ABOUT ME

Welcome to the professional website for Meghan Whitfield.

I am a doctoral candidate in the College of Education at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

I completed my MA in English at the University of Hawaii at Manoa and a double BA in English and Professional Technical Writing at University of Arkansas Little Rock.

I specialize in children's and young adult literature, focusing on visual rhetoric in picture books. I am particularly interested in the representation of social movements and protest in children's literature. As part of this work, I regularly read children's and young adult literature. My second line of research explores arts-based pedagogies for teaching writing in PK-16 contexts. I am interested in the ways artmaking supports reflective writing practice. 

I am personally and professionally invested in education for social justice. I worked as a children's services library associate for several years where I taught a young writer's workshop (for children 5-12 years old), STEM Book Club (for children 6-10), and story time programs for families. I also served as the liaison for the local Head Start program. In this capacity, I taught story time classes each week for Head Start students and provided early literacy support for families in the program. 

My university teaching includes composition courses themed around literacy and education; advanced research and technical writing; and literature courses focused on fantasy and science fiction. For more information, please see my teaching portfolio page. 

When I am not working, I enjoy traveling, hiking, and baking. I currently live in Maryland with my partner and our dog, Fitz the Wonder Whoodle. The photos on this website are from my classes, my original artworks, or from my travels.

Feel free to contact me:

Email: mewhitfield@umass.edu

LinkedIn: Meghan Whitfield

Instagram: @FitztheWonderWhoodle