College of Education and Human Development

Department of Curriculum and Instruction

People

Marek Oziewicz

  • Pronouns: he/him

  • Department Chair
    Professor of Literacy Education
    Director of the Center for Climate Literacy
    Sidney and Marguerite Henry Professor of Children’s and Young Adult Literature

I study how stories shape our lives. My research focuses on the transformative power and cultural work of literature for young audiences, especially as used in the classrooms.

    DEGREES

    D.Litt. (University of Wroclaw, Poland)

    Ph.D. (University of Wroclaw, Poland)

      AREAS OF INTEREST

      Cultural work of story systems; literature for the young reader; Anthropocene literary studies; speculative fiction, especially fantasy; global and multicultural books; literature-based cognitive modeling for climate literacy, justice literacy, and global citizenship. 

        BIOGRAPHY
        Growing up in Communist Poland, I experienced the power of children’s literature to inspire visions of change, resilience in the face of oppression, and belief that a more just world is possible. This discovery drew me to comparative literature and the exploration of the cultural work of story systems. My particular interest is in how literatures for young people reflect, challenge, and impact larger cultural trends. I study about how stories shape the way we think and live.
         
        All of my work is about how literature empowers young people to reach their full potential so that they can respond to the challenges of the contemporary world in a holistic and ethical way. I study the transformative work of stories. Stories are humanity’s oldest technology for social transformation. Stories is how we learn, how we know, and how we care. Any progressive change must first be imagined as a story: stories become dreams, which become work, which becomes reality. I draw on cognitive literary studies, ecocriticism, literary criticism, psychology, linguistics, education, and other fields that shed light on processes that shape human understanding and actions. 
         
        I believe that our greatest challenge today is a transition to an ecological civilization. As Director of the Center for Climate Literacy, I advocate for leveraging literature in the service of universal climate literacy education to help accelerate a transition to a just, green, and regenerative future. I study how narratives assist young readers in the formation of global consciousness built on inclusiveness and equality. I advocate for narrative fiction as a tool for developing climate and justice literacy adequate to the current challenges. I also study global and multicultural literature as sites where we learn to appreciate difference and value diversity.
         
        My research, service, and engagement inform the courses I teach. Through hands-on projects I help students learn about the complex cultural work of stories on individual and collective levels: how the narratives we accept or challenge transform communities, societies, as well as individuals’ hearts and minds. 

         

        What students can expect of me

        I welcome graduate students who are interested in:
        • The cultural and work of children’s and young adult literature
        • Strategies for building young people's climate and justice literacies
        • Equity- and inclusion-oriented educational uses of global, diverse, and multicultural literatures for young people
        • Exploring Indigenous, feminist, and non-Western knowledges and story systems in young people’s literature and media

        Associations/Professional

        • Association for the Study of Literature and the Environment 
        • Children's Literature Association 
        • International Research Society for Children's Literature
        • The Mythopoeic Society
        • International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts
          AWARDS

          Faculty Contribution to Honors Education Award, University of Minnesota Honors Program, 2017

          Mythopoeic Society Scholarship Award in Myth and Fantasy Studies, the Mythopoeic Society, 2010 

          Fulbright Senior Research Award, the Fulbright Foundation, 2005

            PUBLICATIONS

            Oziewicz, M. (2025). Facts, Fictions, Doom and Gloom: Three Principles of Climate Literacy Communication and Pedagogies. Climate Literacy in Education 3.1: 38-44. DOI: https://doi.org/10.24926/cle.v3i1.6542  

            Oziewicz, M. (2025). The Gifts of Fiction at the Time of Climate Emergency. The Ecological Citizen 8.2: 174–9.

            Oziewicz, M. (2024). “Survival of the Richest? Exploring Climate Justice and Wealth Inequality with Geoff Rodkey’s We’re Not from Here.” ISLE: Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment, DOI: 10.1093/isle/isae025: 1-22.

            Oziewicz, M. (2024). “The Climate Literacy Revolution.” The Ecological Citizen 7.1. 16-23.

