Sonja R. Darlington, Ph.D.
Department of Education and Youth Studies
Beloit College, 223 MI, Beloit, WI 53511
,(608)363-2344
Spring 2010
Education
PhD (1990) Iowa State University, Curriculum and Instruction
Dissertation: An Alternative Approach to Literature as Visual Response and Aesthetic Experience
MA (1987) Iowa State University, English Literature
BA (1971) Baldwin Wallace College, Cum Laude
Major: German Language and Literature, "Passed with Distinction"
Summer Workshops: Carleton College (1979,1980); St. Olaf College (1981); Drake University (1981)
International Teaching Experience
Professor, Practical International Language and Leadership School,
English as a Second Language Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Summer 2009
Director, Associated Colleges of the Midwest (ACM)
“Nation Building and Development in Africa Program”:
Organization of Orientation, Instructor for an Independent Study Course, Development of Seminar Series, 19 student participants, Spring 2004
Professor in Department of Sociology, January 1, 2004 - May 30, 2004,
University of Dar Es Salaam, TZ
Teaching Experience, Beloit College
(2006-10) Full Professor, Education and Youth Studies (EDYS)
(2006-09) Chair, EDYS
(1999-05) Associate Professor, EDYS
(1999-02) Chair, Department of Education
(1993-99) Assistant Professor
(2005-09) Beloit College EDYS Curriculum
EDYS 102 Alternative Education Perspectives
EDYS 101 Education in a Democratic Society
EDYS 248 TESL Methods/EDYS 390
EDYS 267 Curricula and Theory for Adolescents
EDYS 276 Comparative and International Perspectives
EDYS 277 Pedagogies and Methods for Adolescents
EDYS 296 Research: Principles and Methods
EDYS 310 Overseas Education
EDYS 306 Fieldwork
EDYS 390 Special Projects
(2004) WGST 360 East African Women’s Practices
(1996-05) Beloit College Education Curriculum
ED 276 Special Topics: South African Literature
Ed 101 Education in a Democratic Society
Ed 236 Middle School Education: Theory and Pedagogy
Ed 237 Teaching Sec.: Language, Literature, and Technology
Ed 276 Special Topics: The American Eye: Art and Poetry
Ed 292/4/8 Introduction to Student Teaching
Ed 381 Senior Seminar: Critical Perspectives in Education
(2009) FYI 100 Environmental Cross Currents in Ethiopia and Sudan:
Literary and Visual Contexts
(2006) FYI 100 Agrarian Perspectives in African Novels and Contemporary African Economic Policies
(2002) FYI 100 Coming of Age stories at the Crossroads of Africa:
Negotiating Islamic Traditions
(2000) FYI 100 Coming of Age Stories in African Literature
(East, West, Central, North and South Africa)
(1994) FYI 100 Confronting Alternatives in a Postmodern World
(1993-96) Beloit College Education Curriculum
Ed 208 Adolescent Literature
Ed 235 Teaching Reading in Secondary Schools
Ed 285 Middle School Education
Ed 299 Theory and Practice of Middle and Secondary School Teaching: General and Subject Areas
Ed 299a Specific Methods of Modern Language
Ed 299d Specific Methods of English
Ed 300/ Middle and Secondary School
301/304 Student Teaching Supervision and Practicum
Ed 381 Senior Seminar (1996-7)
Visiting Assistant Professor, Beloit College (1992-93)
Ed 208, 235, 285, 299, 299a, 299d, 300/301/401
Temporary Assist. Professor, Iowa State University (1991-92)
Ed 204, Social Foundations of American Education
Ed 426, Principles and Issues of Secondary Education
Temporary Instructor, Iowa State University (1989-90)
Ed 426, Principles and Issues of Secondary Education
Secondary Teacher, Ames Public Schools, Ames, Iowa (1977-85)
German I–IV, Chair Department of Modern Languages
Elementary Teacher, German FLES Program, Ames, Iowa (1976)
Temporary Assistant Instructor, Grinnell College (1973-75)
Research: Edited Books, Book Chapters and Refereed International & National Journals
Darlington, Sonja. (in process for Research in African Literature).
