Annemarie Vaccaro

  • Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Affairs; Professor
  • Phone: 401.874.2270
  • Email: avaccaro@uri.edu
  • Office Location: Chafee Hall, Rm 217

Biography

Dr. Vaccaro (she/her/hers) strives to be an engaged educator whose teaching, research, and service are connected by a commitment to social justice and passion for inclusive praxis. She is also committed to being actively engaged in both the field of higher education and the URI community. Dr. Vaccaro has received numerous awards for her work including the NASPA 2018 Pillar of the Profession Award and 2017 George D. Kuh Award for Outstanding Contribution to Literature and Research.

Research

Dr. Vaccaro is a higher education scholar-practitioner, social justice educator, and critical researcher who uses interdisciplinary perspectives to inform her work. Her scholarship focuses on social justice in higher education. She has published extensively about the experiences of diverse college students, faculty, and staff. Inspired by a passion for socially just education, she has also published widely about educational praxis—where she delves deeply into how holistic and equitable higher education is designed, delivered, and evaluated. Her research scholarship has focused on: students with disabilities transitioning out of college, LGBTQ students in STEM fields, and teaching and learning praxis for graduate students.

Education

  • Ph.D., Higher Education Administration, University of Denver, 2005
  • M.A., Sociology, University of Denver, 2005
  • M.A., Student Affairs in Higher Education, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, 1996
  • B.A., Social Sciences and History, Castleton State College, 1994

Selected Publications

Vaccaro, A., Pepin, K, Hussein, A. H., Iula, S. C., Amelotte, W. K., Giacalone, M. D., & Perrelli, K. M. (2023). Tensions and Lessons Learned from an Intensive Community Based Evaluation of a Local Charter School. In R. Hos & B. Santos (Eds.). Co-Constructing and sustaining service learning in a doctoral program. IGI Global.

Jones, M.C., Forsythe, D., Friedensen, R., Vaccaro, A., Miller, R.A., Kimball, E. and Forester, R. (2023). Disrupting cisheteronormativity in STEM through humanism. Frontiers in Education, (8) 1154275.

Forsythe, D., Vaccaro, A., Jones, M. C., Friedenson, R., Miller, R., Kimball, E., & Forester, R., (2023). Negotiated involvement in STEM organizations by students with minoritized identities of sexuality and gender (MIoSG). Journal of Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering.

Jones, M. C., Vaccaro, A., Forsythe, D., Friedensen, R., Forester, R., Miller, R.A., & Kimball, E. W. (2022). Who are we to do this research?: Duoethnographic reflections on the insider/outsider paradox in queer research. In A. Duran, T.J. Jourian, R. A. Miller & J. Cisneros (Eds.). Queerness as doing in higher education: Narrating the insider/outsider paradox as LGBTQ+ scholars and practitioners. Routledge.

Vaccaro, A. & Newman, B. M. (2022). Sense of belonging: A theoretical overview. In G. Henning & E. Bentrim (Eds.), The impact of sense of belonging in college. Stylus.
Argus, S., Vaccaro, A., Coiro, J. Hos, R. & Deeney, T. (2022). Equitable teaching practices in higher education: Key insights from the literature. In S. Keengwe (Ed.), Handbook of research on social justice and equity in education (pp. 92-113). IGI Global.

Perrelli, K. M. & Vaccaro, A. (2022). “They go above and beyond”: Critical race counterstories about an “underperforming” high school. Whiteness and Education.

Jones, M. C., Vaccaro, A., Miller, R. A., Forester, R., Friedensen, R., Kimball, E. W., & Forsythe, D. (2021). Embodied literacies of sexuality and gender of college students. Journal of Language & Literacy Education, 17(2).

Vaccaro, A., Miller, R. A., Kimball, E. W., Forester, R., & Friedensen, R. (2021). Historicizing minoritized identities of sexuality and gender in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields: A grounded theory model. Journal of College Student Development, 62(3), 293-309.

Vaccaro, A., Baylor, C., Forsythe, D., Capobianco, K., Knibb, J., Olerio, J. (2020). “There’s a human being here”: A doctoral class uses duoethnography to explore invisibility, hypervisibility, and intersectionality. International Journal of Doctoral Studies (IJDS), 13, 637-652.

Download Curriculum Vitae (PDF)
ORCiD: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2046-588X
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/annemarie-vaccaro-58b449a7