            Oziewicz, M. (2024). “Beyond the Accountability Paradox: Climate Guilt and the Systemic Drivers of Climate Change.” In Atkinson, J. and Ray S.J. (Eds.). The Existential Toolkit for Climate Justice Educators. U of California Press. 210-217. 

            Oziewicz, M. (2024). “Transformations of Wonder in the BBC Series Detectorists.” In Greenhill, P. and Orme, J. (Eds.). Just Wonder: Shifting Perspectives in Tradition. The UP of Colorado. 40-58.

            Oziewicz, M. and Kleese, N. (2024). “Teaching with the Climate Literacy Capabilities and Knowledges (CLiCK) Framework: Tips for Classroom Practice.” In Beach, R., Share, J., & Webb, A., (Eds.). Empowering Youth to Confront the Climate Crisis in English Language Arts. Teachers College Press and the National Writing Project. Pages TBA.

            Oziewicz, M. (2023). What Is Climate Literacy? Climate Literacy in Education 1.1: 34-38. DOI: https://doi.org/10.24926/cle.v1i1.5240 

            Oziewicz, M. (2023). The CLICK Framework, Climate Literacy in Education 1.2: 44-50. DOI: https://doi.org/10.24926/cle.v1i2.5438 

            Oziewicz, M. and Spicer, S. (2023). “We Are Nature Defending Itself: Universal Climate Literacy DIY with Youth Media Productions and Engagement.” In Beach, R. and Smith, B. Youth Created Media on the Climate Crisis. Routledge. 18-36.

            Oziewicz, M., Attebery, B., and Dědinová, T. Eds. (2022). Fantasy and Myth in the Anthropocene: Imagining Futures and Dreaming Hope in Literature and Media. Bloomsbury Academic. 272 p.

            Oziewicz, M. (2022). “ ‘It wasn’t us!’: Teaching about Ecocide and the Systemic Causes of Climate Change.” In Young, R. (Ed.). Literature as a Lens for Climate Change: Using Narratives to Prepare the Next Generation. Rowland and Littlefield. 19-51.

            Oziewicz, M. (2022). “Planetarianism NOW: On Anticipatory Imagination, Young People’s Literature, and Hope for the Planet.” In Paulsen, M., Jagodzinski, J. and Hawke, S.M. (Eds.). Pedagogy in the Anthropocene: Re-Wilding Education for a New Earth. Palgrave. 241-56. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-90980-2

            Oziewicz, M. and Saguisag, L. Eds. (2021). Children’s Literature and Climate Change. A special issue of The Lion and the Unicorn. 45.2. doi:10.1353/uni.2021.0011. 

            Oziewicz, M. (2019). “Truth-Telling, Trauma Fiction, and the Challenge of Critical Engagement A Reading of Breaking Stalin’s Nose and A Winter’s Day in 1939.” Children's Literature in Education 44.4, pp. 1-15.  DOI: 10.1007/s10583-019-09396-3.

            Oziewicz, M. (2018). “The Graphic Novel: Brian Selznick’s The Invention of Hugo Cabret, Wonderstruck, and The Marvels.” In Bland, J. (Ed.). Using Literature in English Language Education: Challenging Reading for 8-18 Year Olds. London, UK: Bloomsbury. 19-38.

            Oziewicz, M. (2017). “Speculative Fiction.” Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Literature. Web. DOI: 10.1093/acrefore/9780190201098.013.78. 

            Oziewicz, M. (2016). “Bloodlands Fiction: Cultural Trauma Politics and the Memory of Soviet Atrocities in Breaking Stalin’s Nose, A Winter’s Day in 1939 and Between Shades of Gray.” International Research in Children’s Literature 9.2, 146-61.

            Oziewicz, M. (2015). Justice in Young Adult Speculative Fiction: A Cognitive Reading. New York: Routledge. 

            Oziewicz, M. (2008). One Earth, One People: The Mythopoeic Fantasy Series of Ursula K. Le Guin, Lloyd Alexander, Madeleine L’Engle and Orson Scott Card. Jefferson, NC: McFarland.

             

            News Stories

            Minnesota Women’s Press: "U of M Center Helps K–12 Educators Teach Climate Change, One Story at a Time" – Jul 28, 2022

            Marek Oziewicz