Dr. Mindy Backus
Office: EB 111F
backus5@marshall.edu
304-696-2877
Dr. Mindy Backus is a professor in the Undergraduate Teacher Education department in the College of Education and Professional Development. She hopes to transfer the love of teaching to undergraduate students and to instill in them that every child deserves an excellent teacher. Dr. Backus teaches literacy courses in the undergraduate elementary education program as well as for secondary education students with a special education specialization. Dr. Backus works closely with local elementary schools and has a passion for animal therapy.
She began the MU PAWS therapy dog program at Marshall University and takes therapy dogs into local elementary schools and community organizations. Dr. Backus advises students on the career of teaching in and outside the classroom, sharing anecdotes of years in public education. Her love of teaching and her students is only rivaled by her love of pickleball.
Dr. Isaac Willis Larison
larison@marshall.edu
304-746-2051
Marshall University Literacy Education Program 100 Angus E. Peyton Drive South Charleston, WV 25303
Isaac Willis Larison, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor with the Literacy Education Program, Marshall University in South Charleston, West Virginia. His educational experience includes elementary, middle, and high school classroom teaching. He served as a Fulbright Scholar for one year in Norway and was the director of an international studies program in Denmark for 12 years. He is especially interested in the role children’s literature plays in literacy development and influence of multicultural and cross-cultural perspectives among children and teachers in schools. Dr. Larison has served on local, state, and national committees to promote literacy and children’s literature. He has presented at conferences around the world and is published in state, national, and international journals. His most recent research project examines the use of iPad technology to assist students with writing. He received a fellowship to study at the International Youth Library in Munich, Germany in 2017 and 2019.