Katie Harlan Eller

Assistant Professor of Literacy Education

Bio

Katie Harlan Eller teaches and researches literacies for a more just world. She holds a PhD in English Education with a Teacher Education Specialization from Teachers College, Columbia University. An educator for over 20 years, her teaching and research in literacy and justice are informed by 15 years as a classroom teacher prior to her roles in undergraduate and graduate teacher education. As a teacher educator and scholar, Dr. Harlan Eller centers humanizing and critical approaches to both teacher education and K-12 classrooms. 

Dr. Harlan Eller’s research focuses on justice-oriented pedagogies, teacher activism, and reparative literacy education. Her work has been published in the Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, the Journal of Equity and Social Justice in Education, the Journal of Curriculum and Pedagogy, Teachers College Record and Bank Street Occasional Papers. She has presented her work at regional, national, and international conferences. 

Education

PhD, English Education, Columbia University, 2024
MPhil, English Education, Columbia University, 2023
MA, Liberal Studies, Duke University, 2017
BS, Education, Baylor University, 2005

Research Interests / Areas of Focus

Justice-oriented pedagogies in K-12 and higher education, critical and liberatory literacies, culturally and historically responsive teaching, racial justice and equity, and abolitionist frameworks in teacher education

Selected Publications

Harlan Eller, K. (2026) Teaching in Tight Spaces: Rehumanizing Praxis in Anti-Racist Education. Journal of Curriculum and Pedagogy, 23(3), 410-435. https://doi.org/10.1080/15505170.2026.2716099

Harlan Eller, K. (In Press, Fall 2026). (Re)humanizing Praxis: A Pedagogical Response to White Supremacy Logic in Teacher Education. Journal of Equity & Social Justice in Education, 5.

Harlan Eller, K. and Leingang, M.* (In Press, Fall 2026) Exploring Gender Through Drag Methodology in Secondary Teacher Education. In C. Bracho & C. Hayes (Eds.) Drag Pedagogies. Myers Education Press. 

Harlan Eller, K. (2025). “New Ways of Knowing”: Collaborative Multimodal Response Assignments in Teacher Education. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 69: e70014. https://doi.org/10.1002/jaal.70014

Touloukian, C., Price-Dennis, D., & Harlan Eller, K. (2024). "Listening and Learning from Teachers: Lessons from K-12 Educators at the Intersection of Culturally Responsive and Digital Pedagogies during a Historic Moment" (accepted August 2024, Teachers College Record) https://doi.org/10.1177/01614681241298809   

Price-Dennis, D., Touloukian, C., Moore, T., Harlan Eller, K. & Fu, D. (2022). Pedagogies of possibility: Exploring culturally responsive education during COVID-19. JustLit Project. Teachers College, Columbia University. (Spencer Grant-Funded Research Report)

Harlan Eller, K. (2021). “Black Feminist Love: an Open Letter to My Children,” Bank Street Occasional Papers, 46. https://www.bankstreet.edu/research-publications-policy/occasional-paper-series/archive/ops-46/black-feminist-love/

Harlan Eller, K. (2021) What is Home? Hughes, Woodson, + Art, Teaching the Harlem Renaissance in the 21st Century. Columbia University, the Roger Lehecka Double Discovery Center, the Institute for Urban and Minority Education, and the Wallach Art Gallery. https://doi.org/10.7916/ce71-1814  

Price-Dennis, D. Barros Cruz, L. Eller, K. Knight, R. Mapes, N. Mateo-Toledo, J. & Truss, A. (2020) We Are Curating Media for Social Change, Media Literacy Now. https://medialiteracynow.org/we-are-curating-media-for-socialchange/

Harlan Eller, K. (2020) Learning Through Living: K-5 Math. Center for the Professional Education of Teachers (CPET), Teachers College, Columbia University. https://cpet.tc.columbia.edu/ready-to-use-resource/support-k-5-students-with-math

