Lynne Hamer, Ph.D.
Professor, Program Coordinator
Social and Philosophical Foundations of Education
Gillham Hall 5000-E
Mail Stop 921
419.530.7749
Education
Ph.D., Folklore Institute, Indiana University, 1995
Major: Folklore
Minor: American Studies
Dissertation: Building American History:
Mediating Performances in Classroom and Community
M.A. with Distinction, Folklore Institute, Indiana University, 1990
B.A. Magna Cum Laude, Hamline University, 1985
Major: English
Minor: Education
Honors Thesis: In Sight of Crow Butte
Stories from Northwestern Nebraska
Teaching Certification, Grades 7-12, English and Language Arts, Minnesota, 1986
Awards and Honors
- Multicultural Leadership Recognition Award, Office of Excellence and Multicultural Student Success, UToledo, 2014
- Edith Rathbun Award for Community Engagement, UToledo, 2013
- Alice H. Skeens Outstanding University Woman Award, UToledo, 2012
- Excellence in Service Award, JHCOEHSHS, UToledo, 2011
- University Outstanding Teaching Award, UToledo, 1999
Bio
Dr. Lynne Hamer is a Professor of Educational Theory and Social Foundations at the University of Toledo and holds a Ph.D. in Folklore from Indiana University. She uses folkloristic theory and methods to document and interpret community-based knowledge, and applies this research to develop culturally relevant pedagogical approaches, cultural competence and cultural humility and community-engaged learning focused on democracy. Dr. Hamer is passionate about recruiting, mentoring and supporting students from underrepresented minority groups in undergraduate programs as they prepare to become teachers, and in graduate programs as they develop into faculty members, administrators in higher education and leaders in other sectors of society. She specializes in using community engagement to teach democratic education, the process of schooling grounded in democratic philosophy, as well as education for democracy, which encompasses the knowledge, skills and dispositions necessary for a democratic society to function.
Research Focus Areas
Community-based knowledge, culturally relevant pedagogy, ideology, democratic education.
Current Research Projects
Hamer, L., Cox, J., and Joyner, T. (2026). ArtRithmatic. IRB-approved research project documenting fifth grade students’ engagement with and application of standards-based math through art projects designed to integrate math. Classroom observations in progress; book proposal under consideration.
Hamer, L. (2026). Learning Democracy through Community Engagement The I-475 and Charlie Kirk Act Projects. Curriculum development documenting and analyzing work in TSOC 3000. Unpublished manuscript in preparation for submission.
Hamer, L. (2026). Using the Three Perspectives of Social Foundations of Education (SFE) in the Era of Unshared Realities. Unpublished manuscript in preparation for submission.
Hamer, L. (2026). Ideology for Educators. Literature review project toward providing a guide for teachers to analyze and respond to charges of ideological teaching. Unpublished manuscript in preparation for submission.
Hamer, L. (2026). Toledo has done better because of you: US school history through the local lens. Research using archival and oral history sources to compose a history of schooling in Toledo suitable for introductory courses.
Outreach Projects/Community Engagement
Chair, Organizing Committee. (2026, Oct. 6). Ohio’s Proposed Charlie Kirk Act: A Panel Discussion on Teaching about Religion in P-12 Schools and Universities. Hosted by TSOC 3000 Schooling and Democratic Society; sponsored by Multifaith Council of Northwest Ohio, UToledo JHCASE Philosophy and Religious Studies Program, UToledo JHCASE Center for Non-Violence and Democratic Education, and UToledo JHCASE Program in Law and Social Thought. The University of Toledo.
Lead Organizer. (2024-present). TransParen(t)s Toledo. Monthly conversation and information for parents and grandparents of trans youth.
Lead Organizer. (2017-present). Our Time to Break Silence: An Annual Toledo Community Reading of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence. A community coalition of approximately 70 groups with the mission to be fully inclusive of all groups and individuals in Greater Toledo and Northwest Ohio seeking to realize civil rights and to improve and protect our community and world; build the movement to break silence, promote dialogue and engage in nonviolent direct action; and recognize the relevance of Dr. King’s words half a century later and continue to “Break the Silence” today.
Courses Taught
Undergraduate Courses
EDU 1700 Introduction to Education, and TSOC 3000 Schooling and Democratic Society
Graduate Courses
EDU 7000 Introduction to Doctoral Studies, TSOC 5/7230 Critical Responses to Deculturalization (formerly Intergroup and Intercultural Education), TSOC 5/7500 Anthropology and Education, TSOC 8960 Dissertation Research in Social Foundations of Education, HED 8960 Dissertation Research in Higher Education
