Kathy G. Short is a professor in the program of Language, Reading and Culture and director of Worlds of Words (www.wowlit.org), an initiative focused on encouraging thoughtful dialogue around children’s literature to build bridges across global cultures.  WOW includes ICCAL, the International Collection of Children’s and Adolescent Literature, which is housed in Room 453 in the College of Education. The goal of this collection is to encourage the development of intercultural understandings and global perspectives through children’s and adolescent literature. Components include a collection of international literature, a web site with data bases and two electronic journals of classroom vignettes and book reviews, professional workshops for educators, and sponsorship of literary events and author/illustrator presentations. Current funded projects include research on the integration of story into early childhood preservice teacher education and on young children’s responses to multicultural and global literature, the development of Language and Culture Book Kits on specific cultural groups and languages for use in schools along with international consultants, research in a local teacher study group on building intercultural understanding through inquiry and literature, and research on creating literacy communities to support curricular innovation on global education. There are many opportunities for graduate students who are interested in interculturalism, global perspectives, and children’s and adolescent literature to be involved with the collection or related projects. 
 
Kathy works with the graduate teaching assistants for LRC 480, the undergraduate course on children’s literature that is taken by preservice teachers in elementary and early childhood education. She organizes the children’s and adolescent author strand for the Tucson Festival of Books in mid-March that features well-known authors and illustrators.  She is active in NCTE, NRC, CLA, and IBBY/USBBY and serves on a range of committees in these organizations. She was on the award committee for Notable Children’s Books in the Language Arts and regularly writes reviews of children’s books for various publications.  She served as President of USBBY, the U.S. national section of the International Board of Books for Young People, and was named the 2011 Outstanding Educator of the Language Arts by the National Council of Teachers of English.
 
Kathy has worked extensively with teachers to develop curricula that actively involve students as readers and inquirers. Her research has focused around dialogue and inquiry, particularly as connected to curricular frameworks and to the use of global literature to build intercultural understanding. Her research includes studies on the integration of global literature into the curriculum, children’s talk about literature, the role of the teacher in discussion, responses to literature across sign systems, intertextuality, inquiry-based curriculum, teacher study groups, and teachers’ curricular thinking about literacy and literature. Her courses include reader response, literature-based curriculum, the art of the picture book, multicultural and international literature, influential readings in literacy and culture, and teacher research.  She is co-author of many books, including Creating Classrooms for Authors and Inquirers, Learning Together through Inquiry, Literature as a Way of Knowing, Talking about Books, Teacher Study Groups, and Stories Matter: The Complexity of Cultural Authenticity in Children’s Literature and Essentials of Children’s Literature.  .
Publications, course syllabi, response strategies, and book lists can be found at http://uacoe.arizona.edu/short/ and further information on Worlds of Words is at http://wowlit.org