Terry A. Osborn is an American academic who is Professor of Education at the University of South Florida and an authority in applied linguistics and interdisciplinary curriculum. He served fifteen years as a higher education administrator, including twice as Interim Chancellor, Vice Chancellor of Academic and Student Affairs, and was previously Dean of the College of Education at the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee. He advocated for the college regularly including through op-ed articles Osborn taught public school for six years. He was on the faculties of Fordham University, Queens College of City University of New York and the University of Connecticut.
Osborn researches and publishes in the areas of world language education. He was founding co-editor of Critical Inquiry in Language Studies: An International Journal currently published by Routledge. He is Executive Director of the Florida Association of Colleges for Teacher Education. He is editor of several academic book series in education.
Osborn has authored or edited a total of 84 publications throughout his career. His scholarly body of work includes 17 peer-reviewed books, 29 peer-reviewed book chapters, and 20 peer-reviewed journal articles, alongside 18 invited academic contributions. His research primarily focuses on foreign language education, critical pedagogy, social justice, and teacher education. His research has received a number of awards, including the American Educational Studies Association's Critic's Choice Award for his book, Critical Reflection and the Foreign Language Classroom. Osborn was awarded the Stephen Freeman Award by NECTFL for the best published article on foreign language teaching techniques. His work on teaching world languages for social justice has been described as seminal in the field. In 2022, Osborn was awarded the Distinguished Scholar and Lifetime Achievement in Language Studies by the International Society for Language Studies.
Osborn has been a featured expert or keynote speaker in over 29 venues, including The University of Texas, the University of Wisconsin, the University of Florida, the University of Georgia, Istanbul Technical University, Calvin College, Lee University, Rice University, Baylor University, Muhlenberg College, Pädagogische Hochschule Wienhttps://phwien.ac.at/, Vienna, Austria and Seoul National University.
Osborn was also a co-founder of the Christian Association for Survivors of Suicide Loss, a 501(c)3 charity offering a faith-based perspective for those who have lost a loved one to suicide.
Selected publications
Books (peer-reviewed) Osborn, T. A. (2000). Critical reflection and the foreign language classroom. In Henry A. Giroux, (Ed.), Critical Studies in Education and Culture Series. Bergin & Garvey. [Winner of the American Educational Studies Association Critics’ Choice Award 2001] Davis, J. F. & Osborn, T. A. (2002). The language teacher's portfolio: A guide for professional development. Praeger Publishing. Osborn, T. A., (Ed.). (2002). The future of foreign language education in the United States. Bergin & Garvey. Reagan, T. & Osborn, T. A. (2002). The foreign language educator in society: Toward a critical pedagogy. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Kaufman, D., Moss, D. M., & Osborn, T. A., (Eds.), (2003). Beyond the boundaries: A transdisciplinary approach to learning and teaching. Praeger Publishing. Osborn, T. A. (2005). Critical reflection and the foreign language classroom (Rev. ed.). Information Age Publishing. Osborn, T. A., (Ed.). (2005). Language and cultural diversity in U. S. schools: Democratic principles in action. Praeger Publishing. Osborn, T. A. (2006). Teaching world languages for social justice: A sourcebook of principles and practices. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Osborn, T. A., (Ed.). (2007). Language and cultural diversity in U. S. schools: Democratic principles in action (revised from Praeger version). Rowman & Littlefield Education. Smith, D. I., & Osborn, T. A., (Eds.). (2007). Spirituality, social justice, and language education. Information Age Publishing. Moss, D. M., Kaufman, D., & Osborn, T. A., (Eds.). (2008). Interdisciplinary education in an age of assessment. Routledge/Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Moss, D. M., & Osborn, T. A., (Eds.). (2010). Critical essays on resistance in education. In S. Steinberg, (Ed.), Counterpoints: Studies in the Postmodern Theory of Education series. Peter Lang Publishing. Reagan, T. & Osborn, T. A. (2021). World language education as critical pedagogy: The promise of social justice. Routledge. Osborn, T. A. (2021). Critical reflection and the foreign language classroom (20th anniversary ed.) Information Age Publishing. Reagan, T. & Osborn, T. A. (2021). The art and science of teaching: An introduction to education. Kendall Hunt. Bratkovich, M. & Osborn, T. A. (2023). Transdisciplinary research in language education: Reimagining pathways for equitable pedagogies. Teachers College Press. Reagan, T. & Osborn, T. A. (2025). Teaching world languages in middle and secondary schools: A critical introduction. Emerald Publishing.
