Adam Crawley

  • Associate Teaching Professor
  • LITERACY STUDIES

Adam Crawley is an Associate Teaching Professor in Literacy Studies in the School of Education at the University of Colorado-Boulder where he serves as the faculty chair of the annual CU Children's Book Festival, a community partnership with the Boulder Public Library and Boulder Bookstore. He also teaches courses and serves as a field coach for student teachers in the Elementary Education program. Prior to CU, Adam held tenure-track roles at the University of Texas at Austin and Oklahoma State University. He earned his Ph.D. at the University of Georgia and was an elementary teacher in public schools for twelve years. Adam has been an active member and organizer of children's book award programs and conferences along with leadership appointments in assemblies of the National Council of Teachers of English, Literacy Research Association, and American Educational Research Association. His teaching, research, and service focus on the use and censorship of culturally diverse children's literature in elementary contexts, especially related to LGBTQ+ representations. He is published in the Journal of Children's Literature, English Journal, Bookbird: An International Journal of Children's Literature, and the Bank Street Occasional Paper Series among other academic journals and edited books.

Faculty Chair, CU Children's Book Festival

Chair - Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee of the Children's Literature Assembly (National Council of Teachers of English)

Guest Editor (Spring, 2025), Dragon Lode (Reading and Children's Literature SIG of International Literacy Association)

Editorial Board Member, Journal of Children's Literature

Treasurer, Genders and Sexualities Equalities Alliance (National Council of Teachers of English)

Clark, C., Boyd, A., Cook, M., Crawley, S. A., Rish, R., Skrlac Lo., R. (2022). New conceptual tools for be(com)ing antiracist literacy (teacher) educators at PWIs. English Teaching: Practice & Critique, 1-15.

Coleman, J. J., Schey, R., Blackburn, M. V., Brochin, C., Cooper-Novack, G., Crawley, S. A., Cruz, C., Dutro, E., Helton, J., Islam, A. Q., Jiménez, I., Lizárraga, J. R., Shrodes, A., Simon, R., Wickens, C. M., Young, C. A. (2022). Intergenerational queer method(ologie)s: Dialogues in literacy research. Literacy Research: Theory, Method, and Practice, 1-19.

Crawley, S. A., Young, C. A., Patrick, L. (2022). Reading queerness at the intersections: Using LGBTQ+-inclusive literature to move toward equity, justice, and antiracist teaching. Journal of Children’s Literature, 48(1), 80-86.

Crawley, S. A. (2020). If I knew then what I do now: Fostering pre-service teachers’ capacity to promote expansive and critical conversations with children’s literature. Bank Street Occasional Paper Series, (44).