SHEILA BENSON

710 B 19th Avenue, Coralville, IA52241

(319) 339-7339

______

DEGREESPh.D. Language, Literacy, & Culture,May 2006

The University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa

Dissertation: Engaging Students in Literacy: A Multiliteracies Approach. (Carolyn Colvin, Ph.D. Advisor)

Committee: Dr. Gail Boldt, Dr. Anne DiPardo, Dr. Cynthia Lewis, Dr. Mary Trachsel

M.A. English, August 1999

BrighamYoungUniversity, Provo, Utah

Thesis: Freaks in Dickens: Learning to Accept Responsibility for the Other in Dickens’s Works. (David Cowles, Ph.D. Advisor)

B.A. English Education, French teaching minor, April 1994. Magna cum laude

BrighamYoungUniversity, Provo, Utah

Honors Thesis: Speaking/Writing Connections and Their Impact on Secondary Writing Instruction. (Joyce Nelson. Advisor)

RESEARCHHelen M. Robinson Grant, International Reading Association, May 2005

AWARDSGraduateCollege Summer Fellowship, The University of Iowa, April 2005

RESEARCHMultiliteracies and critical literacy

INTERESTSSecondary reading instruction

Qualitative research

Reconceptualizing adult and family literacy instruction

Reluctant adolescent readers

Secondary teacher education

TEACHINGAdolescent literature

INTERESTSSecondary composition methods

Secondary language arts methods

Secondary reading methods

UNIVERSITYTeaching Assistant, Department of Teaching and Learning,

TEACHINGThe University of Iowa, 2001-present

EXPERIENCE

  • Student teacher supervisor, secondary English, Spring 2006
  • 7S:193, Reading and Teaching Adolescent Literature, Spring 2006
  • 7S:194, Methods: High School Reading, Fall 2005, Summer term 2004
  • 7S:308, Media, Literacy, & Popular Culture, Spring 2005- team taught with Dr. Gail Boldt
  • 7S:155, Approaches to Teaching Writing, Spring 2004 team taught with Dr. Bonnie Sunstein
  • 010:002, Rhetoric II, Spring 2002
  • 010:003, Accelerated Rhetoric, Fall 2001

Sheila Benson, page 2

UNIVERSITY TEACHING EXPERIENCE, continued

Academic Advisor, English Education, Department of Teaching and Learning,

The University of Iowa, 2002-present

Assist students in fulfilling Iowa state licensure requirements for English/Language Arts—grades 7-12, organize student plans of study, file waivers and course substitutions, represent secondary education programs for the university during recruiting events, verify student teacher completion of all state licensure requirements.

Composition Instructor, Brigham Young University, 2000-2001

  • English 251, Introduction to Literature
  • English 252, Advanced Writing for English Majors
  • English 313, Advanced Writing for Elementary Education Majors
  • English 115, Freshman Composition

Teaching Assistant, BrighamYoungUniversity, Provo, Utah, 1997-1999

  • English 313, Advanced Writing for Elementary Education Majors
  • English 115, Freshman Composition
  • English 301, British Literature in a Cultural Setting- taught through BYU London Centre

PUBLICATIONS(Under review). Themed issue on adult and family literacy for Theory into Practice.

(2002). [Review of the book Reading lives: Working-class children and literacy learning by Deborah Hicks]. Anthropology & Education Quarterly, 33:4. Available electronically at

(1999). A Levinasian Reading of Miss Havisham: Learning to Accept Responsibility for the Other. Q/W/E/R/T/Y: Arts, Litteratures & Civilisations du Monde Anglophone, 9, 45-49.

(1998). What is the Most Effective Writing Assignment You’ve Ever Given? English Journal, 88:2, 29-34.

CONFERENCENational Reading Conference Annual Conference, December 2005

PRESENTATIONSAlternative Session: Multiple Perspectives on Multiliteracies: An Examination of Two Multiliteracies-oriented Classrooms

Miami, Florida

National Council of Teachers of English Annual Conference, November 2005

Paper Presentation: Crossing the Print/Non-Print Boundary: Using Comics to Redefine Text in a Secondary Language Arts Classroom

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Sheila Benson, Page 3

CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS, continued

National Reading Conference Annual Conference, December 2004

Paper Presentation: Seeing Themselves as Literate: One Family’s Intersecting Literacy Sponsors

San Antonio, Texas

American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, April 2004

Paper Presentation: Making Discourses Visible (or Trying): Reading Discourses and Power Relations in a Ninth-Grade Language Arts Classroom

San Diego, California

National Reading Conference Annual Conference, December 2003

Roundtable Presentation: “It’s Like an Injection”: Reading as a Marked Term in Classroom Discourse

Scottsdale, Arizona

Jakobsen Graduate Forum, The University of Iowa, March 2003

Paper Presentation: Reinforcing Hegemony: The Privileging of Middle-Class Socioeconomic Values in a 21st Century Basal

Iowa City, Iowa

National Reading Conference Annual Conference, December 2002

Roundtable Presentation: What Discourse Do Children Learn to Value in School?: The Continued Privileging of Upper Middle-Class Socioeconomic Discourse in a Current Basal Reader

Miami, Florida

BrighamYoungUniversity Graduate Symposium, February 1999

Paper Presentation: Freakish Faces: Seeing the Other in Browning’s Christmas Eve

Provo, Utah

Texas A&M Interdisciplinary Conference on Language and Literature, September 1998

Play’s the Thing in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead

College Station, Texas

SERVICEAffiliations

  • American Educational Research Association
  • International Reading Association
  • National Council of Teachers of English
  • National Reading Conference

Sheila Benson, page 4

SERVICE, continued

Journal Review

  • English Journal, 2003-present

Mentoring

  • Graduate Facilitator, 2004 Summer Research Opportunities Program Conference, The University of Iowa, July 2004

Mentored five undergraduate students, facilitated roundtable research discussions as part of nation-wide program hosted by Big Ten universities to encourage first-generation college students to pursue graduate studies.

Activities

  • Grader and Range-finder, Idaho Direct Writing Assessment- 1996-1997
  • Member, Curriculum Development Committee, Bonner County, Idaho- 1996

PUBLIC SCHOOLEnglish Teacher andDebate Coach, CarbonHigh School, Price, Utah, 1999-2000

TEACHINGTaught literature, drama, and creative writing courses for students in EXPERIENCES grades 10-12. Taught beginning and advanced debate courses. Coached 3A State Championship debate team.

English and French teacher, PriestRiverLamannaHigh School, Priest River, Idaho, 1994-1997

Taught English 1, 2, and 3 (9-12), Honors English 3, and four levels of French. Also was piano accompanist for the choir and advised the French club, literary magazine, Junior Statesmen of America, and the senior class. Took two student groups on tours of France in 1994 and 1997.

Electronic portfolio available at