Book chapters (peer-reviewed) Anderson, P. M. & Osborn, T. A. (2002). Responding to literature in the foreign language classroom: Aesthetic dimensions of fluency. In T. A. Osborn, (Ed.), The future of foreign language education in the United States (pp. 63-76). Bergin & Garvey. Gerwin, D. & Osborn, T. A. (2002). Challenging the monovocal narrative: Interdisciplinary units in the foreign language classroom. In T. A. Osborn, (Ed.), The future of foreign language education in the United States (pp. 77-91). Praeger. Osborn, T. A. (2002). Introduction. In T. A. Osborn, (Ed.), The future of foreign language education in the United States (pp. xiii-xvi). Bergin & Garvey. Kaufman, D., Moss, D. & Osborn, T. A. (2003). Where do we go when we step beyond the boundaries? In D. Kaufman, D. M. Moss, & T. A. Osborn, (Eds.), Beyond the boundaries: A transdisciplinary approach to learning and teaching (pp. 155-166). Praeger. Moss, D., Kaufman, D., & Osborn, T. A. (2003). Going beyond the boundaries. In D. Kaufman, D. M. Moss, & T. A. Osborn, (Eds.), Beyond the boundaries: A transdisciplinary approach to learning and teaching (pp. 1-12). Praeger. Osborn, T. A. (2003). Corpus disciplinae? Toward a critical prognosis for contemporary language teacher preparation. In G. Bräuer & K. Sanders, (Eds.), New visions in foreign and second language education (pp. 273-280). LARC Press. Osborn, T. A. (2003). Not so foreign languages: The critical inquiry approach to moving beyond disciplines. In D. Kaufman, D. M. Moss, & T. A. Osborn, (Eds.), Beyond the boundaries: A transdisciplinary approach to learning and teaching (pp. 33-46). Bergin & Garvey. Gerwin, D. & Osborn, T. A. (2005). What September 11th also teaches us. In T. A. Osborn, (Ed.), Language and cultural diversity in U. S. schools, 105-116. Praeger. Osborn, T. A. (2005). Foreign language education: It’s not just for conjugation anymore. In T. A. Osborn, (Ed.). Language and cultural diversity in U. S. schools (pp. 65-76). Praeger. Osborn, T. A. & Osborn, D. C. (2005). Participating in democracy means participating in schools. In T. A. Osborn, (Ed.). Language and cultural diversity in U.S. schools (pp. 1-4). Praeger. Osborn, T. A. (2007). Confronting the Zeitgeist: Social justice, the spirit of the people, and language education. In D. Smith & T. A. Osborn, (Eds.), Spirituality, social justice, and language education (pp. 3-11). Information Age Publishing. Kaufman, D., Moss, D. & Osborn, T. A. (2008). In praise of complexity: Moving interdisciplinary assessment in education from theory to practice. In D. M. Moss, T. A. Osborn, & D. Kaufman, (Eds.), Interdisciplinary education in an age of assessment 179-190. Routledge/Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Moss, D., Osborn, T. A., & Kaufman, D. (2008). The promise of interdisciplinarity. In D. M. Moss, T. A. Osborn, & D. Kaufman, (Eds.). Interdisciplinary education in an age of assessment, 1-6. Routledge/Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Osborn, T. A. (2008). Language learning as an interdisciplinary endeavor. In D. M. Moss, T. A. Osborn, & D. Kaufman, (Eds.). Interdisciplinary education in an age of assessment (pp. 107-118). Routledge/Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Osborn, T. A. (2009). Reconsidering Roadside Assistance: The problem with Christian approaches to teaching the English language. In M. S. Wong & S. Canagarajah, (Eds.), Christian and critical English