“Environmental Cross Currents: Ethiopian and Sudanese Writers and
Visual Artists.”
Darlington, Sonja (2009, accepted chapter) “Tomorrow’s Babies Will Be
Born with Full Sets of Teeth: The Voice of the Girl Child in
Onwueme’s Dramas.” Tess Onwueme. Maureen Eke. Ed. Africa World
Press.
Darlington, Sonja. (2008) “Bessie Head’s Response to ‘The Call of the
Global Green.’” 46-58. In The Life and Work of Bessie Head: A
Celebration of the Seventieth Anniversary of her Birth. Gaborone,
Botswana: Pentagon Publishers.
Darlington, Sonja. (2007) “Bessie Head’s Response to ‘The Call of the Global Green.’” Journal of the African Literature Association,
2(1): 97-107.
Darlington, Sonja and Lilian Osaki, Eds. (2007) Tell Me, Friends, The
Wedding Songs, Proverbs, and Taless of Women (in progress).
Darlington, Sonja and Balla Masele, Eds. (2005). Tell Me, Friends, The Tales of Tanzania. Dar es Salaam, Tanzania: Angaza Initiative Company & Department of Literature, University of Dar es Salaam.
Darlington, Sonja. (2004). “Eliesha’s Lema’s Parched
Earth: Scattered Hegemonies in a Tanzanian Coming of Age Story.”
Proceedings. ASNEL 2004 Conference. Frankfurt, Germany.
Njozi, Hamza and Sonja Darlington. (2004). Eds. Tell Me Friends the
Riddle of Ages: A Collection of Poems and Short by Tanzanian
Students. Tanzania, University of Dar es Salaam: Department of Literatures, UCLAS Printing.
Darlington, Sonja. (2004). “Introduction to Students’ Short Stories,”
1-11. In Tell Me Friends the Riddle of Ages: A Collection of
Poems and Short Stories by Tanzanian Students. Department of
Literatures, University of Dar es Salaam: UCLAS Printing.
Jilala, Hadija. (2004). Giza. Bukoba, Angaza Initiative
Company, 2004 (Darlington – editing, scene descriptions, glossary)
Mghanga, Ambrose, F. Kilio cha Jeska (2004). Bukoba, Angaza Initiative
Company, 2004 (Darlington – editing, scene descriptions, glossary)
Mwiru, Mariam S. (2004) Mpaka Lini? Bukoba, Angaza Initiative
Company, (Darlington – editing, scene descriptions, glossary)
Darlington, Sonja. (2003). “Multiple, Shiver, and Die:
The Violence Voiced by the Girlchild in Works by Sadaawi, Rifaat,
Abouzeid, Djebar, and Soueif. Proceedings ALA 2003 Conference
Alexandria, Egypt.
Darlington, Sonja. (2003). “Calixthe Beyala’s Manifesto and Fictional
Theory." Research in African_Literatures. 34(2):41-52.
Darlington, Sonja (2001). “Tess Onwueme: Brief Literary Biography/
Bibliography.” ALA Bulletin. 28(1):93-103.
Darlington, Sonja. (2001). “Coming of Age Stories in African
Literature.” Chp. 18. East Africa in Transition. Ed. Judith
Bahemuka and Joseph Brockington. Nairobi, Kenya: Acton, 250-263.
Darlington, Sonja. (1998). “Capital Punishment for Juveniles: Albert French’s Billy.” ALAN Review. 25(3):46-50.
Darlington, Sonja. (1996). “Challenging the Canon: Bastard Out of Carolina.” ALAN Review. 24(1):24-27.
Darlington, Sonja (1996). “Reframing Education’s Conversation: Politicizing the First-Year Student Environment.” Journal of Curriculum Theorizing, 11(3):85-103.
