dconnor@hunter.cuny.edu
212 772-4746
909 West

Dr. Connor has worked in the field of education for two decades as a classroom teacher, tutor, teacher coach, regional professional development specialist, adjunct instructor, and full time professor. In his school teaching career, Dr. Connor taught all content areas to students with learning disabilities in resource room, self-contained, and inclusive classes. He worked for the New York State Special Education Training and Resource Center (SETRC) network, based in Manhattan, and was responsible for district-wide professional development in all areas of special and inclusive education.

Professor Connor received a B.A. with Honors in Literature and Film from the University of East Anglia in England; a M.S. in Special Education (Learning Disabilities) at Hunter College; a M.A. in Creative Writing and Literature from City College, New York; and an Ed.D. in Curriculum and Teaching (Learning Disabilities) from Teachers College, Columbia University.

Teaching

In the Learning Disabilities program, Dr. Connor variously teaches: Methods of Reading; Methods of Writing, Mathematics, & Organization; Practicum; and Content Literacy in Middle School Grades. He also coordinates the Learning Lab in which Hunter College students tutor struggling learners in grades one through six  two times per week. In addition, he teaches courses in Inclusive Education, and the Research Seminar.

Research

Dr. Connor’s research interests include social, cultural, and historical understandings of disability, learning disabilities, inclusive education, and kindergarten through college classroom pedagogy. He has written two books published by Peter Lang: Reading Resistance: Discourses of Exclusion in Desegregation and Inclusion Debates (co-authored with Beth A. Ferri), and Urban Narratives: Life at the Intersections of Learning Disability, Race, and Social Class. He is currently working with Jan Valle on a new book for McGraw-Hill, titled Inclusion and Disability Studies: A Matter of Philosophy, Practice, and Ethics. Professor Connor has published articles in a wide variety of journals including Teachers College Record, Journal of African-American History, Teaching Exceptional Children, Journal of Learning Disabilities, and Disability Studies Quarterly. 

Dr. Connor has won several awards including: the 2003 Teachers College President’s Grant for Student Research in Diversity; the 2005 Outstanding Junior Scholar Award in Disability Studies in Education; and the 2006 Emerging Scholar in Disabilities Studies in Education, awarded by the DSE/Special Interest Group of the American Education Research Association.