language educators in dialogue: Pedagogical and ethical dilemmas (pp. 215-218). Routledge/Taylor & Francis. Moss, D. & Osborn, T. A. (2010). Introduction: Considering resistance. In D. Moss & T. A. Osborn, (Eds.), Critical essays on resistance in education (pp. 1-6). Peter Lang Publishing. Osborn, T. A. (2010). Planting the seeds of resistance: The times they have a-changed. In D. Moss & T. A. Osborn, (Eds.). Critical essays on resistance in education (pp.7-10). Peter Lang Publishing. Wagner, M. & Osborn, T. A. (2010). When worlds collide: Liberal arts and college of education faculty co-teaching the methods courses. In J. Davis, (Ed.). World language teacher education: Transitions and challenges in the 21st century (pp. 3-16). Information Age Publishing. Cammarata, L., Tedick, D. J., & Osborn, T. (2016). Curricular reforms and content-based instruction: Issues and goals. In L. Cammarata, (Ed.) Content-based foreign language teaching: Curriculum and pedagogy for developing advanced thinking and literacy skills (pp. 1-21). Routledge/Taylor Francis. Reagan, T. & Osborn, T. A. (2017). Reification of the English language and the hegemonic turn. In M. Djuraeva & V. Tochon, (Eds.). Language policy or the politics of language: Reimagining the role of language in a neoliberal society (pp. 281-308). Deep University Press. Reagan, T. & Osborn, T. A. (2019). Time for a paradigm shift in U.S. foreign language education? Revisiting rationales, evidence and outcomes. In D. Macedo, (Ed.). Decolonizing foreign language education (pp. 73-110). Routledge. Osborn, T. A. & Reagan, T. (2020). Critical pedagogy and social justice in world language education: Beyond Conscientização. In P Iida, T. Reagan, J. W. Schwieter, C. T. McGivern, & J. M. Ho, (Eds.) Readings in Language Studies, Critical Perspectives on Teaching, Learning, and Society (Volume 8, pp. 1-18). International Society for Language Studies. Osborn, T. (2023). Reflections on the power of professional unity: Florida’s FACTE and COVID Response. In D. Vyortkina, N. Collins, N., & T. Reagan, (Eds.) Keep calm, teach on: Education responding to a pandemic (pp. 135-140). Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing. Osborn, T. A. (2021). Interdisciplinarity and Language Education. In 서울대학교 국어교육연구소서울대학교 [Seoul National University Institute of Korean Language Education Seoul National University] (Eds.),융복합 시대, 자국어교육의 학문적 정체성[Convergence Age: The Academic Identity of Native Language Education] (pp. 437-447). Seoul National University. Osborn, T. A. (2022). "The World” language education: New frontiers for critical reflection. In Wassell, B. & Glynn, C., (Eds.), Pushing boundaries: Transforming world language teaching and teacher education for equity and justice (pp 123-137). Multilingual Matters. Osborn, T. A. (2023). Social Justice in World Language Education: Transdisciplinary Issues. In Bratkovich, M. & Osborn, T. A., (Eds.), Transdisciplinary research in language education (pp. 9-18). Teachers College Press. Osborn, T. A. & Bratkovich, M. (2023). Introduction. In Bratkovich, M. & Osborn, T. A., (Eds.), Transdisciplinary research in language education: Reimagining pathways for equitable pedagogies (pp. 1-8). Teachers College Press. Bratkovich, M. & Osborn, T. A. (2023). Conclusion. In Bratkovich, M. & Osborn, T. A., (Eds.), Transdisciplinary research in language education: Reimagining pathways for equitable pedagogies (pp. 129-130). Teachers College Press.