Elizabeth Birr Moje

Elizabeth Moje

Elizabeth Birr Moje is dean, George Herbert Mead Collegiate Professor of Education, and an Arthur F. Thurnau Professor of Literacy, Language, and Culture in the School of Education.  Moje teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in secondary and adolescent literacy, cultural theory, and research methods and was awarded the Provost’s Teaching Innovation Prize with colleague, Bob Bain, in 2010.  A former high school history and biology teacher, Moje’s research examines young people’s navigations of culture, identity, and literacy learning in and out of school in Detroit, Michigan.

Moje has published 5 books and numerous articles in journals such as Science, Harvard Educational Review, Teachers College Record, Reading Research Quarterly, Journal of Literacy Research, Review of Education Research, Journal of Research in Science Teaching, Science Education, International Journal of Science Education, Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, and the International Journal of Qualitative Studies in EducationHer research projects have been or are currently funded by the National Institutes of Health/NICHD, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, National Science Foundation, William T. Grant Foundation, Spencer Foundation, International Reading Association, and the National Academy of Education.  Moje chairs the William T. Grant Foundation Scholar Selection Committee and is a member of the National Academy of Education.

In September 2018, together with several partners, including the Detroit Public Schools Community District and the Kresge Foundation, Moje announced the School of Education’s participation in the development of a cradle-to-career education system in a northwest Detroit neighborhood, on the Marygrove College campus. The first classes of early childhood and Grade 9 students began in 2019, and the school will continue to add grades each year.