Darlington, Sonja. (1995). “Adolescent Literature: Uprooting the Canon, Sowing a Choice of Texts, and Reaping Diversity,"
Transformations, 6(1):60-75.
Darlington, Sonja. (1994). "Reader Response: A Visual and Aesthetic Response,” Reader: Essays in Reader-Oriented Theory, Criticism, and Pedagogy, Spring (31):11-26.
Darlington, Sonja and Dennis Dake. (1994). “Interdisciplinary
Curriculum Possibilities for Middle School Visual and Language Arts Education,” Middle School Journal, 25(5):46-51.
Darlington, Sonja. (1994). “Dewey's Theory of Experience at the Heart
of Literature.” Midwest Philosophy of Education Society. Proceedings, 317-325.
Darlington, Sonja. (1992). “Visual Literacy as the Basis for Writing Experiences: A Summer Gifted and Talented Program,” Journal of International Literacy, 11 (2): 77- 92.
Darlington, Sonja. (1991). “Visual Literacy as the Basis for Writing Experiences: A Summer Gifted and Talented Program,” Investigating Visual Literacy: Selected Readings from the 23rd Annual Conference of the International Visual Literacy Association, IVLA Refereed Proceedings.
Book Reviews in National/International Journals
Darlington, Sonja. (2010) “Moving People in Ethiopia: Development,
Displacement, and the State.” African Studies Quarterly,11(2&3),
Spring 2010.
Darlington, Sonja. (2010) “Darfur and the Crisis of Governance in
Sudan: A Critical Reader.” African Studies Quarterly,11(2&3)Spring 2010.
Darlington, Sonja. (2007). “An Unorthodox Review: Critical Essays on
Bessie Head, African Literature Association Bulletin,
Darlington, Sonja. “Critical Encounters in High School English:
Teaching Literary Theory to Adolescents.” Educational Studies
Journal 34.1(2003):81-84.
Darlington, Sonja. “Can We Talk: Shimmer Chinodya.” African
Studies Quarterly. 7(1). Spring 2000
(Online Journal Refereed Journal)
Darlington, Sonja. “Reflections of Change: Children’s Literature Since
1945. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy. 41.1(1997)85-86.
Other Articles
Darlington, Sonja. Projects Abroad “Teaching in Ethiopia.”
http://www.projects-abroad.org/more-info/volunteer-stories/?content=teaching/ethiopia/sonja-darlington/
Darlington, Sonja. “News in Brief: EDYS Faculty This Semester.”
Education Times. February 6,2007, pg3.
Darlington, Sonja. “A Professional Woman: The Founder of Haika
Tailoring. The Guardian, Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. May 20, 2004.
Darlington, Sonja. “Lessons American Students Learned from Tanzania.”
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, The Guardian, May 5, 2004.
Darlington, Sonja. “Reasons Behind Conserving Pugu Hills Forest
Reserve.” Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, The Guardian. March 30, 2004.
Darlington, Sonja. “Pregnant School Children from a US Professor’s
Perspective.” The Guardian, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, March 11,
2004.
Darlington, Sonja. “Who was Jane Addams. ”Beloit College Magazine.
Spring 2003, 18-21.
Darlington, Sonja. “An African Notebook: Beloit in Africa” Beloit
College Magazine, Fall/Winter 2000, 38-40.
