Sara Young
Senior Lecturer of Spanish
Language
New Cabell Hall 466
Office Hours: TTh, 3:00-4:00pm & by appt. via Zoom
Education
Graduate Certificate in AI in Teaching & Learning, University of South Florida (expected May 2027)
M.A., Foreign Languages, Cultures, and Literatures, concentration in Hispanic Studies, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (2013)
M.A.T., concentration in Secondary Education (6-12), James Madison University (2009)
B.A., Modern Foreign Language, concentration in Spanish, minors in Pre-Professional Secondary Education and Teaching English as a Second Language, James Madison University (2008)
Teaching
University of Virginia (2016-Present)
SPAN 2010: Intermediate Spanish
SPAN 1060: Accelerated Elementary Spanish
SPAN 1020: Elementary Spanish
Elon University (2014-2016)
SPN 121: Elementary Spanish I
SPN 122: Elementary Spanish II
SPN 124: Intensive Elementary Spanish I and II
Virginia Tech Language and Culture Institute (2014, 2016)
GLS 150: Grammar, Listening, and Speaking 150
GLS 350: Grammar, Listening, and Speaking 350
RW 450: Reading and Writing 450
Other Teaching Experience (2009-2011)
High School Spanish Teacher
Service
Faculty AI Guide, Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost & Center for Teaching Excellence, 2026-Present
Member, Ad Hoc Promotion Committee (AGFM), Department of Spanish, Italian & Portuguese, 2026-Present
Participant, Talkio AI Pilot Program, Learning Design & Technology, 2026-Present
Member, Sponsored Events Committee, Department of Spanish, Italian & Portuguese, 2026-Present
Speaker Series Coordinator, Institute of World Languages, 2025-Present
Co-Creator, Club de corredores y caminantes, Department of Spanish, Italian & Portuguese, 2023-Present
Pre-Major Advisor, College of Arts & Sciences, 2023-2025
Member, Committee for Three Assistant Professors of Spanish (AGFM), Department of Spanish, Italian & Portuguese, 2024
Spanish Faculty Advisor, Department of Spanish, Italian & Portuguese, 2021-2023
Creator, Free Spanish Tutoring Program (SPAN 1060-2020), Department of Spanish, Italian & Portuguese, 2017-2023
Co-Organizer, ePortfolio Peer Consultant Program, College of Arts & Sciences, 2021-2022
Member, Committee for Lecturer of Chinese (AGFM), Department of East Asian Languages, Literatures & Cultures, 2021
Member, Fall 2020 Planning Committee, Department of Spanish, Italian & Portuguese, 2020
Summer Faculty Academic Advisor, College of Arts & Sciences, 2019
Grants & Awards
Thrive GenAI Course Development Grant, 2026-2027
Language Commons Activity Award: "Spanish Corner: Partner Practice with AI," 2026
Sponsored Events Committee Grant with Jennifer Barlow: "Spanish Community Dinner," 2026
Sponsored Events Committee Grant with Jennifer Barlow: "Spanish Community Dinner," 2025
Thrive Pedagogical Innovation Grant with Jennifer Hogg: "Self-Regulation in Language Learning," 2024-2025
Learning Technology Incubator Grant: “Volunteer Tutoring Program for Lower-Level Language Learning,” 2018-2019
Presentations
Young, S., “Volunteer Tutoring Program for Lower-Level Language Learning: A Pedagogical Model,” SOLPHE 2025: Symposium on Language Pedagogy in Higher Education, Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition (CARLA), University of Minnesota, Online, October 3, 2025.