General Information
Biography
I currently serve as the Director for the Center for Faculty Excellence, supporting the teaching, research, service, and all things related to supporting faculty.
Teaching Interests
In the past I have taught a variety of undergraduate and graduate courses. Concepts of social justice, human rights, and recognition of marginalized groups are central in all my courses including Adolescent Growth and Development, Language, Culture, and Power and Contemporary Issues in Education, and Human Rights in P-12 Education.
Research Interests
My recent research focuses on urban education. I just finished co-authoring a book, William Frantz Public School: A Story of Race, Resistance, Resiliency, and Recovery in New Orleans (Peter Lang). I also co-authored a book, Questioning Assumptions and Challenging Perceptions (Rowman & Littlefield) outlining five steps of cognitive dissonance teachers experience related to teaching in urban settings.
Service Summary
I was honored to serve as UNO's Ombuds Director from 2020-21. I was involved in a multi-disciplinary project Witness: The Art of Samuel Bak. This exhibit included the paintings of Samuel Bak, a Holocaust survivor. The exhibit was led by colleagues in the Colleges of Arts and Sciences and Fine Arts and Media. My role was engaging middle and high school teachers with the exhibit and leading the College of Education's involvement. Over 1,700 middle and high school students attended the exhibit and used the instructional materials developed by faculty members in the Teacher Education Department.
Scholarship/Research/Creative Activity
Selected Publications
Bell, Julie, Schaffer, Connie, Gangwish, Kimberly. 2024. Teacher Decision Making in Teaching about the Holocaust Through Art, Holocaust Studies, 30, 1, 22-46.
Schaffer, Connie, Viator, Martha. 2021. Exploring difficult truths and the possibility of healing and transformation through the art of Norman Rockwell and Samuel Bak, International Journal of the Image, 12, 2, 65-78.
Schaffer, Connie, White, Meg , Viator, Martha. 2020. William Frantz Public School: A Story of Race, Resistance, Resiliency, and Recovery in New Orleans, Peter Lang.
Schaffer, Connie, White, Meg, Viator, Martha. 2020. Once a symbol of desegregation, Ruby Bridges’ school now reflects another battle engulfing public education., The Conversation.
Schaffer, Connie. 2018. William Frantz Public School: One school, one century, many stories. , Journal of Contemporary Issues in Education, 13, 2, 21-36.