Presentations on Research (International & National)
Abuja, Conference on Tess Onwueme “The Political Voice of the Girl-
Child in Tess Onwueme’s Dramas,” Abuja, Nigeria, November 2009
International Language and Leadership School, “Studying English
Abroad,” Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Summer 2009
African Literature Association Conference, “Environmental Cross
Currents: Ethiopian and Sudanese Writers and Visual Artists” Burlington, Vermont. April 2009
African Literature Association Conference. “Tess Onwueme’s Response to
the Environmental Debate” Western Illinois University, April 2008
American Education Society Association (AESA). “Barack Obama: A Reason to Hope?” Cleveland, Ohio. October 2008
Bessie Head Symposium, Bessie Head’s When Rain Clouds Gather as
Ecoliterature,” Gaborone, Botswana, July 2007
African Literature Association Conference, “Bessie Head’s Response to
‘The Call of the Global Green.’” Morgantown, West Virginia, April
2007
Invited Speaker, Monmouth College FYI Workshop,“Details that Might
Resolve the Meaning of a Ph.D.: Alego on a Map or as Part of
Muslim Ancestry,” August 2007
American Education Society (AESA), “The Education of a Leader: Reading
Barack Obama’s Dreams of my Father.” Spokane, WA, November 2006
American Education Society (AESA), Session Chair, “Technology and
Democratic Learning Communities,” Spokane, WA, November 2006
Bergamo Conference, 25th Anniversary. “Pedagogy after Ujamaa: Current
Curricular Issues in Tanzania Education,” Dayton: Ohio, October
2004
Association for the Study of New English Literatures (ASNEL)
Conference, “Elieshi Lema’s Parched Earth: Scattered Hegemonies
in a Tanzanian Coming of Age Story.” Goethe-Universitat,
Frankfurt/Main: Germany, March 23, 2004
Gender Lectures: “Degrees of African Feminist Theory: Case Studies in
Tanzanian Women’s Practices.” Invited Guest Lecturer, Humboldt Universitat zu Berlin: Germany, May 18, 2004.
Guest Lecturer in African Studies Department, “East African Literature
as Documentation for Coming of Age, Invited Speaker, Humboldt
University, Berlin: Germany, May 25, 2004
Invited Speaker, American Studies Conference 2004, “Afro-American and
African Coming of Age Stories: An Intellectual and Spiritual
Relationship to a Larger Community.” Mlimani Campus, University of
Dar es Salaam: Tanzania, May 8, 2004
29th African Literature Association Conference, “Sadaawi, Djebar,
Abouzeid, Soueif: The Quest for a Girl-Child Voice and a Synthesis of her Coming of Age,” Alexandria: Egypt, March 2003
Women’s World 2002 Congress, “School Activism: Teaching Young Females
through African Stories about the Girl-Child Voice,” University
of Makerere, Kampala: Uganda, July 2002
African Literature Association (ALA). “Tomorrow’s Babies Will Be Born
with Full Sets of Teeth: The Voice of the Girl-Child in Tess Onwueme’s Dramas.” San Diego: California, April 2002
Global Partners East African in Transition Symposium. “East African
Scholarship,” Panel Discussion, Dennison: Ohio, April 2002
Tanzanian Gender Networking Conference, “Examples of Proactive
Interventions in Schools to Challenge Social and Economic
Inequities,” Dar es Salaam: Tanzania, September 2001
Seminar Speaker, University of Cape Town, "Calixthe Beyala's Fictional
Theory" Cape Town: South Africa, June 2001
Seminar Speaker, University of Western Cape, "Where is the Girl-child
Voice in African Coming of Age Stories, Cape Town: South Africa,
May 2001
National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE). “Coming of Age Stories in African Literature” Milwaukee: Wisconsin, November 2000
Global Partnership Conference, University of Nairobi, “A Cause for Redefining Coming of Age Stories in African Literature: Problems between Educational Aims and Social, Political, and Economic Values in African Societies,” Narobi: Kenya, June 2000
African Literature Association (ALA). “Aboliga the Frog: The
Redefinition of Coming of Age Stories in African Literature.” Lawrence: Kansas, April 2000
Conference on Curriculum Theory and Classroom Practice (JCT).
