Zimmer, Joseph

Dean

Associate Professor

Plassmann Hall, B18

• Ph.D., Reading Education, State University of New York at Buffalo, 1996.
  • Dissertation title: An Interpretive History of Articles Concerning Reading in Popular Magazines, 1890‑1990
   
• Ed.M., English Education, State University of New York at Buffalo, 1988
• B.A., English, State University of New York at Buffalo, 1986

Graduate Assistant, State University of New York at Buffalo, 1987-1992

Awards 

• Distinguished Finalist, International Reading Association’s Dissertation of the Year Award, 1997.  My dissertation was named one of the seven best in the world that year.

 

 Recent Publications 

• Zimmer, Joseph E. (2007). Walter Fenno Dearborn: Through the eyes of each child.  Chapter in: Israel, S., & Monaghan, E. J. (Eds.) (2007). Shaping the Reading Field: The Impact of Early Reading Pioneers, Scientific Research and Progressive Ideas. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.
• Zimmer, Joseph E. (2007). Tips for gathering biographical data.  Appendix in: Israel, S., & Monaghan, E. J. (Eds.) (2007). Shaping the Reading Field: The Impact of Early Reading Pioneers, Scientific Research and Progressive Ideas. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

 

 

Editorship 

• Currently serve as co-editor of the History of Reading News, the only publication dedicated exclusively to the history of literacy.

 

 

Editorial Boards 

• I serve on the Editorial Boards of The Reading Teacher and The Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy.

 

 

Publications/Presentations 

• I have published over 20 articles and presented at 10 national and international conferences.

I believe that we learn to teach through having a thorough understanding of educational theory, that those theories inform methods, and that those methods must be practiced in order to be effective. This theory into practice model is how I structure my teaching life.

I am very involved in the history of literacy, and most of my research revolves around that area of study. The main project that I am working on now deals with a biography of Dr. Frank Laubach, a pioneer of international literacy whose “Each One Teach One” method of instruction was used as a model for UNESCO’s literacy efforts.

I am also starting some research on the impact of the Freedmen’s Bureau on the teaching of freed slaves literacy after the Civil War. 

I am a clarinetist in the Allegany Alumni and Friends Band. This band plays traditional march and concert pieces in several concerts each year in Southwestern New York.  I am currently the Allegany-Limestone Central School District School Board President.