About the Program Director:

Dr. Maureen Murphy, professor of Teaching, Literacy, and Leadership and former acting dean of Hofstra’s School of Education, Health, and Human Services, is a distinguished scholar and well-known authority in the areas of Irish folklore, Irish literature, Irish history, curriculum and instruction, and multicultural education. She has also successfully combined these areas in her efforts as director of the Great Irish Famine Curriculum, a program funded through a grant from the New York State Education Department. The curriculum received the 2002 Social Studies Program of Excellence Award from the National Council for the Social Studies. In 2010, Dr. Murphy received accolades for her work on the editorial board of the newly published Dictionary of Irish Biography, a collaborative project between Cambridge University Press and the Royal Irish Academy. Dr. Murphy was the only American to serve on the dictionary’s editorial board. The dictionary is considered the most comprehensive and authoritative biographical reference work available in both print and online for Ireland. In 2011, Dr. Murphy was further honored for her contributions to Irish studies by receiving an honorary Doctor of Letters by the National University of Ireland.

Faculty Spotlight:

Victor Jaccarino, who teaches a graduate methods course at Hofstra, has 44 years of teaching and administrative experience in English language arts. He is a past president of The New York State English Council and the Long Island Language Arts Council, and serves on the board of the Conference of Education Leadership of the National Council of Teachers of English. He is also a team leader for the New York State Education Department’s review of the Common Core Learning Standards. Currently, Dr. Jaccarino works with teachers and administrators on developing pedagogy and curriculum that aligns with the Common Core Learning Standards. He has presented on behalf of the Council for Economic Education, the Long Island Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, and at approximately 25 school districts on Long Island and in Westchester, NY.