Katherine Sciurba, Ph.D.

Bio

Katherine (Katie) Sciurba is Associate Professor of Literacy Education at San Diego State University, Director of the SDSU Literacy Center in City Heights, and Director of the SDSU Reading/Literacy graduate programs. She is an experienced elementary school teacher and, for nearly 20 years, has taught writing to K-12 children in after-school and intervention contexts. Her research focuses on the intersections of young people's identities and literacy practices with an emphasis on the reading experiences of Boys of Color, popular culture as a vehicle for literacy instruction, and representations of race, gender, and current/recent historical events in children's literature. She holds a Ph.D. in English Education from New York University, an M.S. in Elementary Education from Mercy College, an M.F.A. in Writing for Children from The New School, and a B.A. in Literatures of the World from the University of California, San Diego. Her scholarly work has been published in venues such as Teachers College Record, Journal of Literacy Research, Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, and Children's Literature in Education, and she is the author of texts for children including the picture book, Oye, Celia!: A Song for Celia Cruz (Henry Holt, 2007). 

Publications

Scholarly Publications:

• Sciurba, K. (In Press, 2021). March of the Coup Clutz Clowns: David LaMotte’s White Flourand the clowning of white supremacy. The Lion and the Unicorn, 45(3).
• Sciurba, K.; Hernandez, S.J.; Barton, R.C. (2020). Humanizing the journey across the Mexico-U.S. border: Multimodal analysis of children’s picture books and the restorying of Latinx immigration. Children’s Literature in Education.
• Sciurba, K. (2020). Depicting hate: Picture books and the realities of white supremacist crime and violence. Teachers College Record, 122(8).
• Sciurba, K. & Jenkins, J.R. (2019). Smoky Night and the un-telling of the L.A. Riots. Journal of Children’s Literature, 45(1), 4-13.
• Sciurba, K. (2018). Identical readers, identical readings? First-generation twin brothers and the process of constructing textual relevance. Multicultural Learning and Teaching, 13, ISSN (Online) 2161-2412.
• Sciurba, K. (2017). Journeys toward textual relevance: Male readers of color and the significance of Malcolm X and Harry Potter. Journal of Literacy Research,49(3),371-392.
• Sciurba, K. (2017). Flowers, dancing, dresses, and dolls: Picture-book representations of gender-variant males. Children’s Literature in Education, 47(3),doi: 10.1007/s10583-016-9296-0.
• Sciurba, K. (2014/2015). Texts as mirrors, texts as windows: Black adolescent boys and the complexities of textual relevance. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 58(4),308-316.
• Fergus, E.; Sciurba, K.;Martin, M. & Noguera, P. (2014). Single sex schools for Black and Latino males: An intervention in search of theory. In K. C. Vaughans & W. Spielberg (Eds.), The Psychology of Black Boys and Adolescents. New York: Praeger.
• Sciurba, K. (2012). Hip Hop’s cultural relevancyin the hood: Examining the ‘subversive’ in urban school curricula. In C. Richardson & H.A. Skott-Myhre (Eds.), Habitus of the Hood (pp. 235-252). Chicago: Intellect, Ltd.
• Sciurba, K. (2011). Staging pages: The ‘Hollywoodification’ of children’s picture books. In L. Weldy (Ed.), Crossing textual boundaries in children’s literature(pp. 272-290). Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Press.
• Sciurba, K. (2011). "The wrong things about literature": Invisibility and African American texts.Curriculum Inquiry, 41(1),126-131.
• Sciurba, K. (2009). Deal with it, sort of: The picture book treatment of September 11. In A. Schopp & M.B. Hill (Eds.), The war on terror and American popular culture: September 11 and beyond(pp. 187-205). Madison, Teaneck: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press

Publications for Children:

• Sciurba, K. (2013). Let Texas two-step pick you up! Faces: People, Places, and Cultures. April 1, 2013.
• Sciurba, K. (2012). Play, pied piper! Seoul, Korea: Kunbaeum, Inc.
• Sciurba, K. (2009). Dance. Fight. Play. Capoeira! Faces: People, Places, and Cultures. February 1, 2009.
• Sciurba, K. (2008). Elvis’s rockin’ style. Faces: People, Places, and Cultures. May 1, 2008.
• Sciurba, K. (2008). It’s time to dance! Seoul, Korea: Kunbaeum, Inc.
• Sciurba, K. (2008). Let’s make music! Seoul, Korea: Kunbaeum, Inc.
• Sciurba, K. (2008). The picnic. Seoul, Korea: Kunbaeum, Inc.
• Sciurba, K. (2008). What do you see in the classroom? Seoul, Korea: Kunbaeum, Inc.
• Sciurba, K. (2007). Oye, Celia!: A song for Celia Cruz. New York: Henry Holt & Company.
• Sciurba, K. (2006). With duende. Faces: People, Places, and Cultures. January 1, 2007.