Dr. Adam Wolfsdorf is an original founder and the Humanities Department Chair of Bay Ridge Preparatory, a progressive independent school in Brooklyn, NY. He is also on faculty at both NYU’s Steinhardt School of Education and Wesleyan University's Graduate Liberal Studies Program. Wolfsdorf completed his undergraduate degree in English at Harvard University, and his PhD in English Education at Columbia University and has published extensively in various academic and literary journals (The F. Scott Fitzgerald Review, Changing English, English Journal, English Education, etc.). Wolfsdorf published his first book, Navigating Trauma in the English Classroom (NCTE). Outside of the classroom, he has performed professionally for the past 25-years, appearing in the national tours of the Broadway musicals RENT (with Neil Patrick Harris) and Grease. He also fronted the nationally touring rock band, The Energy (MTV, NBC, ABC, and ESPN). Perhaps most importantly, Wolfsdorf is a proud husband to his psychologist wife, Inga Blom, and a devoted dad to his two sons, Dax and Jett.
Selected Publications
Books
- Wolfsdorf, A. (2026) Teaching in the Riptide: Anchoring Pedagogies for
Soulful Practitioners. Routledge. London, UK.
2. Wolfsdorf, A., Wedlock, K., Lo, Cassandra. (2022) Navigating Trauma in the
English Classroom. NCTE. Chicago, IL.
Journal Articles
1. Wolfsdorf, A., Ballou, D. (2023). “Racially Motivated: Navigating Conversations
Around Race in Predominantly White Classrooms.” Changing English. Forthcoming
issue.
2. Wolfsdorf, A., Porosoff, L. (2021). "Coping in the Classroom: Reconsidering the
Trigger Warning." NAIS.
3. Wolfsdorf, A. (2021). “Gazing at the Skull: Teaching Hamlet During the Pandemic
of 2020.” English Journal. Vol. 110, No. 5, June, 2021.
4. Wolfsdorf, A. (2020). “Mourning and Melancholia in the Great Gatsby.” The
Fitzgerald Review. Vol. 17, January, 2020.
5. Wolfsdorf, A., Scott, A., Herzog, S. (2019). “What Happened July 21st: An
Investigation of Trauma and Trigger Warnings in the English Classroom.” Changing
English, Vol. 26, Issue 2, June, 2018.
6. Wolfsdorf, A. (2018). “The Play Within a Play’s the Thing.” Changing English, Vol.
25, Issue 2, May, 2018, p. 198-207.
7. Wolfsdorf, A. (2018). “When It Comes to High School English, Let’s Put Away the
Trigger.” English Journal, Vol. 108, No. 1, September, 2018.
8. Wolfsdorf, A. (2017). “Reflecting on Functioning in Trigger Happy America.”
Changing English, Vol. 24, Issue 3, December, 2017, p. 299-318.
9. Wolfsdorf, A. (2017). “A History of Our Field.” Journal of English Education, Vol.
49, No. 3, April, 2017, p. 298-306.
Book Chapters
1. Wolfsdorf, A. (2022). “Depth Prevention: When Trauma Disrupts Deep Reading.”
Deep Reading: Teaching Reading in the Writing Classroom. Vol. 2. Editors:
Sullivan, Tinberg, and Blau. Peter Lang Publishing, Bern, Switzerland.
2. Wolfsdorf, A. (2021). “‘Conceit Upon Her Father’: An Unintentional Confrontation
With Grief and Hope in the English Classroom.” Humanizing Pathways of Grief:
Writing Hope in the Academy. Routledge Press, London, England.
3. Wolfsdorf, A., Lee Grayson, M. (2019). “Courageous Conversations in the Age of
the Trigger Warning,” From Disagreement to Discourse: A Chronicle of
Controversies in Schooling and Education. Information Age Publishing.
Literary Publications
1. Wolfsdorf, A. (2017). “Goodnight Sweet Prince: A Reflection on John Browne’s
Life.” Columbia Literary Journal.
2. Wolfsdorf, A. (2015). “Maxine’s Last Class.” Columbia Literary Journal.
3. Wolfsdorf, A. (2015). “Monday’s.” TC Public Space.
4. Wolfsdorf, A. (2014). “Black Coffee.” Columbia Literary Journal.