Harlan Eller, K. (2017) “I Want Them to Read Again: Stories and Moral Imagination in the Middle Grades Language Arts Classroom” (Exemplary Designation), Duke University. https://dukespace.lib.duke.edu/bitstreams/65f9b7ff-6fc5-4e73-a5b5-98ad68057b88/download

Eller, K. (2013). “Educating the Young Wizard: J.K. Rowling, C.S. Lewis, and Xenophilius Lovegood.” Zeteo: The Journal of Interdisciplinary Writing, Fall 2013 Issue. https://zeteojournal.com/2013/11/19/xenophilius-lovegood/ 

Selected Presentations

Harlan Eller, K. and Lehman, C. (2026, November 19-22). Imagining and Innovating Teacher Education Pedagogy: Critical Co-examination of Practice [Conference Presentation]. NCTE 2026 Convention, Philadelphia, PA, United States.

Harlan Eller, K. and Kraishi, J.* (2026, November 19-22). “I Think Leaders Need to Step Up”: Teacher-Leaders as Critical Supports in Justice-Oriented English Language Arts [Conference Presentation]. NCTE 2026 Convention, Philadelphia, PA, United States.

Kirton, T. and Harlan Eller, K. (2026, November 19-22). “Imagine What Baldwin Might Say: Inspiring Racial Literacy Development and Culturally Relevant Teaching with “A Talk to Teachers” [Conference Presentation]. NCTE 2026 Convention, Philadelphia, PA, United States.

Harlan Eller, K., VanCauwenberge, K.*, & Williamson, A.* (2026, April 8-12). Co-Constructing Supports for Justice-Oriented Early Career Teachers [Conference Presentation]. AERA 2026 Annual Meeting, Los Angeles, CA, United States.

Harlan Eller, K. & Leingang, M.* (2025, November 20-23). Drag as Gender Poetry: Exploring Drag Methodology in Teacher Education [Conference Presentation]. NCTE 2025 Convention, Denver, CO, United States.

Kirton, T. & Harlan Eller, K. (2025, November 20-23). A Talk to Teachers: James Baldwin, Teaching and Learning. [Conference Presentation]. NCTE 2025 Convention, Denver, CO, United States.

Harlan Eller, K. (2025, June 30-July 4).A Self-Study: Considering Inward and Outward Pedagogies in Racially Just Teacher Education. [Conference Presentation]. International Study Association on Teachers & Teaching Biennial Conference, Glasgow, Scotland.

Harlan Eller, K. (2025, April 23-27). Tight Spaces: White Anti-Racist Teachers’ Inward and Outward Pedagogies. [Conference Presentation]. AERA 2025 Annual Meeting, Denver, CO, United States.

Harlan Eller, K. (2025, April 23-27). Critical Supports for White Anti-Racist Teachers. [Conference Presentation]. AERA 2025 Annual Meeting, Denver, CO, United States.

Harlan Eller, K. (2024, November 21-24). The Inward and Outward Pedagogies of White Anti-Racist Teachers. [Conference Presentation]. NCTE 2024 Convention, Boston, MA, United States.

Harlan Eller, K. (2024, November 7-9). Working Toward "We": (white) Anti-Racist Literacy Teachers. [Conference Presentation]. ALER 2024 Conference, Orlando, FL, United States.

Harlan Eller, K. (2024, April 11-14). (White) Anti-Racist Literacy Teachers. [Conference Presentation]. AERA 2024 Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA, United States.

Harlan Eller, K. (2024, April 11-14).The Educational Possibilities of Truth-Telling: Dismantling Dominant Narratives of Race, Place, and Histories. [Panel Chair]. AERA 2024 Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA, United States.

Harlan Eller, K. (2023, November 16-19). Destabilizing Whiteness in “Entrenched Literacy Pathways”: Fostering Racial Literacy through Race-Conscious Reader Response. [Conference Presentation]. NCTE 2023 Convention, Columbus, OH, United States.

Harlan Eller, K. & Kirton, T. (2023, November 16-19). Making a Way out of No Way: Fostering Racial Literacy in Teacher Education through Co-Created and Collaborative Professional Partnerships. [Conference Presentation]. NCTE 2023 Convention, Columbus, OH, United States.

