Blasingame to head young adult literature group

<p>James Blasingame, associate professor of English education in ASU’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, was recently elected president of the Assembly on Literature for Adolescents, an independent assembly of the National Council of Teachers of English. His term as president-elect begins in late November, at the organization’s annual convention.</p><separator></separator><p>The Assembly on Literature for Adolescents is made up of teachers, authors, librarians, publishers, teacher-educators and their students, and others who are particularly interested in the area of young adult literature. The Assembly publishes <em>The ALAN Review</em>, which has a circulation of 2,500. Blasingame has served as coeditor of <em>The ALAN Review</em> for the past six years and will step down in the summer of 2009. </p><separator></separator><p>Blasingame, a former high school English teacher who pursued his doctoral degree after nearly 20 years of K-12 teaching, was named this past April as the ASU Parents Association’s 2008 Professor of the Year. He was recognized for inspiring future English teachers of America with his enthusiastic spirit – and his emphasis on community outreach. Since much of his teaching is about adolescent literature, he and his students partner with local school districts to improve literacy and writing skills among middle and high school students. Blasingame has been with ASU since 2000.</p>