Since 2016

Divergent Awards
Archive

This archive holds the longer history of the Divergent Awards. Category names have shifted over time, but the throughline has stayed the same: recognizing meaningful work in literacy, education, community, and digital life.

Back to the Awards
All honorees
2025 Watch →

Research Award

  • Dr. Cati de los Ríos
    UC Berkeley
    Ethnic studies curricula, writing, and civic learning
  • Dr. Anna Smith
    Illinois State University
    Education Now Lab — research on transliteracies and digital pedagogies
  • Dr. Jen Scott Curwood
    University of Sydney
    Literacy, creativity, and technology
  • Kristen Hawley Turner
    Drew University
    Founded the Drew Writing Project; co-authored Connected Reading and The Ethics of Digital Literacy

Advocacy Award

  • Dr. Karen Wohlwend
    Indiana University
    Young children's embodied literacies; author of Playing Their Way into Literacies and Literacy Playshop

Publication Award

  • "Playful Literacies Across Cultures"
    Special Issue, English Teaching: Practice & Critique
    Edited by Christian Ehret, Tori K. Flint, Jayne C. Lammers, Alecia Marie Magnifico, Raúl Alberto Mora
  • Literacies in Times of Disruption
    Dr. Bronwyn T. Williams, University of Louisville
  • Teaching Literacy Online
    Rochelle Rodrigo & Dr. Catrina Mitchum (NCTE)
  • Reimagining Literacies in the Digital Age
    Pauline Schmidt & Matthew Kruger-Ross

Implementation Award

  • Connecticut Writing Project-Fairfield Young Adult Literacy Lab & POW! Power of Words
    Founded 2014, directed by Bryan Ripley Crandall
    Has served 2,500+ young people
  • The Digital Discourse Project
    University of Pennsylvania / National Writing Project
    Director: Amy Stornaiuolo
  • Furious Flower Poetry Center
    Centering Black poets in American literature curricula
2024 Watch →

Research Award

  • Jayne C. Lammers
    Edmentum
    2019 Fulbright Scholar
  • Cliff Lee
    Mills College at Northeastern University
    Code For What? (MIT Press, 2023) — computational thinking, youth culture, media production
  • T. Philip Nichols
    Baylor University
    Building the Innovation School (Teachers College Press, 2022) — technology conditioning of literacy practices
  • Vaughn W. M. Watson
    Outstanding Publication Award, American Educational Research Journal — literacy and learning practices of Black African immigrant youth

Advocacy Award

  • Dr. Gholnecsar Muhammad
    University of Illinois Chicago
    Author of Cultivating Genius — Black historical excellence in education
  • The Media Education Lab
    Temple University / URI / Columbia (founded 2003)
    Co-directed by Dr. Renee Hobbs & Dr. Yonty Friesem

Publication Award

  • Metaliteracy in a Connected World
    Thomas P. Mackey & Trudi E. Jacobson
  • Pop and Play Podcast
    Haeny Yoon, Nathan Holbert, Joe Riina-Ferrie, Lalitha Vasudevan
    Digital Futures Institute, Teachers College Columbia
  • Restorying Young Adult Literature
    James Joshua Coleman, Autumn A. Griffin, Ebony Elizabeth Thomas
  • Reimagining Literacies in the Digital Age
    Pauline Schmidt & Matthew Kruger-Ross
    Podcast: Notorious Pedagogues
  • Special Issues: Critical Media Literacy Vol. 1 & 2
    Tom Liam Lynch, William Kist, Mary T. Christel

Dissertation Award

  • Christopher R. Rogers
    "Storying a Black Village Poetics of Landscape & Literacies in West Philadelphia" — connected to Black Lives Matter at School
  • Sarah Bonner

Implementation Award

  • #VerseLove
    Dr. Sarah Donovan
  • Somos Escritoras
    Dr. Tracey Flores
Archive · 2016–2023
2023 Watch →

Research Award

  • Dr. Julie Coiro — University of Rhode Island · Online reading comprehension, internet literacies
  • Alex Corbitt — Boston College · Literacy, equity, gaming, horror, climate
  • Dr. Rebecca Woodard — University of Illinois Chicago · Writing pedagogy, socio-political orientations

Advocacy Award

  • Dr. Stephanie Shelton — University of Alabama · LGBTQ+ identity in secondary education; affiliate, Gender and Race Studies

Publication Award

  • Critical Digital Literacies: Boundary-Crossing Practices — Routledge — ed. JuliAnna Ávila
  • Youth Identities and Affinities on the Move — David E. Low & Sarah M. Rapp
  • Special Issue: Critical Literacies in a Digital Age — Pedagogies: An International Journal — Earl Aguilera & Jessica Pandya
  • Advancing Racial Literacies in Teacher Education — Detra Price-Dennis & Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz

Implementation Award

  • Literacies in Second Languages Project (LSLP) — Directed by Dr. Raúl Alberto Mora
2022 Watch →