Harlan Eller, K. (2023, November 16-19). Anyone else?: A Self-Study of Whiteness and Belonging in ELA Teacher Education. [Conference Presentation]. NCTE 2023 Convention, Columbus, OH, United States.

Harlan Eller, K. (2023, November 9-11). Subversive Teaching: Liberatory Literacy Pedagogy in an Age of Curriculum Restrictions. [Conference Presentation]. ALER 2023 Conference, Santa Fe, NM, United States.

Harlan Eller, K. (2023, September 28-29). Collaborative Multimodal Reading Responses in Teacher Education [Conference Presentation]. International Conference on Multimodality, London, United Kingdom.

Harlan Eller, K. (2023, May 30-June 2). Collaborative Multimodal Projects as Healing Pedagogy: Resisting White Supremacy through Racially Just Project-Based Learning in Higher Education [Conference Presentation]. National Conference on Race and Ethnicity in Higher Education, New Orleans, LA, United States.

Price-Dennis, D., Touloukian, C., Moore, T., Harlan Eller, K. & Fu, D. (2023, April 13-15). Going Remote: Exploring the Intersections of Culturally Responsive and Digital Pedagogies during the COVID-19 Pandemic [Conference Presentation]. AERA 2023 Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL, United States.

Price-Dennis, D., Touloukian, C., & Harlan Eller, K. (2023, April 13-15). Listening to Teachers: A Multilevel Sociopolitical Analysis of Culturally Responsive and Digital Pedagogies during COVID-19 [Conference Presentation]. AERA 2023 Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL, United States.

Harlan Eller, K. (2023, March 3-5). Exploring ELA Preservice Teachers’ Collective, Multimodal Responses in Teacher Education Courses [Conference Presentation]. NCTEAR 2023 Annual Meeting, Davis, CA, United States.

Harlan Eller, K. (2022, November 17-20). Shining the Light in Nontraditional Education Spaces: Healing Pedagogies in English Education [Conference Presentation]. NCTE 2022 Conference, Anaheim, CA, United States.

Price-Dennis, D. & Harlan Eller, K. (2022, November 17-20). Pedagogies of Possibility: Uplifting Culturally Responsive Approaches to Online Teaching and Learning [Conference Presentation].  NCTE 2022 Conference, Anaheim, CA, United States.

Price-Dennis, D., Touloukian, C., & Harlan Eller, K. (2022, April 13-15). [Conference Presentation]. Society for the Study of Social Problems Annual Meeting, San Diego, CA, United States.

Price-Dennis, D., Harlan Eller, K, Mapes, N., Mateo-Toledo, J., & Wright, R. (2021, November 18). Fostering Racial Literacy through Children’s Literature [Conference Presentation]. NCTE 2021 Conference, Virtual, United States.
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Awards and Honors

Marist University Center for Social Justice Research   2025, 2026
Marist University Interfaith Fellow    2025-2026
Teachers College Dissertation Research Fellowship   2023-2024
English Education Scholarship, Teachers College, Columbia University   2019-2024
NYU Teaching and Learning Innovation in Curriculum Grant   2022-2024
Zankel Urban Education Fellowship   2019-2021
Ira and Esther Gordon Award, UNC Chapel Hill   2019
Carl H. Pforzheimer Scholarship, Teachers College, Columbia University   2019-2020
Trinity School Professional Development Grant   2018
Exemplary Master’s Project, Duke University   2017
Graduate Liberal Studies Scholarship, Duke University   2013-2017
Randolph County School System Endowment Teacher Grant   2013-2014 
Joyce B. Franke Scholarship Recipient, Duke University   2013
Distinguished Educator of the Year, Ramseur School   2011-2012

Contact Information

Academic School

School of Social and Behavioral Science

Office

Dyson 3055

Email

katie.harlaneller@Marist.edu

Phone

(845) 575-3000 ext. 2089