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Scholars Head to Philly for AERA 2024

April 8, 2024
By Julie Deardorff

love-480.jpgMore than 75 Northwestern University School of Education and Social Policy scholars and alumni are participating in the American Educational Research Association’s annual meeting in Philadelphia from April 11 to 14, 2024.

The world’s largest education research conference, organized around the theme “Dismantling Racial Injustice and Constructing Educational Possibilities: A Call to Action, offers more than 2,500 sessions, including 38 presidential events, giving scholars a chance to discuss, debate, and network in a town known for Cheesesteaks and Brotherly Love.

Columbia University’s Kimberlé W. Crenshaw, a pioneering scholar and writer who coined the term “intersectionality” to describe the double bind of simultaneous racial and gender prejudice, will deliver the opening keynote on Thursday, April 11.

View all School of Education and Social Policy presenters and participants.

Other highlights:

  • Jones Lecture: James Spillane, the Spencer T. and Ann W. Olin Professor in Learning and Organizational Change, will deliver the Helen DeVitt Jones Lecture in Teacher Education. In his talk, “Re-Imagining Teacher Professional Learning” Spillane will explain why marshaling and mobilizing essential resources for teaching and teacher learning are a systemwide challenge. Saturday, April 13 at 2:30 p.m. at the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown, Floor: Level 5, Salon D
  • Don't Miss: Shirin Vossoughi is participating in a Presidential Session honoring the life and work of Mike Rose, a research professor at the UCLA School of Education and Information Studies who devoted his life to building a democratic education for all youth. Vossoughi is currently teaching a graduate class with 26 students across both human development and social policy and learning sciences based on his UCLA course. The session, on Friday, April 12 at 3:05 p.m., is titled "Scholarship That Befits a Democracy: Disrupting Educational Inequality Through the Scholarship of Mike Rose."
  • Presidential Sessions: Megan Bang, professor of learning sciences, is a panelist in "Intersectional Organizing, Solidarity-Building, and Educational Justice: A Town Hall Conversation with Scholars and Community Organizers" on Friday, April 12 at 4:55 p.m. Carol Lee, professor emerita and president of the National Academy of Education, will be at “The 27th Conversations with Senior Scholars on Advancing Research and Professional Development Related to Black Education” on Saturday, April 13 at 3:05 p.m.
  • New AERA fellows: Bang and Elizabeth Tipton, who holds a courtesy appointment in the School of Education and Social Policy, will be inducted as 2024 AERA Fellows during the annual meeting.
  • Brayboy Joins AERA Board: Carlos Montezuma Professor and Dean Bryan Brayboy was elected to the American Educational Research Association's council and executive board. At AERA, he’ll be involved in discussions around opportunities for federal research funding, research-policy collaborations for climate education and findings from a study of Indigenous-language immersion schooling.
  • Undergraduate presentation: Spencer Cook, who is studying social policy and legal studies, is presenting at the undergrad student education research training workshop. Theh paper, a case study on bridging research and practice in rural areas using a scientific learning community, stems from his work as a research assistant with the (Cynthia) Coburn Lab and as a summer fellow at the Institute for Policy Research. He’s also participating in the Undergraduate Poster Session. “I can't think of a better capstone event for my academic journey here at Northwestern,” he said.
  • Dissertation recognition: Angel Bohannon (PhD23) a research scientist at NORC at the University of Chicago, was runner-up for the 2023 LSI SIG Dissertation of the Year Award. She also coauthored “Hidden in Plain Sight: Theorizing Latent Use as a Form of Research Use” with Cynthia Coburn and James Spillane. It was published in the American Educational Research Journal.
  • Clark Graduate Seminar: Andrew Stein and Karla Thomas were selected for the David L. Clark Graduate Seminar in Educational Leadership & Policy Studies at the annual meeting.
  • Graduate students at AERA: Lara Altman, Jennifer Cowhy, Claire Mackevicius, Melanie Muskin, Andrew Stein and Karla Thomas from the Human Development and Social Policy program; Bradley Davey, Teyona James Harris, Charles Logan, Jessica Marshall, Miguel Angel Ovies-bocanegra, and Topham Taylor from the Learning Sciences program; Stephanie Jones, Khushbu Kshirsagar, Nicholas Lagrassa, and Natalie Melo from the Computer Science + Learning Sciences doctoral program.
  • Alumni participants: Eleanor Anderson, University of Pittsburgh; Megan Bang, Northwestern; Sugat Dabholkar, Tufts University; Ravit Golan Duncan Rutgers; Cassandra Hart, University of California-Davis; Victor Lee Stanford University; Mollie McQuillan, University of Wisconsin Madison; Heather McCambly, University of Pittsburgh; Meixi, University of Minnesota; Julissa Muñiz, University of California Santa Cruz; Kalonji Nzinga, University of Colorado-Boulder; Nichole Pinkard, Northwestern; Aireale Joi Rodgers, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Abigail Stein, Carnegie Melon University; Carrie Tzou, University of Washington-Bothell; Elizabeth van Es, University of California, Irvine; Samantha Viano, George Mason University; and Cora Wigger, Elon University.
  • Mingle with Colleagues! The SESP community AERA reception will be April 11 at 6:30 p.m. at The Morris. RSVP here.
  • Philly Cheesesteak v. Chicago Hot Dog? Dean Brayboy hasn’t yet had a Chicago dog (!) so he is going with “a Geno’s cheesesteak. “Only by omission,” he says diplomatically. “I’m cool with Pat’s (King of Steaks) cheesesteaks as well.”
  • Spread the word on social. If you're still on X, tell us what you're learning at the conference. Use the hashtags #AERA2024 and #SESPLove.