Mary McVee
Director, Center for Literacy & Reading Instruction
Organizing Committee Member, 2022 Positioning Theory Conference
Professor
LEARNING AND INSTRUCTION
Specialty/Research Focus
Engineering Education; Digital Media and Learning; Diversity; Literacy; Discourse analysis; Ethnography; Race, Inequality, and Education; Linguistic, Discourse, and Sociocultural Context; Multimodality, Embodiment, and Digital Literacy; Qualitative Research Methods; Research Methods
Education and Training:
- PhD, Michigan State University (1999)
- MA, Michigan State University (1994)
- BA, University of Montana, Missoula (1988)
Awards and Honors:
- Mentoring Award; American Educational Research Association (AERA) Division G; 2025-04-26;
- 2022-2023 UB Excellence in Graduate Student Mentoring Award; University at Buffalo, SUNY; 2023-02-09;
- GSE STAR Award for Advising; Graduate School of Education; 2021-05-07;
- Invited Member of National Technology Leadership Summit, Washington DC (2016, 2017, 2018).; National Technology Leadership Summit; 2016-09-28;
- Mid-Career Award; AERA Division K: Teaching & Teacher Education; 2007-04-10;
Recent Publications:
Edited Book:
- McVee, M. B., Van Langenhove, L., Brock, C. H., & Christensen, B. A. (Eds.). (2025). The Routledge International Handbook of Positioning Theory. Routledge.
Journal Article:
- McVee, M. B., Schucker, K. A., Cun, A. (2023). Posthumanism and Positioning Theory: Explorations of embodiment and affect from a critical perspective. International Encyclopedia of Education 4th ed.
- McVee, M. B., *Schucker, K., *Jarmark, C., & Shanahan, L. (2022). Disciplinary literacies and engineering habits of mind. Pedagogies: An International Journal.
- Silvestri, K., Jordan, M., Paugh, P., McVee, M. B., Schallert, D. (2021). Intersecting engineering and literacies: A review of the literature on communicative literacies in K-12 engineering education. Journal of Pre-College Engineering Education Research https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/jpeer/vol11/iss1/1/
Book Chapter:
- Cun, A. & McVee, M. B. (2022). Listening to the stories of refugee children from Burma: A positioning and multimodal study. In S. Brown & L. Hao (Eds.), Multimodal literacies in young emergent bilinguals: Speaking back to print-centric practices. Multilingual Matters Publishing.
Recent Presentations:
Invited Lectures:
- McVee, M. B. (December 3, 2022). Racial Positioning and Emotion in Stories of Literacy Educators: Transgressing Boundaries and Borders. Mary McVee, University at Buffalo, SUNY. Integrated Research Review Panelist Plenary Session of the 2022 Literacy Research Association Conference;
- McVee, M. B. (July, 2022). Using Positioning Theory and Critical Narrative Analysis in Exploration of Racial Positions. A Keynote talk for the 2022 Positioning Theory Conference. University at Buffalo, SUNY. Buffalo, NY.;
- McVee, M. B. (September 15, 2021). Positioning Theory, Multimodality, and Embodiment. A talk for the 2021-2022 Positioning Theory Virtual Talk Series. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4N--C0ma998;
- McVee, M. B. (July 20, 2020). Beyond the sign post: Using positioning theory as a foundational framework in research studies. 2020 Positioning Theory One-Day Virtual Symposium. Hosted by University of Buffalo, SUNY and Center for Literacy & Reading Instruction.;
Recent Grants:
Grant:
- Elementary Teacher Professional Learning in Equitable Engineering Pedagogies for Multilingual Students; Federal Government; NSF; Awarded; (07/01/2023-06/30/2026)
Recent Activities:
Editorial and Review:
- Editorial Advisory Board, Journal of Literacy Research
05/26/2021-05/28/2022 - Guest Editor Themed Issue: Disciplinary Literacies and Engineering and Equity. M. B. McVee, L. E. Shanahan, & K. English (Eds.)
05/26/2018-05/26/2018
Professional Service:
- AERA Chair, Semiotics in Education SIG
04/01/2020-03/31/2022 - 2022 Positioning Theory Conference Chair
09/01/2019-05/28/2022 - Advisory Board Literacy Research Center and Clinic, University of Wyoming
05/26/2018-05/26/2018