معرفی
Erin McCloskey is a Professor of Education at Vassar College, where she has taught since 2006. She holds joint affiliations with Africana Studies, American Studies, Urban Studies, and Women, Feminist, and Queer Studies programs, reflecting her interdisciplinary approach to educational equity.
Her academic credentials include:
- BFA in Fine Arts from Pratt Institute
- MS in Special Education (Learning Disabilities concentration) from Long Island University
- PhD in Literacy from SUNY at Albany
McCloskey's research critically examines how literacy practices construct ability/disability classifications through discourse analysis. Her work exposes systemic inequities in special education, particularly how labeling, racial dynamics, and institutional policies impact marginalized students. She investigates inclusive pedagogies across settings—from preschool classrooms to community spaces for formerly incarcerated individuals—emphasizing student agency and identity formation in literacy development. Her 2012 book Taking on a Learning Disability established foundational frameworks for understanding adolescent literacy learning at the intersection of special education.
Analysis of her 13 publications (2004-2022) reveals consistent thematic evolution: early work focused on fieldwork and labeling in literacy education (2004-2010), progressing to critical examinations of whiteness in community programs (2017) and out-of-school learning for disabled students (2022). Her scholarship consistently employs discourse analysis to dissect power dynamics in educational placements, IEP implementation, and racialized outcomes, with increasing attention to carceral systems and community-based alternatives to traditional special education.
McCloskey teaches EDUC 350 (Reading Curriculum Development) and EDUC 384 (Advanced Seminar), frequently incorporating community partnerships like the Exodus Transition Community collaboration where Vassar students co-learned with formerly incarcerated individuals. Her Ford Scholars Program involvement demonstrates commitment to undergraduate research mentorship, though specific advisees aren't documented. Based at Maria Mitchell Observatory (Box 556), she maintains active engagement through conference presentations and publications in journals like the International Journal of Inclusive Education.
Her community-centered praxis manifests in projects bridging campus and community, notably the Exodus Transition Community course that created critical literacy dialogues about incarceration. This work exemplifies her theoretical commitment to dismantling restrictive educational environments through situated learning experiences that challenge deficit perspectives on disability and race.
