Elizabeth Dutro

I am a professor and chair of Literacy Studies at the University of Colorado at Boulder. My new book, The Vulnerable Heart of Literacy: Centering Trauma as Powerful Pedagogy (Teachers College Press), is available for pre-order now and will be released on August 23, 2019.

I live with my family near downtown Denver, where I can often be found writing and drinking coffee at my favorite cafés, hoping you’ll stop by to discuss reality tv (and also pretty much any and all tv, as well as movies, as well as podcasts, as well as novels. . .). I welcome connection! Please be in touch at @lifeasstory on Twitter; or elizabethdutro.com (site will be up and running when book is released).

More about me and a video related to my new book:

My research and writing grew from my encounters with children, curriculum, and educational policy in my teaching in elementary schools where many families faced economic struggle and racial inequality. Starting with my PhD studies at the University of Michigan, I have collaborated with teachers and children to investigate questions about the intersections of literacy, identity, life experiences, and children’s opportunities for positive, sustained, and affirming relationships with school and school literacies. My current studies focus on critical affective pedagogies in response to trauma and how to integrate opportunities for teachers to collaborate and learn together into the school day. My research has been published in journals, such as Journal of Literacy Research, Research in the Teaching of English, American Educational Research Journal, English Education, Teaching and Teacher Education, The Reading Teacher, and Language Arts. In addition to more traditional academic writing, I often weave my own stories of loss into my writing in ways that I hope connect with readers.

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A short talk I gave recently, "Trauma as Peril and Potential in Schools", is related to my recent book and can be viewed at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=3&v=7XfK8dw6aog

That video is an EdTalk (an education-focused talk in the spirit of Ted Talks) I presented at the Dairy Center for the Arts in Boulder, CO, in May 2019, just prior to the release of my book The Vulnerable Heart of Literacy: Centering Trauma as Powerful Pedagogy (Teachers College Press).