Claire Ahn

Assistant Professor of Multiliteracies, Graduate Faculty

B.Ed. (University of Alberta)
MEd, PhD (University of British Columbia)

Dr. Claire Ahn is an Associate Professor of Multiliteracies. Dr. Ahn’s research focusses on how information is mediated across different platforms and how this affects people’s understanding of issues, events, and of people. Dr. Ahn also has over 20 years of teaching experience, including a decade of experience as high school English (literature) teacher, thus her research is strongly rooted in and considers secondary ELA curricula and pedagogical implications.

Dr. Ahn’s projects have included the following:

• How visual images and the genre of environmental documentary films affect viewers’ responses and awareness of issues
• Youth and ELA teacher experiences and perspectives in implementing social justice education (SSHRC IDG, SSHRC Connections)
• Multiliteracy approaches to teaching, learning, and research about community and place using PhoneMe (New Frontiers Research Fund, Co-PI)
• Newcomer seniors and critical digital literacy skills (SSHRC Partnership Engage Grant, PI).

Research Interests

• Multiliteracies/multimodality
• Narrative film and documentary film
• Visual literacy and visual rhetoric
• Genre and rhetorical genre studies
• Environmental literacy
• High school English (literature) curriculum

Select Publications

Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles

Ahn, C. & Minuk, A. (2024). Poetry unveiled: Multimodality and aesthetic responses as a fresh approach to teaching and reading verse. The Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 68(5), 506-511. https://doi.org/10.1002/jaal.1381

Liu, S., Gyamerah, K., Ahn, C., & Pillay, T. (2024). Creating spaces of engagement: Exploring high school youth’s voices in reshaping the social justice curriculum. Journal of Teaching and Learning, 18(1), 75-92.

Ahn, C., Balyasnikova, N., Horst, R., James, K., Morales, E., Takeda, Y., Yung, E. (2023). Enhancing relationality through poetic engagement with PhoneMe: Transmodal contexts and interpretive agency. Language and Literacy, 25(2), 57-83. https://doi.org/10.20360/langandlit29617 

Ahn, C. (2022). Documentary genre in environmental education. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Education. https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190264093.013.1822

Pillay, T., Ahn, C., Gyamerah, K., & Liu, S. (2022). Considering the role of social media: #BlackLivesMetter as a pedagogical intervention to decolonise curriculum. London Review of Education, 20 (1).

Searle, M., Ahn, C., Fels, L., & Carbone, K. (2021). Infusing creativity and care into assessment of transformative learning in teacher education. Journal of Transformative Education, 19(4), 339-365.

Ahn. C. (2021). Genre expectations and viewer reaction to Our Planet: Are audiences motivated to act more sustainably?. Language and Literacy, 23(1), 65-79.

Ahn, C. (2020). Considering the role of documentary media in environmental education. Journal of Canadian Curriculum Studies, 17(2), 67 – 79.

Ahn, C. & Leggo, C. (2019). Teachers in film: Always in process. The Canadian Journal of Education, 42(1), 117-137.

McKerracher, A., Sinner, A., Leggo, C., Hasbe-Ludt, E., Ahn, C., Rak, S. & Boschee, J. (2016). When is the Teacher? Reflections on social fiction, film, and life writing. Journal of Canadian Association for Curriculum Studies, 14(1), 92-107.

Accepted/Published Refereed Book Chapters

Peña, E., & Ahn, C. (2024). Patterns of reality. Routledge companion to moving histories. In M. Hughes-Warrington, K. Nelson, & M. E. M. Treacey (eds.) Routledge companion to moving histories (pp. 57-73). Routledge.

Ahn, C. & Peña, E. (2021). Reality as genre. In J. Ávila (ed.) Critical digital literacies: Boundary-crossing practices (pp. 13-34). Brill and Sense.

Other Publications

Balyasnikova, N. & Ahn, C. (2024 April 7). Embracing digital spaces against the odds: Older immigrants’ and the infodemic. The Conversation.

Ahn, C. (2021 January 19). Navigating an infodemic: Questions, considerations, and critical digital (visual) literacy education. School of Rubric.

Ahn, C. (2020 April 20). Engaging students in film analysis in ELA classrooms (and online!!). Facing History and Ourselves.

Ahn, C. (2019 February 4). How analyzing patterns helps students spot deceptive media. The Conversation.