Elsa Roberts Auerbach elsa.auerbach@umb.edu 617-287-5763

publications keynote addresses course descriptions community collaborations

ELSA ROBERTS AUERBACH Elsa Auerbach is a Professor of English at the University of Massachusetts at Boston, where she has taught since 1982. She received a B.A. in French from Oberlin College (Oberlin, Ohio) in 1967 and, in 1982, a Ph.D. in Linguistics from Northwestern University (Evanston, Illinois). As an applied linguist, Professor Auerbach works in the areas of language pedagogy for adult English language learners and of second language reading/literacy, focusing particularly on participatory curriculum development, family literacy, and English for immigrant workers. Her primary interest within these domains is on how second language and literacy pedagogy can contribute to social justice and empowerment for immigrant and refugee learners. Several themes have informed most of Professor Auerbach's scholarship, teaching, and service: valuing and promoting the knowledge of socially and economically marginalized communities (particularly language minority communities), and working with others from the ground up to act for social justice and community change. These themes led her to work in the labor movement for many years after receiving her doctorate. Prior to joining the faculty at UMass/Boston, she worked as an assembler in auto and electronics factories as well as teaching in community, union-based, and community college ESL programs, always attempting to link education with social justice and community action. Throughout her years at UMass/Boston, Professor Auerbach has worked to forge connections between community and university, between theories and practice, and between local and national/international ESL/literacy initiatives. Her publications include texts for ESL immigrant workers, teachers, and teacher educators. She has edited a volume which highlights partnerships between community and educational entities around the world. Her scholarly work has fed back into immigrant communities through workshops for practitioners and community-based organizations, as well as service on national commissions, task forces, and working groups which, in turn, have shaped policy. Professor Auerbach has been involved in numerous community-university collaborations and coordinated several federally-funded grants to develop family literacy projects, train teachers for participatory curriculum development, and promote the leadership of language minority educators in their own communities. Her courses focus on teacher education for literacy, second language reading, adult education, and composition, as well as on teaching ESL students in undergraduate courses. Professor Auerbach has lectured, conducted workshops, and participated in teacher education in Australia, Canada, Great Britain, South Africa, and many parts of the U.S.