Meghann Meeusen

Department of English, Western Michigan University
Office: Sprau 625
Email: meghann.meeusen@wmich.edu

EDUCATION

2014 Doctorate of Philosophy, Illinois State University. Children’s Literature.

2009 Masters of Arts, Western Michigan University. Literature with Children’s Literature Focus.

2007 Bachelors of Science, Western Michigan University. Summa Cum Laude. Lee Honors College. Elementary Education and English.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

2021-pres        Master Faculty Specialist, Western Michigan University

2020-pres       Director of Graduate Studies, English Department, Western Michigan University

2015-pres        Faculty Liaison to the College of Education and Human Development, WMU

2009-pres       Online Adjunct Instructor, Davenport University

2015-2021       Faculty Specialist II, Western Michigan University

2018-2020       Associate Graduate Director, English Department, Western Michigan University

2014-2015       Lecturer, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

2013-2014       Associate Editor of the Grassroots Writing Research Journal, Illinois State University

2010-2014       Graduate Teaching Assistant, Illinois State University

2012                  Facilitator for ISU Business Writing Workshop, Illinois State University

2009-2010       Adjunct Instructor, Western Michigan University

2009-2010       Associate Director of Composition for Technology, Western Michigan University

2009-2010       Adjunct Instructor- Developmental Writing, Lake Michigan College

2009                 Online Composition Instructor, Western Michigan University

2009                 Assistant Director of First Year Writing, Western Michigan University

2008-2009      Student Assistant, Faculty Assessment Grant, Western Michigan University

2007-2009      Graduate Teaching Assistant, Western Michigan University

2003-2006      Resident Assistant & Living Learning Specialist of Community Service,

Western Michigan University Residence Life

ACADEMIC PUBLICATIONS

Children’s Books on the Big Screen. UP of Mississippi, 2020.

Rev. of Filming the Children’s Book:  Adapting Metafiction, by Casier E. Hermansson. Children’s Literature, vol. 39, no. 1, 2022, pp. 289-294.

“Teaching Adolescent Film: A Cultural-Historical Activity Theory Approach.”  Teaching Young Adult Literature, edited by Mike Cadden, Roberta Seelinger Trites, and Karen Coats, MLA, 2020, 261-70.

“Power, Prejudice, Predators, and Pets:  Race and Representation in Animated Animal Films.”

The Palgrave Handbook of Children’s Film and Television, edited by Casie Hermansson and Janet Zepernick, Palgrave, 2019, pp. 345-64.

“‘Unless Someone Like You’ Buys a Ticket to this Movie: Dual Audience and Aetonormativity in Picturebook to Film Adaptations.”  Children’s Literature in Education, vol. 49, no. 4, 2018, pp. 485-498.

“The Difficulty in Deciphering the ‘Dreams That You Dare to Dream’: Adaptive Dissonance in Wizard of Oz Films.” Children’s Literature Association Quarterly, vol. 42, no. 2, 2017, pp. 185-204.

“Framing Agency: Graphic Adaptations of Coraline and City of Ember.” Graphic Novels for Children and Young Adults: A Collection of Critical Essays, edited by Gwen Athene Tarbox and Michelle Ann Abate.  U of Mississippi P, 2017, pp. 126-40.

“The Possibilities of Double-Voiced Discourse: Investigating Embodiment in David Levithan’s Every Day.” SIGNAL, vol. 38, no. 2, 2015, pp. 20-5.

“Hungering for Middle Ground: Binaries of Self in Young Adult Dystopia.” The Politics of Panem: Critical Perspectives on the Hunger Games, edited by Sean Connor.  Sense, 2014, pp. 45-64.

Rev. of Uncharted Depths: Descent Narratives in English and French Children’s Literature, by Kiera Vaclavik. The Final Chapters: Concluding Papers of The Journal of Children’s Literature Studies, edited by Pat Pinsent and Bridget Carrington. Wizard’s Tower Books, 2012.

Meeusen is also a Staff Reviewer for VOYA (Voice of Youth Advocates), and has published over 60 published or forthcoming reviews of young adult fiction.

CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS

“Adapting for Children.”  Co-Chairperson, Collaborative Forum Panel (Children’s and Young Adult Literature and Adaptation Studies), MLA Annual Convention, 2023, proposed.

“Intersectional Representation on Small Screens:  Considering the Future of Children’s and Young Adult Media Consumption.”  The Child of the Future Conference hosted by the University of Cambridge, 2022, accepted.

“Power and Representation in Science Fiction Films for Young Viewers.”  Children’s Literature Association Conference, 2020, accepted, rescheduled for June 2022.

“Embodiment at the Next Level: Expressions of Selfhood in Jumanji Film Adaptations” Children’s Literature Association Conference, 2021.

“Narrative Irony and Ideological Missteps in Children’s Film.”  Children’s Literature Association Conference, 2019.

“Power, Prejudice, Predators, and Pets:  Race and Representation in Animated Animal Films.”  Children’s Literature Association Conference, 2018.

““Unless Someone Like You” Buys a Ticket to this Movie: Adult-Centered Additions in Film Adaptations of Children’s Picturebooks.”  IRSCL, 2017.

“Loving Her Makes Me More Human: Female Saviors in Young Adult Film Adaptations.”  Children’s Literature Association Conference, 2017.

“Core Competencies Chapter by Chapter: The Lifeline and Limits of Children’s Literature Textbooks.” Children’s Literature Association Conference, 2016.

“Deciphering the ‘Dreams That You Dare to Dream’: Conflicting Ideologies in Adaptations of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.” Children’s Literature Association Conference, 2015.

“Romancing the YA Film—Ideological Shifts in Ella Enchanted and Stardust.” Children’s Literature Association Conference, 2014.

“Experiencing English Studies: An Interactive Roundtable Discussion.” New Directions Conference, 2013.

“CHATing about Literature Pedagogy and Analytical Activity.” International Genre 2012 Conference, 2012.

“Alice on a Quest: Destiny and Constructed Identity in Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland.” Children’s Literature Association Conference, 2012.

“The Last Human Monster: Power, Sexuality and Embodiment in Kristin Cashore’s Fire.” International Conference of Fantastic in the Arts, 2012.

“Framing Dorothy: Gendered Portrayals in Wizard of Oz Graphic Novels.” Children’s Literature Association Conference, 2011.

“The Adaptable Alice: Re-appropriating the Ridiculous in Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland.” International Conference of Fantastic in the Arts, 2011.

“‘Maybe She’d Just Love Something to Eat’: Coraline’s Other Mother and the Evolution of the Female Villain.” Children’s Literature Association Conference, 2010.

“Awfully Grimm within these Frames: Examining Fairy Tale Retellings in Visual Narratives.” Conference Paper Presentation, 2009 Children’s Literature Association Conference. Also Professional Visual Display, 2009 WMU Research & Creative Activities Day, Award Winner.

“Breaking the Glass Slipper: Redefining the ‘Normal’ Fairy Tale in Levine’s Ella Enchanted.” Children’s Literature Association Conference, 2008.

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

Master Faculty Specialist at Western Michigan University, Fall 2015-present

• ENGL 1100 Literary Interpretation
• ENGL 2100 Film Interpretation (both large lecture and online)
• ENGL 2200 Literatures and Cultures of the United States (online)
• ENGL 3820 Literature for the Young Child (including one online)
• ENGL 3830 Literature for the Intermediate Reader
• ENGL 3840 Adolescent Literature
• ENGL 4840 Multicultural American Literature for Children
• ENGL 5820 Children’s and Adolescent Literature: Image and Theory (graduate course)
• ENGL 5830 Multicultural Adolescent Literature
• ENGL 6900 Scholarship and Writing in the Profession

Individual or One-on-One Coursework

• ENGL 4950 Undergraduate Internship/Fieldwork
• HNRS 4990 Honors College Thesis
• ENGL 5980 Readings in English
• ENGL 7100 Graduate Independent Research
• ENGL 7110 Doctoral Specialization Readings
• ENGL 7130 Graduate Practicum in Teaching

Online Instructor at Davenport University, Winter 2009- present

• ENGL 021 English/Reading Applications
• ENGL 109 Composition
• ENGL 110 Advanced Composition
• ENGL 311 Professional Writing

