College of Education and Human Development
Department of Teaching and Leading
College of Education and Human Development
Department of College of Education and Human Development
Administration
Department of The Graduate School
Cree Walker Endowed Chair, College of Education and Human Development
Dr. Elizabeth A. VanDeusen’s teaching is centered on evidence-based literacy instruction and community-engaged teacher education. Her courses emphasize practical application through service-learning, where preservice and graduate students connect theory to practice by tutoring and engaging in community literacy programs. She integrates arts-based and interdisciplinary approaches, particularly poetry and creative expression, to support literacy development, social-emotional learning, and student well-being. Her pedagogy is informed by structured literacy principles, the science of reading, and trauma-informed, healing-centered practices. Across K–12 and higher education contexts, she prioritizes welcoming and reflective teaching that prepares educators to meet a wide variety of learners’ needs.
Dr. Elizabeth A. VanDeusen’s research centers on the intersections of literacy, community, and interdisciplinary collaboration. Her work explores how literacy can be strengthened through partnerships that connect schools, universities, and communities, examining how communities of practice foster sustainable educational impact. She investigates evidence-based literacy instruction in early childhood and elementary settings, with particular attention to responsive and healing-centered approaches. A distinctive strand of her scholarship integrates the arts—especially poetry and poetic inquiry—as both a research method and a means for reflection, expression, and connection. Through her engagement in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, she also examines innovative teaching practices that promote faculty collaboration, reflective learning, and community engagement, contributing to a holistic understanding of literacy as both an academic and human endeavor.
