Maris R Thompson, PhD

Education

Ph.D. Education, University of California, Berkeley 

M.A Education, University of California, Berkeley 

B.A History, African Studies Certificate, Georgetown University

Teaching and Research Interests

Dr. Maris Thompson is a Professor in the School of Education at CSU Chico and currently serves as the Coordinator of the Liberal Studies Program at CSU Chico. Previous roles include Co-Teaching Coordinator for the School of Education, Chair of the Internationalization Faculty Staff Task Force, Faculty Mentor for the REACH program (Raising Educational Achievement in Collaborative Hubs) a first year experience program for first generation college students and Academic Senator.

Her research interests focus on language equity in current and historical contexts, the role of narrative practices in home and school, immigrant students and schooling in historical contexts, the experiences of first generation students in higher education, and co-teaching as an apprenticeship model for reciprocal professional development. She is also interested in the German American experience and understanding the connections between previous histories of anti-immigrant feeling with today’s anti-immigration climate. She teaches a variety of courses in the School of Education focused around educational equity, democracy, curriculum studies, and undergraduate research methods (Capstone) for the Liberal Studies Program. Before her graduate work, Dr. Thompson taught English as a Second Language at the middle and high school levels in Portland Oregon, Oakland California, and Puerto Villamil, Galápagos Islands, Ecuador.

She has authored numerous articles on co-teaching, first-generation students in higher education, language practices in historical contexts, and the German American experience in the Journal of Teaching and Teacher Education, the Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory, & Practice, Narrative Works, and the Canadian Oral History Forum. Her book, Narratives of Immigration and Language Loss: Lessons from the German American Midwest was published with Lexington Books in 2018.

Dr. Thompson has received multiple awards for her scholarship and teaching, including an Excellence in Course Design Award from the Office of Undergraduate Education and Academic Success, an Engaged Educator Pedagogy Award from the College of Communication and Education (CME), a Professional Achievement Award from the Faculty Recognition & Support

Committee, and Excellence in Teaching Award from the National Society for Leadership and Success, and a Maggie Award from the Gender and Sexuality Equity Center at CSU Chico.

Curriculum Vitae

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