Lecturer at University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Fall 2014-Spring 2015

• ENGL 1020 Rhetoric and Composition II
• ENGL 2280 Children’s Literature
• ENGL 2290 Adolescent Literature

Graduate Teaching Assistant at Illinois State University, Fall 2010-Spring 2014

• ENG 101 Composition as Critical Inquiry (Honors)
• ENG 145 Writing in the Academic Disciplines
• ENG 124 Film Style and Literature (Online): Teaching Assistant
• ENG 170 Foundations in Literature for Children
• IDS 121.19 Literary Studies- Texts and Contexts

Graduate Teaching Assistant and Adjunct Instructor at Western Michigan University,  2006- 2010

• ENGL 1050 Thought and Writing (Online/In-Class Hybrid, pilot)
• ENGL 1050 Thought and Writing
• ENGL 3830 Literature for the Intermediate Reader
• ENGL 5970 Studies in English- Czech Literature (Teaching Assistant in Prague)

Adjunct Faculty at Lake Michigan College

• ENGL 095 Foundations of College Reading and Writing, Fall 2009

PROFESSIONAL SERVICE

Graduate Director, Western Michigan University, Summer 2020-present

Graduate Committee, Chair, Western Michigan University, Fall 2020-present

MLA Executive Board:  Children’s Literature Forum, Spring 2018-2022

MLA Delegate Assembly Representative:  Children’s Literature, Spring 2018-2020

Associate Graduate Director, Western Michigan University, Fall 2018-Summer 2020

College of Arts and Sciences Undergraduate Committee, Fall 2018-Spring 2020

Graduate Committee, Western Michigan University, Fall 2017-Spring 2020

Reading Horizons Editorial Board, Spring 2017-present

Anthony Ellis Scholarly Speakers Series Committee, WMU, Fall 2015-present

WMU Liaison to the College of Education & Human Development (CoEHD), Fall 2015-present

Facilitate interactions between faculty, administration, and leadership in the English Department and College of Arts & Science with the CoEHD, including the following specific committees/initiatives

• Member of the ABAR (Anti-Bias Anti-Racist) Leadership Team
• Faculty Sponsor for CEEDAR facilitated Early Literacy Registered Student Organization
• English Department Liaison in development of new Elementary Education Curriculum
• Data Collection for the Standards-Based Assessment of Elementary Language Arts Major
• Member of the Education Steering Committee focusing on Elementary Education curriculum development and reform
• Participant/Consultant for SEPT (Secondary Education Planning Team)
• Member of CEEDAR committee focusing in Early Literacy Initiatives, 2017-2018

AWARDS AND RECOGNITION

• ISU Summer Doctoral Research Fellowship, 2014
  
• Taimi Maria Ranta Scholar, 2014
• Taimi Maria Ranta Children’s and Young Adult Literature Scholarship , 2012
• Taimi Ranta Travel Scholarship, 2011
• Graduate Teaching Assistantship, WMU 2007-2009 & ISU 2010-pres
• All-University Graduate Teaching Effectiveness Award, 2009
• Norma VanRheenen Award for Excellence in Teaching College Writing, 2009
• Research and Creative Activities Poster Day Award Recipient, 2009
• Dean’s List, College of Education and College of Arts and Science, 2002-2007
• Medallion Scholarship, 2002-2006
• Frederick J. and Katherine Rogers Memorial Shakespeare Award, 2006
• George Sprau Award, 2006
• Dean’s Summer Research Grant, 2005
• Lofton Burge Educational Scholarship, 2004
• Ralph N. Miller Memorial Award, 2003

ELEMENTARY TEACHING EXPERIENCE

Michigan Provisional Teaching Certificate, 2007-2013
K-5 all subjects, 6-8 English and Science

• 2008    Substitute Teacher, Kalamazoo Public Schools
• 2007    Intern Teacher, Winchell Elementary
• 2006    Pre- Intern Teacher, Winchell Elementary
• 2006    ELL Project Coordinator, Maple Street Middle School
• 2005    Guest Reading Tutor, Lincoln Elementary