W&L’s Katie Wagner ’25 Earns U.S. Teaching Assistantship to Austria Wagner will teach English in Austria before pursuing a career as a German language educator.

By Emily Innes
May 13, 2025

Washington and Lee University senior Katie Wagner ’25 has been awarded a U.S. Teaching Assistantship (USTA) to teach English in Austria. At W&L, Wagner is a double major in sociology and anthropology and German, with a minor in education studies. Wagner is a native of Centerville, Ohio, and graduated from Centerville High School.

The USTA Program is administered by Fulbright Austria on behalf of the Austrian Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research. Teaching assistants are placed in secondary schools throughout Austria to teach English language and linguistic skills, serve as informal cultural ambassadors, and promote mutual understanding between the United States and Austria.

“The USTA will enable me to continue my German and education studies abroad, which is essential in developing the linguistic and cultural competencies necessary to excel in my future career as a German language educator,” said Wagner, who will teach in two schools in Mödling, just outside of Vienna. “There’s only so much I can understand about Austrian culture by learning about it in a classroom; it’s a whole other thing to experience that lifestyle first-hand.”

For Wagner, teaching English to German-speaking students in Europe “is a dream come true” and the USTA has been a goal of hers since her adviser Debra Prager, associate professor of German, told her about the program during her first year at W&L. Since then, Wagner has worked to gain the language and leadership skills needed to be an effective teacher abroad and receiving the USTA “has made all that effort pay off,” she said.

“Katie is an outstanding student, full of curiosity, enthusiasm and insight in her studies of social science and German,” said Jon Eastwood, head of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology. “Moreover, she plans a career as an educator, so it’s hard to imagine a better next step for her after W&L than this award.”

Wagner is grateful for W&L’s study abroad opportunities, and her two Spring Terms spent abroad were foundational in strengthening her German language skills and helping her gain confidence in herself and her ability to navigate new situations. She first traveled to Graz, Austria, for a Spring Term course taught by Prager, and then spent a Spring Term in Berlin, where she extended her stay to the full 90-day limit to work at the Europäische Akademie Berlin.

On campus, Wagner is the head Resident Advisor of Graham-Lees Residence Hall and a work-study assistant teacher for first grade at Mountain View Elementary School.

Wagner also received a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship to Germany, which she declined to accept the USTA.

With the USTA, Wagner will depart in September 2025 for her nine-month program, with the possibility of extending the program to last two academic years. Upon completion of the program, she hopes to teach American high school students abroad or refugees in Germany and Austria who require German proficiency to legally remain in the country.

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