Elizabeth Birr Moje
Professor; Arthur F. Thurnau Professor; Associate Dean for Research and Community Engagement
Elizabeth Birr Moje is the associate dean for research and an Arthur F. Thurnau Professor in the School of Education at the University of Michigan. She also serves as a faculty associate in the university’s Institute for Social Research, in Latino/a Studies, and in the Joint Program in English and Education.
Moje teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in secondary and adolescent literacy, literacy and cultural theory, and qualitative and mixed research methods. Her research interests revolve around the intersection between the literacies and texts youth are asked to learn in the disciplines (particularly in science and social studies) and the literacies and texts they experience outside of school. In addition, Moje studies how youth make culture and enact identities from their home and community literacies, and from ethnic cultures, popular cultures, and school cultures. These research interests stem from the start of her career when she taught history, biology, and drama at high schools in Colorado and Michigan. Her current research focuses on communities and schools in Detroit, Michigan. She also engages in literacy professional development with teachers in Detroit and around the country.
In her current research, funded by foundations and federal agencies such as the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, William T. Grant Foundation, and the National Academy of Education/Spencer Foundation, Moje uses an array of methods to understand what motivates adolescents in Detroit schools and communities to persevere in the face of content literacy challenges. She is particularly interested in intervening on the complex relationship between the cognitive and linguistic demands posed by increasingly advanced content area reading and writing tasks of schooling and the motivational demands posed by adolescents' development and exploration of many different pathways to adulthood. In related work focused on teacher learning, previously funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York, Moje is developing—with colleague Robert Bain—a model for discipline-based adolescent literacy teacher education.
Moje has published three books and numerous book chapters, as well as articles in journals such as the Harvard Educational Review, Science, Review of Research in Education, Reading Research Quarterly, Teachers College Record, Journal of Literacy Research, Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, Research in the Teaching of English, Phi Delta Kappan, Urban Review, Journal of Research in Science Teaching, and Science Education. She is also a co-editor of the Handbook of Reading Research, Volume IV.
Moje is currently serving on the International Reading Association’s Literacy Research Panel; the William T. Grant Foundation’s Scholar Selection Committee; as vice-president of National Conference on Research on Language and Literacy (NCRLL); and as an associate editor of the Journal of Research in Science Teaching. She has also served as a member of the National Academy of Science/National Research Council’s Committee on Learning—Adolescent and Adult Literacy; the PISA Steering Committee; Carnegie Corporation of New York’s Adolescent Literacy Council; the Spencer Task Force on Enhancing Doctoral Education; the Spencer Foundation’s Exemplary Dissertation Award Committee; and as research chair of NCRLL. At the University of Michigan, Moje serves on the President’s Commission on Women (PACWI), the Provost’s Academic Affairs Advisory Council (AAAC), and the advisory board for the Intergroup Relations (IGR) Program.
In 2010, Moje and colleague Robert Bain were awarded the provost’s Teaching Innovation Prize at the University of Michigan for their secondary teacher education pilot project, Teaching and Learning the Disciplines through Clinical Practice Rounds, which Bain and Moje developed and codirect.
Administrative Responsibilities
As associate dean for research, Moje is responsible for developing the research infrastructure at the school, including providing support for grant writing, developing mechanisms for sharing costs of common resources, and facilitating coordination across research functions and activities. Moje develops and monitors the school’s policies and procedures for grants and research and supervises the financial management of externally funded projects. Provides mentoring and support for faculty members who are in the beginning stages of their careers.
She represents the school’s interests on the university’s Research Dean’s Group and serves as the liaison between the school and the university’s Office of the Vice President for Research and the Division of Research Development and Administration.
Moje teaches courses in the following program(s): Literacy, Language, and Culture ; Combined Program in Education and Psychology; Joint Program in English and Education; Secondary Teacher Education; Teaching and Learning.
Affiliations
- Educational Studies
- Dean’s Office
- Research Office
- Joint Program in English and Education
- Office of Outreach
Committees
Research Affiliations
- Center for Highly Interactive Classrooms, Curricula, & Computing in Education
- Center for Improvement of Early Reading Achievement
- Research Center for Group Dynamics
- Learning and Teaching the Disciplines through Clinical Rounds
Projects
- Examination of the Social and Cultural Influences on Adolescent Literacy ...
- Real media Leadership Literacy Training
Grants
Courses
| Term | Catalogue Course Description | Syllabus |
|---|---|---|
| Fall 2011 | EDUC 706. Seminar: Issues in Research on Literacy | EDUC 706. Youth Literacy, Culture, and Identity |
Last edited by Elena Godin on Mon, January 28, 2013 - 2:13:27
News:
April 05, 2013
Elizabeth Moje elected as AERA vice president
March 29, 2013
Rounds Project featured on WDIV Local 4 News
March 27, 2013
