via the Custom Language Services (CLS) in 2002, offering customized language instruction to business people and diplomats from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from Taiwan, Japan, and China. Marie has also taught specialized programs within the ESL Department, the CNS Visiting Fellows program, and the Critical Issues Forum at the Center for Non-Proliferation Studies. Prior to becoming Assistant Professor at MIIS, she worked at Monterey Peninsula College for 20 years in the ESL, English and French Departments. Marie also taught English abroad at the American Language Center in Marrakech, Morocco, and has led travel programs abroad to France & Italy, Kenya & Tanzania and Costa Rica.
Marie feels she has a unique perspective because she has the opportunity to work with students in multiple disciplines across campus, assisting them with the same ultimate goal of finessing their English skills, so as to be able to communicate effectively in their chosen disciplines.
EAPP 8330 Upcoming
Debate and Critical ReadingCourse Description
This course provides students with strategies for improving their reading skills as well as understanding academic and professional rhetoric. Students will critique various texts and speeches, as well as create their own persuasive speeches and debates.
Terms Taught
EAPP 8380
Business CorrespondenceCourse Description
The aim of this course is to help you become a more seasoned writer, thinker, and communicator in the business world. In this course, you will analyze the rhetorical conventions of business discourse, learn strategies for tailoring your message to your audience, and revise your work in order to produce finely-tuned business documents such as letters, reports, and e-mail correspondence.
Terms Taught
EAPP 8456
Adv Rhetoric & GenreCourse Description
EAPP 8456 Advanced Rhetoric and Genre is a course designed to hone your research and writing skills in order to create fluid and interesting prose appropriate for the graduate level. The course is open to qualified international students. The content of the course will include a series of short essays, a genre presentation, and a final research paper that may be prepared in conjunction with another course.
The primary goals of this course are as follows:
• Developing critical reading skills,
• Learning how to correctly write and research an academic paper,
• Understanding how to blend sources without losing your own voice
• Introducing ways to document sources correctly using APA/Chicago format to avoid plagiarism,
• Understanding and implementing the characteristics of good writing into our own writing,
• Working on pre-writing skills such as brainstorming and outlining,
• Learning how to narrow and choose appropriate topics,
• Interacting with others through in-class discussion and writings on Moodle to
facilitate critical analysis and peer review
Terms Taught
EAPP 8494 Upcoming
Advanced Editing WritingCourse Description
Navigating the Process: Advanced Strategies in Rewriting is a course in rewriting, editing and proofreading available to all qualified international students. The course concentrates on giving non-native speakers of English the necessary tools to edit their own writing. We will use short in- class writing and papers from other classes to sharpen our editing skills.
Students can expect to ...
- learn the strengths and weaknesses in their own writing;
- increase knowledge and understanding of academic English usage;
- enrich style and expression; punctuate correctly;
- write more cohesively (and coherently);
- use transitions more effectively;
- reduce redundancy;
- research and teach a grammar point;
- work in small groups;
- and give and receive written feedback.
Terms Taught
EAPP 9376
Peace & SDGs Costa RicaCourse Description
The curriculum for the Peace & the UN Sustainable Development Goals in Action course will be focused on MIIS’ 3 pillars of peace & security, sustainability, language skills and intercultural communication as well as specific UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Participants will observe first-hand how different organizations are attending to challenges related to specified SDGs during on-site visits in Costa Rica. Students will collect in-situ data, conduct interviews, and compile their notes, journal entries for their final deliverable during the spring showcase. Students will research, discuss, and present on sustainable development through the framework of the UN Sustainable Development Goals and SDG Knowledge Platform: (https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdgs). Attention will be given to specific actions and initiatives that are working on specific SDGs. See the itinerary for SDGs to be covered during our immersive learning experience in Costa Rica. Students will benefit from direct contact with experts in the field of peace studies and sustainable development.
Visit http://sites.miis.edu/partnershipsforpeace for course application and travel information.
Terms Taught
EAPP 9476
Peace & SDGs Costa RicaCourse Description
The curriculum for the Peace & the UN Sustainable Development Goals in Action course will be focused on MIIS’ 3 pillars of peace & security, sustainability, language skills and intercultural communication as well as specific UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Participants will observe first-hand how different organizations are attending to challenges related to specified SDGs during on-site visits in Costa Rica. Students will collect in-situ data, conduct interviews, and compile their notes, journal entries for their final deliverable during the spring showcase. Students will research, discuss, and present on sustainable development through the framework of the UN Sustainable Development Goals and SDG Knowledge Platform: (https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdgs). Attention will be given to specific actions and initiatives that are working on specific SDGs. See the itinerary for SDGs to be covered during our immersive learning experience in Costa Rica. Students will benefit from direct contact with experts in the field of peace studies and sustainable development.
Visit http://sites.miis.edu/partnershipsforpeace for course application and travel information.
Terms Taught
ICCO 8576
Peace & SDGs Costa RicaCourse Description
The curriculum for the Peace & the UN Sustainable Development Goals in Action course will be focused on MIIS’ 3 pillars of peace & security, sustainability, language skills and intercultural communication as well as specific UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Participants will observe first-hand how different organizations are attending to challenges related to specified SDGs during on-site visits in Costa Rica. Students will collect in-situ data, conduct interviews, and compile their notes, journal entries for their final deliverable during the spring showcase. Students will research, discuss, and present on sustainable development through the framework of the UN Sustainable Development Goals and SDG Knowledge Platform: (https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdgs). Attention will be given to specific actions and initiatives that are working on specific SDGs. See the itinerary for SDGs to be covered during our immersive learning experience in Costa Rica. Students will benefit from direct contact with experts in the field of peace studies and sustainable development.
Visit http://sites.miis.edu/partnershipsforpeace for course application and travel information.
Terms Taught
Professor Butcher has been teaching at the Institute since 2002.
Marie Butcher is a regular contributor to local publications such as the The Monterey County Herald, The Monterey County Weekly, the Porter Gulch Review, featuring her poems & photographs.
(publication pending)
| by Sierra Abukins
In 1948, Costa Rica abolished its army, shifting resources into education and health. This January, Professor Sabino Morera is leading an experiential learning course to his home country centered on peace and security, sustainability and intercultural exchange with Professor Marie Butcher.
| by Jessie Raymond
At the Human Rights Forum held at the Institute in October, language studies students, speaking in their nonnative languages, presented their research on current human rights issues, while teams of student interpreters relayed the presentations into multiple languages.
| by Eva Gudbergsdottir
Two Middlebury Institute students share their research the impact of the global pandemic on their chosen fields of nonproliferation and language services.
