Dr. Daniel Woolsey
Special Academic Interests
The focus of much of my professional research and
teaching is on the place of literature in the lives of children and
young adults. I’ve focused upon literature for children and
adolescent literature as a source of personal pleasure and delight,
as literary works worthy of careful analysis, and also as powerful
vehicles for language and literacy learning. In the past I have
worked on projects that focused on fantasy literature for children
and poetry for children. Most recently, I’ve been exploring oral
literature and the folktales originating in East and West Africa.
I am also interested in the effective teaching of social studies and
particularly strategies for infusing multicultural and international
perspectives into the K-12 curriculum.
Recent Professional Experiences and Consultancies
During the summer of 2007 I spent a month in Tanzania, teaching a workshop on African folktales and collecting folktales from southern Tanzania, many of them from tribal groups with no written form of the mother tongue. During the Fall semester, 2007, I continued to collect East African folktales, this time working with Somali Bantu refugees who have recently immigrated to Buffalo, NY. I am currently in the process of working toward the publication of a selection of stories from Tanzania and Somalia which will also include illustrations created by African refugee youth who are connected with Hope Refugee Services in Buffalo.
Several years ago I worked with my colleague, Dr. Cathy Freytag, to develop and implement an English literacy program for children in grades 1 – 6, Choma, Zambia. We also developed a course, “International Literacy and Development in Zambia,” which involves Houghton students in preparing for and teaching in this literacy program. In May of 2008, the third set of students will participate in this program which is a partnership between Houghton College and World Hope International and which has proven to be an enriching academic, teaching, and service opportunity for Houghton teacher education students and faculty.
Finally, I am an active member of the National Council of Teachers of English, having participated in their annual conferences for each of the last twenty years. I am also a past president of their affiliate, the Children's Literature Assembly, and most recently served as a member of the Committee which selected the 2003 and the 2006 winners of the NCTE Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children.
Publications
Below are some of the publications that I have written over the last several years:
Why Tortise Has a Cracked Shell. Blurb Creative Publishing Service, 2010.
Under the Story Tree. Folktales from East Africa. Blurb Creative Publishing Service, 2009.
“Best Poetry Books for Children, 2003 – 2006,” Language Arts, 84 (6), 2007, 552-557. (co-written with other members of NCTE’s Committee on the Award for Excellence in Children’s Poetry)
Crossing Boundaries with Children’s Books, Scarecrow Press, 2006. I contributed eight book reviews to this bibliography of international literature for children.
"The Realm of Fairy-Story: J. R. R. Tolkien
and Robin McKinley's Beauty." Children’s
Literature Review, vol. 78, Fall, 2002.
“Fantasy Literature: Magical Stories that
Open Up New Worlds.” In Amy McClure and
Jan Kristo, eds. Adventuring with Books.
Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English, 2002.
“Separating the Men from the Boys: Coming of Age in Recent Historical Fiction for Children.” In Susan Lehr, ed. Beauty, Brains, and Brawn: The Construction of Gender in Children’s Literature. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 2001.
Courses Taught
Children's Literature
Adolescent Literature
Teaching Elementary Social Studies and Language Arts
Intercultural Literacy and Development in Zambia
Introduction to Reading & Language Arts Methods
Language Arts Seminar
Reading in the Content Areas
Professional Memberships
International Board on Books for Young People
National Council of Teachers of English
Children's Literature Assembly
Assembly on Literature for Adolescents
National Council on the Social Studies
