Christy Wessel Powell
Associate Professor
Literacy and Language Education,
Curriculum and Instruction
Email:
cwesselp@purdue.edu
Address:
Steven C. Beering Hall of
Liberal Arts and Education
100 N. University Street
West Lafayette, Indiana 47907-2098
BRNG 4170
Profile
Dr. Wessel-Powell’s scholarship focuses on literacy and equity. Her research is rooted in a commitment to understanding and enacting equity in classrooms and communities, through literacy. This scholarship focuses on two intersecting strands of inquiry: (1) elementary literacy: particularly, she studies literacy teacher education, and how teachers use approaches in reading and writing instruction and media-infused “playshops” in schools as a vehicle for richer curricula; and (2) equity: particularly, she studies the intersections of education reform, media and advocacy, and how these are leveraged to support teacher and community action toward school equity. These two strands connect because without equitable resources and supportive conditions, rich literacy curriculum is more difficult for teachers to deliver. Dr. Wessel-Powell’s research is qualitative, often participatory, and informed by critical, sociocultural, and spatial theories on discourse, multimodality, texts writ broadly, and literacy as meaning-making. Dr. Wessel-Powell is the Director of the Center for Literacy and Language Education and Research (CL2EAR).