
Mary Jane Curry
Associate ProfessorTeaching & Curriculum
PhD, University of Wisconsin-Madison (Curriculum and Instruction)
MA, University of Massachusetts - Boston (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages)
BA, Cornell University (English)
Since 2003, Mary Jane Curry has taught courses in language education, literacy, research writing and academic publishing. Her doctoral seminars have focused on critical literacy, language and literacy across cultures, and language, literacy, and globalization. From 2012 to 2017 she was the principal investigator of a U.S. Department of Education Office of English Language Acquisition National Professional Development grant for ESOL teacher education, Project CELLS: Western New York Collaboration for English Language Learner Success.
Curry was a Fulbright scholar in Chile in 2014 and a visiting scholar at the University of Pittsburgh School of Education and the Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, Sweden, in 2022.
Curry’s main research focus has explored the social practices of global knowledge construction by examining the experiences and perspectives of scholars who use English as an additional language. Since 2001, with Theresa Lillis of the Open University, she has examined the English academic writing and publishing practices of 50 southern and central European scholars. This work has resulted in three co-authored or co-edited books: Academic Writing in a Global Context: The Politics and Practices of Publishing in English (Routledge, 2010); A Scholar’s Guide to Getting Published in English: Critical Choices and Practical Strategies (Multilingual Matters, 2013); and Global Academic Publishing: Policies, Perspectives, and Pedagogies (Multilingual Matters, 2018). Curry and Lillis have also published numerous articles and book chapters. Open access articles include the 2019 article ‘Unpacking the lore on multilingual scholars publishing in English” and the 2014 article “Strategies and tactics in academic knowledge production by multilingual scholars.”
Curry has also researched academic communication by engineering faculty and graduate students, resulting in a co-edited book with David I. Hanauer, titled Language, Literacy, and Learning in STEM Education: Research Methods and Perspectives from Applied Linguistics (John Benjamins, 2014).
An earlier strand of her work was studying the experiences of immigrant/refugee community college students, resulting in articles and book chapters published between 2001 and 2007, and a co-edited book with Shawna Shapiro and Raichle Farrelly, titled Educating Refugee-background Students: Critical Issues and Dynamic Contexts (Multilingual Matters, 2018)
Curry is also co-author of An A to W of Academic Literacy: Key Concepts and Practices for Graduate Students (University of Michigan Press, 2021), written with six Warner School doctoral students; and Teaching Academic Writing: A Toolkit for Higher Education (Routledge, 2002). She has written articles, reviews and book chapters on teaching writing to students using English as an additional language and the experiences of immigrant students learning English writing at the community college. The project she is currently researching takes a reflexive turn, as an autoethnography of her educational journey growing up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the 1960s and 1970s, to be portrayed in the book Class Notes: An Urban Education.
Curry is the founding director of the Warner School’s Writing Support Services, which offers students and faculty free individual consultations, ongoing workshops and occasional writing retreats.
Publications:
Recognizing and Misrecognizing Academic Literacy in Higher Education (October 2020 AERA Bourdieu SIG Newsletter
Educating Refugee-Background Students – Introduction (www.multilingual-matters.com/pdf/samples/Shapiro-Intro.pdf)
Global Academic Publishing – Chapter 1 (www.multilingual-matters.com/pdf/samples/Global-Academic-Publishing-Ch1.pdf)
Action Research for Preparing Reflective Language Teachers
Academic Writing in a Global Context: The Politics and Practices of Publishing in English (Routledge, 2010) - Chapter 1
- Overview
- Chapter 1 “Approaches to Teaching Writing"
- Chapter 2 “Issues in Academic Writing in Higher Education"
The Dutch PhD Coach Book Review: A Scholar's Guide to Getting Published in English
In the News
- 11/20/2020Mary Jane Curry contributes reflective essay on Bourdieu’s influence on her research in AERA SIG Newsletter
- 7/13/2020Mary Jane Curry Contributes Post on the DoctoralWriting SIG Blog
- 5/27/2020Global Academic Publishing: An Online Conversation with Mary Jane Curry and Theresa Lillis
- 4/04/2019Mary Jane Curry on Multilingual Scholars on Research in Action Podcast
- 4/04/2019Warner School Takes Part in the 2019 AERA Annual Meeting in Toronto
- 7/10/2018Curry Essay on the Inequities of the Growing Dominance of English in Publishing Featured in Brazilian Journal Roseta (A Reprint of Inside Higher Ed Essay)
- 6/05/2018Multilingual Matters Blog Post Features Curry’s New Book on Refugee-Background Students
- 5/18/2018Warner Professor Co-Edits Book on Education of Refugee-Background Students
- 4/27/2018Chronicle of Higher Education Spotlights Mary Jane Curry's Book on Global Academic Publishing
- 3/13/2018Mary Jane Curry Writes About the Inequities of the Growing Dominance of English in Publishing on Inside Higher Ed
- 1/29/2018Doctoral Writing SIG Blog Features Advice on Organizing a Writing Camp from Mary Jane Curry and Jayne Lammers
- 11/29/2017New Book Examines the Struggle for Linguistic Equity in Global Academic Publishing
- 7/06/2017New Global Academy Jobs Blog Coauthored by Mary Jane Curry
- 1/13/2016Mary Jane Curry Quoted in BBC News Story on the Rise of English in Higher Ed & Research
- 9/24/2015Mary Jane Curry Blogs About Her New Book Series on Knowledge Production
- 3/23/2015Curry to Co-Edit New Book Series on Knowledge Production
- 3/20/2015Mary Jane Curry on Academic Publishing on Doctoral Writing SIG Blog
- 7/30/2014Professor Mary Jane Curry Co-edits, Professor Jeffrey Choppin Contributes to New Book Exploring the Role of Applied Linguistics in STEM Education
- 11/25/2013Warner Professor Publishes Guide to Getting Published in English
- 4/22/2013Warner School Professor Named Fulbright Scholar in Chile
- 2/20/2013Warner to Show Childhood in Translation Documentary as Part of Immigrant Series
- 2/15/2013Curry Participates in Guardian Higher Education Live Chat on English in Higher Education
- 8/15/2012Mary Jane Curry on the Benefits of Bilingual Programs in El Mensajero Católico
- 5/22/2012U.S. Department of Education Awards $1.95 Million to Warner School of Education: Grant Will Help Improve Classroom Instruction for English Learners
- 1/12/2011Free Movie Screening, Expert Panel for Schooling the World Aims to Draw Attention to the Effects of Western Education on Indigenous Cultures
- 7/01/2010New Book Explores the Consequences of English as the Dominant Language in Global Academic Journal Publishing
- 7/01/2009Two Warner Faculty Earn Tenure and Promotion to Associate Professor
- 9/01/2004Warner Institutes New Student Support Initiatives
Courses
ED513 Research Writing: The Literature Review
ED409 Language and Literacy in Education
ED582 Critical Literacy
ED515 Writing for Journal Publication
ED515A The Social Practices of Academic Journal Publishing
ED515B Writing an Academic Journal Article
ED515C Responding to Feedback and Revising a Journal Manuscript
EDE505 Linguistic Aspects of Intercultural CommunicationLinguistic Aspects of Intercultural Communication
EDE506 Cultural Aspects of Intercultural CommunicationCultural Aspects of Intercultural Communication
EDE507 Intercultural Communication for Administrative/Official Purposes
EDE508 Intercultural Communication for Health Care Professionals