Amanda Maher Joins the History Faculty

 Professor Amanda Maher

Dr. Amanda O. Maher joins Eastern Michigan University’s History faculty having previously taught courses for EMU’s Department of Teacher Education. After earning a B.A in History from Tulane University and an M.A. in Social Studies Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Michigan, Dr. Maher acquired years of experience teaching social studies and literacy support in K-12 classrooms both in Michigan and internationally. She has also collaborated on several elementary and secondary curriculum development projects and continues to write curriculum with partners from the Southeast Michigan Stewardship Coalition (SEMIS). Dr. Maher is deeply committed to teacher education and the advocacy of the social study disciplines in K-12 schools. She earned her Ph.D. in Educational Studies-Urban Education from EMU’s College of Education in 2019. In the coming year, she will offer courses in Teaching Social Studies, World History Since 1500, and Integrated Elementary Social Studies Methods.

Dr. Maher researches the history of reading reform policies and their impact on literacy practices and instruction. Her dissertation, Producing, Policing, and Punishing Literacy: A Critical Discourse Analysis of the Language of Reading across Urban and Rural Elementary School Educators, chronicled the changing conditions of literacy learning and examined the competing ideological representations of literacy embedded in educational policy reading instruction across urban and rural schools.

Dr. Maher is passionate about the humanizing and academic value of historical inquiry and democratizing methods of instruction. As a teacher educator, she models democratic strategies of instruction that value voice and provide avenues of agency. She is looking forward to extending her network of community partners and continuing to build a responsive and supportive learning environment for history students.