English

The McBride Teacher-Scholar Award honors Bill McBride, who taught for 45 years in Colorado schools, including Manzanola, Poudre and Fort Collins High Schools, and Colorado State University. Established when he retired in 1998, the endowment continues Bill’s legacy of ensuring quality English Language Arts teachers for secondary schools.

Thanks to the generous support of the McBride Endowment, the CSU English Education program is able to provide awards to area teachers every year.

The recipient(s) of the award shall be participating in classes, workshops, the CSU Writing Project, or other offerings by the Department of English at Colorado State University. Recipient(s) must meet the selectivity requirements of the respective professional development activity.

Preference shall be given to a participant who is a teacher of English language arts in a public school. Current teachers of other subjects and prospective teachers of English language arts who have only student teaching left to complete may also apply. Applicants who self-identify as members of marginalized populations are strongly encouraged to apply.

The award covers tuition for one 3-credit, graduate-level English course at CSU. Candidates can reapply for future semesters.The application deadline for Spring 2026 is November 15, 2025.

We offer graduate-level English courses in the late afternoons (starting at 4pm or later) once per week.

Spring 2026

E632 – Professional Concerns in English Education: Critical Approaches to Diverse Young Adult Literature | 3 credits | 5:00 - 7:30 PM | M | Ricki Ginsberg

This course engages students in the study of some of the most controversial and frequently censored critical theories and diverse young adult texts. Moving beyond traditional literary criticism, we will explore frameworks such as critical race theory, queer theory, postcolonial theory, and other theories that challenge dominant narratives and power structures. Students will be offered choices in the young adult texts that they will read in this course, and assignments will be adaptable to reflect each students’ own interests, communities, and goals. Through student-centered pedagogical approaches, this course fosters a collaborative learning environment that values multiple ways of knowing and being. Assessments will also prioritize student choice, allowing for deep integration of course content into each student’s academic, creative, and professional goals. Local teachers not enrolled at CSU are welcomed to enroll in the course, and students from all programs are enthusiastically invited.