Richmond Embeywa is a PhD candidate in the Transcultural German Studies program. Originally from Kenya, Richmond attended Kenyatta University in Nairobi, where he graduated with a degree in German and History in 2016. He then earned a Master of Arts in Teaching English as a Second Language (TESOL) at West Virginia University in May 2018. His dissertation examines language and culture models designed for arriving refugee-background adults in German orientation courses. Other research interests include multilingualism, student identities and language ideologies in study abroad, Black German literature and pedagogies of multiliteracies. An avid language learner and teacher himself, Richmond speaks German, English, Swahili, Luhya, and a little bit of Portuguese. He has taught language classes for the University of Arizona, West Virginia University and at colleges in Nairobi; he also interned for the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and provided pedagogical support to the German School Nairobi. Richmond lived in Germany on multiple occasions including a year-long study abroad stay in Leipzig. His research has been supported by scholarship awards from the DAAD, the UA German Studies Department, the Graduate & Professional Student Council (GPSC), the National Center for Interpretation (NCI) as well as the UA University Fellows Program where he was part of the 2018-2019 cohort.
Richmond currently serves as a Graduate Teaching Associate and holds the position of Assistant Language Program Director of the German Department for the academic year 2021-2022.