Amanda Haertling Thein is Associate Dean for Faculty and Academic Affairs and Professor of Language, Literacy, and Culture in the University of Iowa’s College of Education. Before coming to the University of Iowa in 2011 she was a faculty member in English Education at the University of Pittsburgh, and a high school English and journalism teacher in Littleton, Colorado. She received her PhD in English Education from the University of Minnesota in 2005 and holds additional degrees from the University of Denver (MA, Curriculum & Instruction), and the University of Colorado at Boulder (BA, English; BS, Journalism).

Thein’s research focuses on socio-cultural and socio-emotional aspects of literary response; critical approaches to multicultural literature instruction; and the intersection of critical youth studies and young adult literature. Her research has been published in journals such as Research in the Teaching of English, Journal of Literacy Research, and Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literature. She is co-author of four books, including Teaching to Exceed the English Language Arts Common Core State Standards (with Richard Beach and Allen Webb). Her scholarship has been supported by grants from the National Council of Teachers of English, the Roy J. Carver Charitable Trust, the Iowa Women’s Foundation, and The Dollar General Literacy Fund.

Thein is co-editor (with Amanda Godley) of an international journal, English Teaching: Practice & Critique, and a member of the Conference of English Education’s Executive Committee. She is a member of editorial boards for Language Arts, Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literature, Research in the Teaching of English, and Journal of Children’s Literature.