Section Links

• Research Biography
• Degrees
• Key Professional Appointments
• Activities & Honors
• Grants
• Selected Publications

Research Biography

Degrees

• Ph.D., Reading Education, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, 1986
• M.A., Reading, Atlanta University, Atlanta, Georgia, 1980
• B.A, History, Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio, 1978

Key Professional Appointments

• Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, College of Education, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2007--
• Professor, Curriculum and Instruction, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1998--
• Department Head, Curriculum and Instruction, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1997-2002
• Associate Professor, Curriculum and Instruction, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1992-1998
• Assistant Professor, Curriculum and Instruction, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1986-1992
• Instructor, Developmental Studies, Keenesaw College, Marietta, Georgia, 1980-1983

Activities & Honors

• Multicultural Literature Board, Reading Is Fundamental, Inc., 2007- present
• Chair of the Literature Advisory Board, Reading Is Fundamental, Inc., 2007- present
• Board Member, Reading Research Quarterly, 2007- present
• Board Member, Voices from the Middle-NCTE, 2006- present
• Member, CEE-Conference on English Education, National Council of Teachers of English-CEE, 2006-2010
• Mentor for Cultivating New Voices, National Council of Teachers of English, 2004-2008
• Reviewer, Educational Researcher, 2004-2006
• I served as a member of the committee to select the division's recipient of the dissertation of the year., AERA, Division G, 2004-2006
• Reviewer, State University of New York at Albany, 2004
• Chair, AERA/Spencer Pre-Dissertation Fellowship Committee, American Educational Research Association, 2002-2004
• Member, Canon II-Eight part television series on the teaching of multicultural literature, Thirteen/WNET-New York, 2002-2004
• Member, Executive Committee, NSK Neustadt Prize for Children's Literature, 2002-2003
• Editorial Board Member, Editorial Board, Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, 2001- present
• Distinguished Senior Scholar, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2001-2002
• Editorial Board Member, Editorial Board, Reading Research Quarterly, 2000-2005
• Member, Children's Literature Panel, Children's Defense Fund, 2000-2004
• Editor, The New Advocate, 2000-2003
• Fellow, National Conference on Research in Language and Literacy, 1998- present
• University Scholar, Board of Trustees, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1995

Grants

• Principal Investigator, Implementation of Professional Development Activities in the Reading Excellence Act, Illinois State Board of Education, 2002
• Fellow, Center for Advanced Study, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1989

Selected Publications

• Harris, V. J. (2007). Master narratives and oppositional texts: Aesthetics and Black literature for youth. In D. Reiser, L. Bresler, & T. Constantino (Eds.), The handbook of research in the arts, part two (pp.1007-1020). Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer.
• Harris, V. J. (2007).  In Praise of a Scholarly Force.  Language Arts, 85(2), 153-159.
• Harris, V. J. (2006). [Review of Brown gold: Milestones of African-American picture books].  Lion and the Unicorn, 30(2), 274-279.
• Willis, A., Garcia, G., Harris, V., & Barrera, R. (Eds.). (2003). Multicultural issues in literacy research and practice. Malwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
• Willis, A.I. & Harris, V.J. (2003). Threads of connection: A conversation with Bryan Collier, Illustrator. The New Advocate, 16(2), 97-104.