“Polycentric Orientations in Local Economies and Culture in Africa,” Bergamo: Ohio 1999
Association of Independent Liberal Arts Colleges for Teacher Education. (ILACTE), “Exploring the Effects of Young Adult Literature on Teacher Education Communities” presenter; “Teacher Education Internship Program,” Presider; Washington, D.C., February 1999
Conference on Curriculum Theory and Classroom Practice (JCT). “Literature as Visual Response and Aesthetic Experience: Virginia Woolf’s Orlando, Charles Dickens’ Bleak House, Ralph Waldo Emerson’s ‘Circles,’ and Malcolm X’s Autobiography.” Bloomington:
Indiana, October 1997.
American Educational Research Association (AREA), “An Application of Reader-Response Theory in Adolescent Literature” panelist, “Participatory Democracy: A Critique of Education Reform,” chair; Chicago: Illinois, April 1997
Pedagogy of the Oppressed Conference, “Curricular Revision at a Small Liberal Arts College and a Land Grant Research University; How is Freire’s Problem-Posing Pedagogy an Appropriate Critique,” Omaha: Nebraska, March 1996
National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), “Age, Gender, and the Composing Process,” Chair; College Conversations, Discussant, November 1996
Journal of Curriculum Theorizing Conference on Curriculum Theory and Classroom Practice (JCT), “Challenging Teacher Certification,” Monteagle: Tennessee, October 1996
National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), “Teaching Multicultural Literature”; Chair, “Promoting Global Understanding with Children’s Literature,” San Diego: California, November 1995
American Educational Research Association (AERA), “Pluralism in the Secular and Sacred Understanding of Spirituality,” San Francisco: California, April 1995
Wisconsin State Reading Association (WSRA), “Contrasting Perspectives
in Reading Curriculum: Personal, Cognitive, Structural, and
Ecological,” Milwaukee: Wisconsin, February 1995
Midwest Philosophy of Education Society (MPS), “Dewey's
Theory of Experience at the Heart of Literature,” Chicago: Illinois, November 1994
JCT Conference on Curriculum Theory and Classroom Practice, “Traveling the Distance from Cognitive Psychology to Ecological Worldview," Banff, Alberta: Canada, October 1994
National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), "Reader Response: Unleashing Visual and Aesthetic Experience for a More Democratic Vision of the Literary Transaction,” Pittsburgh: Pennsylvania, November 1993
American Educational Studies Association (AESA), “Pluralism in Social Foundations: A Rhetorical Model of Diversity,” Chicago: Illinois, November 1993
Bergamo Conference, “Collaborative Story Telling: Finding the Common Story in Curriculum,” Dayton: Ohio, October 1993
World Congress of the International Society for Education through Art, “Interdisciplinary Art Strategies which Link Visual and Verbal Responses,” Montreal: Canada, August 1993
American Educational Research Association (AERA), “Curriculum and Richard McKeon's Philosophy of Rhetoric,” Atlanta: Georgia, April 1993
American Independent Liberal Arts College Teacher Education (AILACTE), “A Rhetorical Approach for Liberal Arts Ideas in Education,” San Diego: California, February 1993
Journal of Curriculum Theorizing Conference, “Topical Invention in Making Curriculum: An Example,” Dayton: Ohio, October 1992
National Taiwan Normal University, Special Education Center, “Preparation for the Integration of Exceptional Children into the Regular Classroom” and “Iowa State Programs for Exceptional Children,” Taipei: Taiwan, May 1991
National Taiwan Normal University, Fine Arts Department, “A Visual Response to Literature,” and “The Iowa State New Art Basics Program,” May 1991
Taipei Municipal High School, “A High School Interdisciplinary Approach to Art and Literature,” Taipei: Taiwan, May 1991
International Visual Literacy Association Conference (IVLA), Washington D.C. “Visual Literacy as the Basis for Writing
Experiences: A Summer TAG Program,” October 1991
Iowa Foreign Language Conference. “Sprache - Eintrittspunkt zum dritten Jahr,” Grinnell College, Grinell: Iowa, Fall 1981
International and/or National Conference Participant