By Tess Goldwasser
Rebecca is currently serving as the chair of the Stonewall Book Awards Committee. After she finishes with this, she wants to keep working with GLBTRT and expand her involvement with YALSA and AASL.
She is an assistant professor in the Department of Educational Technology, Research, and Assessment at Northern Illinois University, Â teaching courses in educational technology and library science to teachers taking classes toward their school library media certification endorsements. She also advises doctoral students in their Ed.D. Program, serves on department and university committees, and conducts research in the areas of culturally responsive pedagogy, school library media, distant education, and young adult literacy. Her goal is to complete her tenure-track position and receive promotion and tenure at NIU.
When she’s not working, Rebecca enjoys reading, knitting, and watching movies. Science Fiction, Realistic Fiction, and Historical Fiction are her favorite genres. She likes to read biographies and loves to watch old movies on the Turner Classic Movie (TCM) channel on television. She’s also a die-hard fan of Doctor Who, Sherlock, Downton Abbey, and Game of Thrones.
Rebecca is also passionate about good food and getting together with close friends. She feels that everyone should have the opportunity to dream and make those dreams come true. She is most proud of her achievements in education and her daughter.
A panther is Rebecca’s choice of which animal she would be. She says, “The panther is a strong, elusive, solitary, nocturnal, powerful, fearless, and intelligent animal that has adapted well to different habitats around the world, all attributes I seek in my journey through life.â€
If she could have a dinner party with five culturally or historically significant figures, living or dead, she would invite Maya Angelou, Audre Lorde, Virginia Woolf, Angela Lansbury, and Nikki Giovanni.
