Holly Golder

Education Specialist

Holly Golder is the Supervisor of Social Studies for the Red Clay School District in Wilmington, Delaware. It is her mission to create educational resources that allow all student identities to be represented in social studies instruction. 

Barry Joyce

Project Director

Barry Joyce is the Co-Coordinator of the History/Social Studies Secondary Education program at the University of Delaware. He received his Ph.D. in American History from the University of California, Riverside, in 1995. He has directed the Social Studies Secondary Education Program since his arrival at UD in 2000.  The National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) has continuosly ranked this program as one of the strongest in the nation.  He is currently organizing the Delaware Council for History Education, a new organization for Delaware teachers that is dedicated to creating a more inclusive curriculum and environment in Delaware schools.  As part of his work, Joyce regularly visits and observes in K-12 schools throughout the region during both fall and spring semesters.

His latest book is The First U.S. History Textbooks: Constructing and Disseminating the American Tale in the Nineteenth Century (Rowman and Littlefield). He is currently working on a project that investigates historical representations and perceptions of shared sacred space in the American Southwest. He teaches courses on the American West and Native American History in addition to offering various social studies educaaion, American History and World History courses.

Olivia Suchenec

Project Coordinator

I am so incredibly excited to be apart of this groundbreaking grant. I will serve as the tech coordinator but, I am equally invested to learn alongside you over the next 7 sessions. Indigenous civilizations have always been of high interest to me as an educator but also a student of history. Their voice, their story, is often missing from our current historical narrative.

Marisa Hockman

English Language Learning Specialist

Dr. Marisa Hockman has been an educator for nearly 20 years, working in both Delaware and Pennsylvania, and teaching ELA, ELL, and Literacy development at all K-12 and university levels.  Over the past 12 years, Marisa has been engaged in instructional coaching, supporting teachers of all content areas as they increase their efficacy around developing literacy of all students, especially with Multilingual Learners (MLLs). Currently the Elementary EL/ELA Literacy Instructional Specialist with the Indian River School District, Marisa has also supported teachers across the state of Delaware as a former coach with the University of Delaware’s Professional Development Center for Educators. Marisa has engaged in research related to teaching ELA, ELs, and teacher preparation for working with ELs. She has presented the results of her research at a several regional, national, and international conferences. 

Marisa joins the Indigenous and Latinx Delaware project with a firm commitment to representation of inclusive and diverse histories in Delaware’s classrooms. She feels strongly that our nation’s very foundation rests upon both the native and immigrant experiences and that both are worthy of further inquiry. Marisa holds great hope that a deeper understanding of Delaware’s native and immigrant peoples and histories will encourage a more unified community in our First State.