Ernest Morrell

Ernest Morrell was the Coyle Professor of Literacy Education at the University of Notre Dame, holding faculty appointments in the English and Africana Studies departments and serving as director of the Notre Dame Center for Literacy Education as well as the National Council of Teachers of English James R. Squire Office for Policy Research in the English Language Arts. He joined Notre Dame in 2017 after serving as Macy Professor of English Education and director of the Institute for Urban and Minority Education at Teachers College, Columbia University from 2011 to 2017. Prior roles included associate professor and division head of Urban Schooling at UCLA from 2005 to 2011, assistant professor at Michigan State University from 2001 to 2005, and secondary English teacher and basketball coach at Oakland High School from 1994 to 1999. Morrell also held research and instructional positions at UC Berkeley and UCLA in the late 1990s and early 2000s, including as instructor and research associate.

Morrell earned his Ph.D. in Language, Literacy, and Culture from UC Berkeley in 2001, where he received the Outstanding Dissertation Award, along with an M.A. from the same program in 1997 and a Secondary English teaching credential in 1994; he held a B.A. in English Literature from UC Santa Barbara in 1993. His scholarly interests encompassed critical pedagogy, English education, literacy studies, postcolonial studies, and youth popular culture. He authored or edited more than 15 books, including Educating Harlem: A Century of Schooling and Resistance in a Black Community (Columbia University Press, 2020), Stories from Inequity to Justice in Literacy Education (Routledge, 2020), Critical Media Pedagogy: Teaching for Achievement in City Schools (Teachers College Press, 2013; Outstanding Academic Title, American Library Association), The Art of Critical Pedagogy (Peter Lang, 2008), and Becoming Critical Researchers (Peter Lang, 2004). With over 100 articles and chapters, his work amassed more than 10,000 Google Scholar citations. Morrell was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2024) and National Academy of Education (2022), named an AERA Fellow (2014), served as NCTE president (2011–2015) and recipient of its Distinguished Service Award, and ranked among top scholars in annual RHSU Edu-Scholar Public Influence Rankings since 2015. He contributed to editorial boards of journals such as Research in the Teaching of English and served on leadership committees for AERA, NCTE, and the International Literacy Association.

Professional Email: emorrel1@nd.edu