Ashley, Adele B. (azb2104)

Ashley, Adele Bruni

Lecturer
212-678-3164

Office Location:

511-A Thmps

Biographical Information

Adele Bruni Ashley is a Lecturer in the Teaching of English program at Teachers College, Columbia University where she received both her M.A. and Ph.D. in English Education. She received her B.A. in English literature from Yale University and her M.F.A. in Acting from the University of Washington's Professional Actor Training Program (PATP). She then received her M.S.Ed. in Educational Leadership from Hunter College. She is the co-founder and director of Literacy Unbound at the Center for the Professional Education of Teachers (CPET) at Teachers College, a professional development program bringing together teachers and students to co-create original performance pieces inspired by literature.  Adele has worked with Shakespeare & Company (NEH grant), Facing History & Ourselves (Deutsche Bank Immigration Grant), and co-founded and directed Writers on Stage for the New York City Writing Project, a writing and performance program for secondary students. A former New York City middle and high school English and Humanities teacher, Adele has presented at state, national, and international conferences and works as a school-based consultant both locally and internationally.

Educational Background

B.A., Yale University; M.F.A., University of Washington; M.S.Ed., Hunter College; M.A. & Ph.D., Teachers College, Columbia University

Scholarly Interests

Multiliteracies, Drama in English Education, Teacher Preparation, Professional Education of Teachers

Selected Publications

Ashley, A.B. (2021). Considering “Fences”: Who Can Step into Whose Shoes? English Journal, 110(3), 20-26. 

Ashley, A.B. (2019). Don’t just read literature, experience it. CPET News Press, July, Retrieved from https://cpet.tc.columbia.edu/news-press/dont-just-read-literature-experience-it

Kitzmiller, E. & Ashley, A.B. (2018). Remaining silent is a political act. Hechinger Report, November, Retrieved from https://hechingerreport.org/opinion-remaining-silent-is-a-political-act/

Ashley, A.B. (2016). “With an eye towards its movement:” Revitalizing Literature through Remix and Performance. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. Teachers College, Columbia University. Chair: Dr. Ruth Vinz.

Professional Presentations

2022 NCTE Conference, Anaheim, CA

Co-Presenter, November 2022

“Saying Something in the Dark: Responding to Jhumpa Lahiri’s Interpreter of Maladies through Online, Arts-Based Collaboration”


2022 Transitions & Transactions VI Conference, virtual

Co-Presenter, April 2022 (upcoming)

“Invitations to Create: Responding to Literature through the Arts and through Distance”


2021 LRA Conference, virtual

Co-Presenter, December 2021

“Weaving a Stronger Tapestry:Threading anti-racism and culturally sustaining methods throughout pre-service teaching coursework”


2021 NCTE Conference, virtual

Co-Presenter, November 2021

“Weaving a Stronger Tapestry: How Can We Thread Commitments to Diversity,

Equity and Inclusion Throughout Teacher Education Coursework?”

“Invitations to Create: Re-Imagining Social Justice Through Aesthetic Literary Response”


2019 NCTE Conference, Baltimore, MD

Presenter, November 2019

Stereotyping, Appropriation, and Imposition: Raising Race in Classrooms” (presenter)

Teachers as Writers: Nurturing the Wanderings and the Wonderings” (co-presenter)

Daring to Be Bold with the Arts and Inquiry” Roundtable (co-presenter)


2017 NCTE Conference, St. Louis, MO

Co-Presenter, November 2017

A Re-Awakening: Making Meaning Through Meaningful Making”


2016 The Consortium for Reading, Writing and Critical Thinking Annual Conference, New York, NY

Co-Presenter, October 2016

Multimodality & Technology in 21st Century Language Arts Classrooms.”


2015 NCTE Conference, Minneapolis, MN

Presenter, November 2015

“It’s Alive!: Performing Questions in the Study of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein”


2014 Performing the World Conference, New York, NY

Co-Presenter, October 2014

“Alive in the Gaps and Spaces: Uncovering Meaning through Dramatic Response to Literature”


2014 Writing Research Across Borders Conference, Paris, France

Co-Presenter, February 2014

“Academic Writing and its Acquisition in Classrooms”


2013 NCTE Conference, Boston, MA

Presenter, November 2013

“We can write like THAT?: The Commentary as Entrée into Academic Writing”


2013 Young Rhetoricians Conference, Monterey, CA

Presenter, June 2013

“We can write like THAT?: The Commentary as Entrée into Academic Writing”

2022-2023 Digital Futures Institute Fellow (Teachers College)

2020 A&H Innovation Grant (Teachers College)

2018 Finalist for Arts-Based Educational Research SIG Dissertation Award at AERA 

2017 Rapid Prototyping Grant Recipient (Teachers College)

2017 Provost Investment Fund Grant Recipient (Teachers College)

2014 Provost Investment Fund Grant Recipient (Teachers College)

2009 NEH Grant Award Recipient: National Institute on Teaching Shakespeare, Northampton, MA

2007-2009 Facing History and Ourselves Deutsche Bank Immigration Grant recipient, NY, NY

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