Jason Vanfosson
Associate Professor
Main Hall 519
JVanfosson@wcupa.edu
He/Him
Education
- Ph.D. Western Michigan University
- M.A. Duquesne University
- B.A. Fairmont State University
Interests
- Children’s and Young Adult Literature and Culture
- Comics Studies
- Gender and Sexuality Studies
- Road Literature
- Writing for Children and Young Adults
- Appalachian Studies
- LGBTQIA+ Literatures and Cultures
Selected Publications
Vanfosson, Jason, and Emily Aguiló-Pérez. “Reading Pictures: Diverse Comics and Literacies.” Pennsylvania Reads: Journal of the Keystone State Literacy Association, vol. 21, no. 1, Fall 2022, pp. 26-30.
Vanfosson, Jason. (In press) “From Roommates to Spouses: Shifting Representations of Marriage Equality in United States Picturebooks from 1995-2020.” Reading LGBTQ+ Children’s Picture Books. Edited by Jennifer Miller. University Press of Mississippi, 2022.
Vanfosson, Jason, and Emily Aguiló-Pérez. “Keep It Short: Anthologies and Collections of Diverse Voices in Youth Literature.” Pennsylvania Reads: Journal of the Keystone State Literacy Association, vol. 20, no. 1, Fall 2021, pp. 11-14
Rodríguez, Yanira, Sophia Sunshine Vilceus, Laquana Cooke, Emily Aguiló-Pérez, Sherri Craig, Jason Vanfosson, Tim Dougherty, Ben Kuebrich, and Michael Burns. “Foolery, Refusal and Possibility: On Labor Relationalities at Predominantly White Institutions.” The Journal of Multi-Modal Rhetorics, vol. 4, no. 2, 2021, n.p.
Aguiló-Pérez, Emily, and Jason Vanfosson. “Resistance and Activism in Youth Literature: #Own Voices.” Pennsylvania Reads: Journal of the Keystone State Literacy Association, vol. 19, no. 1, Fall 2020, pp. 12-15.
Vanfosson, Jason. “New Directions for Old Roads: Rewriting the Young Adult Road Trip Story.” Beyond the Blockbuster: Themes in Trends in Contemporary Young Adult Literature. Edited by Rebekah Fitzsimmons and Casey Wilson. University Press of Mississippi, 2020.
Vanfosson, Jason. Review of Representing the Rainbow in Young Adult Literature: LGBTQ+ Content Since 1969, by Christine Jenkins and Michael Cart. Research on Diversity in Youth Literature, Vol. 1, Iss. 2, Feb. 2019.
Awards
2023-24 Wilma Dykeman “Faces of Appalachia” Post-Doctoral Fellowship, Appalachian Studies Association
2021 Research and Creative Activities Grant, College of Arts and Humanities, West Chester University
Classes Taught at WCU
- Literature for Young Children (LIT 219)
- Children’s Literature (LIT 220)
- Special Topics in Children’s and Young Adult Literature: Comics for Young Readers (LIT 360)
- Young Adult Literature (LIT 398)
- Research Methods in English Studies (ENG 202)
- Research Seminar: Boys on the Road (ENG 400)
- Effective Writing (WRT 120)
- Critical Research and Writing (WRT 200)
- Critical Writing: Approaches to Popular Culture (WRT 204)
- Investigating Experience (WRT 205)
- Digital Literacies (PWP 503)