Sam Morris, PhD

My name is Sam Morris, and I am the ELA Program Coordinator and Assistant Professor of English here at USCB.  

My areas of specialization are English education, young adult literature, and literacy. As the program coordinator for secondary English education at USCB, I am concerned with promoting secondary English Language Arts (ELA) pedagogy that empowers students and enables them to transition successfully to the literacy demands of life beyond high school.  

I believe that, while all teachers are literacy teachers, one of the most important things that an ELA teacher does is help students become versatile writers and lifelong readers. In my work with pre-service teachers, we continually strive to ensure that our shared pedagogical goals are accomplished in ways that are accessible, equitable, and antiracist.  

These values are reflected as well in my research and scholarship. I am always excited to discover new literature written for adolescents that help prepare adolescents to tackle real issues in their own lives and present ELA teachers with new pedagogical possibilities. I am currently working on a project in which I argue that greater incorporation of young adult literature in high school ELA classrooms can combat existing structures of testing, curricula, and pervasive censorship and canonization that stifle student engagement, learning, and creativity. The scope of this project also encompasses film, music, and student literacy narratives.