Joseph Flynn
Associate Professor, Curriculum and Instruction
Department
Education
- Ph.D., Curriculum, Teaching and Education Policy, Michigan State University
- M.A., Curriculum Studies, DePaul University
- B.A., Philosophy, Eastern Illinois University
Academic Interests
- Intersection of multicultural and social justice education
- Race, specifically Whiteness studies
- Media and popular culture
- Curriculum studies
- Social Justice Summer Camp for Educators
Courses Taught
- TLCI 512: Creating Learning Communities
- TLCI 510: Critical Practices in Curriculum and Instruction
- EPFE 201: Education as an Agent of Change
- TLCI 760: Educational Change
- TLCI 598: Master’s Culminating Project
- TLCI 567: Portrayal of Teachers in Film
- BKST 200: Racism in America
- BKST 302: African Americans and Film
- BKST 312: The Social Philosophy of Hip Hop
- BKST 316: African American Critical Thought
Selected Publications
Books
Flynn, J.E. (2018). White fatigue: Rethinking resistance for social Justice. NewYork: Peter Lang.
Tenam-Zemach, M., & Flynn, J.E. (2015). A rubric nation: Critical inquiries on the impact of rubrics in education. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.
Journal Articles
Flynn, J., James, R., Mathien, T., Mitchell, P., & Whalen, S. (2017). The overlookedcontext: Pedagogies for engagement and empowerment at the community college. Curriculum and Teaching Dialogue, 19(1).
Flynn, J.E. (2015). White fatigue: Naming the challenge in moving from an individual to a systemic understanding of racism. Multicultural Perspectives, 17(3), 115-124.
Flynn, J.E., Hunt, R.D., Johnson, L.R., & Wickman, S. (2014). Considering new paths for success: An examination of the research and methods on urban school-university partnerships, post No Child Left Behind. International Journal of EducationalReform, 23(3), pp. 191-206.
Flynn, J.E. (2013). Say what’s the word? An exploration of the controversy around the“n-words.” Illinois Committee on Black Concerns in Higher Education Journal,27(1), pp. 50-70.
Flynn, J.E., Kemp, A.T., & Page, C.S. (2013). Promoting philosophical diversity:Exploring racial differences in beliefs about the purposes of education. Journal ofthe Texas Alliance for Black School Educators, 5(1), pp. 53-71.
Tenem-Zemach, M., Flynn, J. E. (2011). America's rise (race) to the top: Our fall fromgrace. Curriculum and Teaching Dialogues, 13(2), pp. 113-124.
Flynn, J., Cooper Shaw, C., Dorsch, N. (2009). Urban legends: Representing the urbanteacher in urban teacher film (1955-2007). Curriculum History, 2009,https://journals.tdl.org/ch/article/viewFile/799/598.
Flynn, J., Kemp, D. and Perez, D. (2009) You can’t teach where you don’t know: Fusing place-based education and Whiteness studies for social justice. Curriculum andTeaching Dialogue, 12(2), pp. 137-151.
Recent Presentations
Flynn, J. (2017). Book Talk: White fatigue: Rethinking resistance for social justice. Presented at the annual meeting of the American Education Research Association, Denver, CO.
Flynn, J. (2017). Challenging the master’s narratives: The curriculum theories of Washington, DuBois, and Woodson. Presented at the annual meeting of the American Education Research Association, Denver, CO.
Flynn, J. (2017). White Fatigue: Considerations for an Empowering Pedagogy for Struggling White Students. Presented at the annual meeting of the American Education
Research Association, San Antonio, TX.
Flynn, J. (2016). White Fatigue: Rethinking White Resistance in a New Racial Era. Presented at the annual meeting of the American Education Studies Association, Seattle, WA.
Flynn, J. & Tenem-Zemach, M. (2016). The Epistemologies of Dre and Peter: Using Pop Culture to Challenge Conceptions of Race, Social Justice, Curriculum, and Pedagogy. Presented at the annual meeting of the American Association for Teaching and Curriculum, Grand Rapids, MI.
Flynn, J. (2016). Breaking Bad Habit(us): White Fatigue, Habitus, and Reimagining White Resistance. Presented at the annual meeting of the American Associationfor Teaching and Curriculum, Grand Rapids, MI.
Flynn, J., James, R., Mathien, T., Mitchell, P., & Whalen, S. (2016). Learning from the Junior: Explorations of Curriculum and Instruction at the Community College. Presented at the annual meeting of the American Association for Teaching andCurriculum, Grand Rapids, MI.
Flynn, J. (2015). Humane acts: Ameliorating White fatigue in American education. Presented at the annual meeting of the American Association for Teaching andCurriculum, Portland, ME.
Flynn, J. (2015). White fatigue: rethinking resistance in the post-Obama age. Presented at the Curriculum Studies Summer Collaborative, Savannah, GA.
Sleeter, C., Kumishiro, K., Flynn, J., Flynn, J.E., Koker-Color, D., Rogers Ard, R.,Ukpokodu, O., & Burnett, R. (2014). Diversification of the Teaching Force. Panelpresented at the annual meeting of the National Association for MulticulturalEducation, Tucson, AZ.
Flynn, J.E. (2014). White Fatigue, post-racialism, and the American curriculum: Popularand curricular considerations for advancing critical dialogues. Presented at theAnnual Meeting of the American Association for Teaching and Curriculum, Tampa, FL.
Flynn, J.E. (2014). “I am soooo tired of talking about this”: Understanding, seeing, and addressing White Fatigue and racial dialogues. Presented at the Annual Meeting of National Conference on Race and Ethnicity in Higher Education, Indianapolis, IN.
Flynn, J.E., Hunt, R., Wickman, S., & Fox, C. (2014). Architects of change: Creating and implementing a diversity strategic plan for your institution. Presented at the Annual Meeting of National Conference on Race and Ethnicity in Higher Education, Indianapolis, IN.
Podcasts and Editorials

Contact
Graham Hall 119M815-753-4539
jeflynn@niu.edu
Curriculum Vitae
Contact Us
Department of Curriculum and Instruction
Gabel Hall 147
815-753-8556
815-753-8563 (fax)
CIDepartment@niu.edu