Research Award

  • Bill Bass — Parkway School District, St. Louis · Technology integration; ISTE Past-President
  • Dr. Cassie Brownell — University of Toronto · Children's sociopolitical development
  • Dr. Tisha Lewis Ellison — University of Georgia · Family literacy, multimodality, STEM literacy
  • Dr. Renee Hobbs — University of Rhode Island · Digital and media literacy education
  • Dr. Betina Hsieh — California State University, Long Beach · Teacher education; co-director Bay Area Writing Project
  • Franki Sibberson — NCTE Past President · Choice Literacy

Advocacy Award

  • Dr. Elyse Eidman-Aadahl — National Writing Project · Executive Director
  • Dr. Laura Jiménez — Boston University · Associate Dean for Equity, Diversity & Inclusion — children's and young adult literature diversity
  • Dr. Summer Pennell — Truman State University · Social justice education, queer theory

Publication Award

  • Maker Literacies and Maker Identities in the Digital Age — Routledge — Dr. Cheryl McLean & Dr. Jennifer Rowsell
  • Virtual and Augmented Reality in English Language Arts Education — Lexington Books — Dr. Clarice Moran & Dr. Mary Rice
  • The Ethics of Digital Literacy — Rowman & Littlefield — Dr. Kristen Hawley Turner

Implementation Award

2021

Research Award

  • Dr. Troy Hicks — Central Michigan University · Digital literacies, newer technologies
  • Dr. Emily Howell — Clemson University · Multiliteracies, adolescent literacy
  • Dr. Ian O'Byrne · Literacy and technology; e-editor, Literacy Research Association

Advocacy Award

  • Dr. Marcelle Haddix — Syracuse University · Students of color in literacy; Writing Our Lives project; Lender Center
  • Christopher Lehman — The Educator Collaborative · Founding Director
  • #DISRUPTTEXTS — Tricia Ebarvia, Lorena Germán, Dr. Kimberly N. Parker, Julia E. Torres

Publication Award

  • A Good Fit for All Kids — Harvard Education Press — Dr. Kelly Chandler-Olcott
  • Classroom Talk for Social Change — Teachers College Press — Dr. Melissa Schieble, Dr. Amy Vetter, Kahdeidra Monet Martin
  • Developing Adolescent Literacy in the Online Classroom — Rowman & Littlefield — Dr. Brooke Eisenbach & Dr. Paula Greathouse
2020

Research Award

  • Dr. Jon M. Wargo — Boston College · Multimodal literacies, youth technology use
  • Dr. Detra Price-Dennis — Teachers College, Columbia University · Culturally relevant pedagogy, digital literacies; AERA Early-Career Award 2017

Advocacy Award

  • Dr. Debbie Reese — Nambé Pueblo · Native representation in children's literature; American Indians in Children's Literature

Publication Award

  • Exploring Critical Digital Literacy Practices — Routledge — Dr. Jessica Zacher Pandya
  • Educating for Empathy — Teachers College Press — Dr. Nicole Mirra
2019

Research Award

  • Dr. Lindy L. Johnson — William & Mary · Director, Eastern Virginia Writing Project; multimodal literacies, digital storytelling, civic engagement
  • Dr. Raúl Alberto Mora — Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana, Medellín · LSLP project; second language literacies, urban spaces, gaming

Advocacy Award

  • Dr. Ebony Elizabeth Thomas — University of Pennsylvania GSE · The Dark Fantastic (NYU Press, 2019) — race in children's and adolescent literature

Publication Award

  • Towards a More Visual Literacy — Rowman & Littlefield — Jennifer S. Dail, Shelbie Witte, Steve Bickmore (eds.)
  • Critical Media Literacy and Fake News in Post Truth America — Brill/Sense — Christian Goering & Paul Thomas (eds.)
2018

Research Award

  • Dr. Sean Connors — University of Arkansas · YA literature, graphic novels; taught on Navajo Reservation
  • Dr. Bryan Ripley Crandall — Connecticut Writing Project, Fairfield University · 15+ years urban education; youth publishing, oral and written communication

Publication Award — Inaugural

  • The Handbook of Writing, Literacies, and Education in Digital Cultures — Routledge — Kathy Mills, Anna Smith, Amy Stornaiuolo, Jessica Zacher Pandya (eds.) · First Divergent Publication Award
2017

Research Award — Inaugural

  • Dr. Donna Alvermann — University of Georgia · Distinguished Research Professor; young people's digital literacies, popular media
  • Dr. Antero Garcia — Stanford University · Critical literacies, civic identity, mobile media; Black Cloud project
  • Dr. Ernest Morrell — University of Notre Dame · NCTE Past-President; Director, Institute for Urban and Minority Education, Teachers College Columbia
  • Sara Kajder — University of Georgia · Digital literacy and technology integration in English education
  • Dr. Hannah Gerber — Sam Houston State University · Gaming and adolescent literacies
2016

Research Award — Founding Year

  • Dr. Sara Kajder — University of Georgia · Author of Adolescents and Digital Literacies; co-editor Voices from the Middle
  • Dr. Hannah Gerber — Sam Houston State University · Gaming communities and adolescent literacies
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