In the Spotlight

Isabella Bartels is a doctoral candidate in Curriculum and Teaching at Teachers College, Columbia University. She is a former high school ESL and English teacher in New York City public schools, and currently works as a research assistant and Speaker Series Coordinator at the Edmund W. Gordon Institute. In this role, Isabella has engaged her interests in critical theory and educational justice with a widespread community. Isabella’s current dissertation research, working with Dr. Ezekiel Dixon‑Roman, puts to work theories of desire, discomfort, and memory toward more imaginative possibilities in curriculum and pedagogy. Her research interests make use of affect theory and posthumanism alongside classroom pedagogy, curriculum studies, and teacher-student relationships. Isabella holds an M.A. in Curriculum and Teaching from Teachers College and a B.A. from the College of William and Mary in Secondary Education and English.

Natacha Robert is a doctoral student in the Curriculum and Teaching program at Teachers College, Columbia University. She is currently working as a Zankel Fellow Supervisor with the Youth Historians in Harlem, collaborating with fellows and teachers at Wadleigh High school to bring Black and Latine educational activism history into the classroom. She is also continuing her research and Land curriculum development with the Lenape people of New York and New Jersey. Additionally, she is working alongside Dr. Naraian and Dr. Pizmony-Levy on a research project on Sustainable Multi-Species Futures. Her research interests are in African-centered education, culturally relevant education, decolonization, and multimodal methods. Natacha is currently developing research on curriculum collaboration between families and independent African centered institutions. She is also developing research on the intersection of African-centered education, African youth civic identity formation, and indigenous land/ecological education. Being a fellow at the Edmund W. Gordon Institute means engaging in collaborative work with the local Harlem community and schools to address issues of educational equity in urban education and highlighting hidden histories. Natacha holds an M.Ed. and B.A. from Pace University.

Lucy Zhang is a doctoral student in the Curriculum and Teaching program at Teachers College, Columbia University, and is currently working as a doctoral research fellow with Dr. Ezekiel Dixon-Román and Dr. Nicole Sansone Ruiz on their Spencer-funded project, AI and Black Youth. Her research interests are in philosophy of technology, AI ethics, and critical data studies. Lucy is currently developing research on the emerging technopolitics of urban AI exemplified in smart cities and smart schools in the U.S., U.K., and China. Her work investigates how large-scale data infrastructures and recursive systems are reshaping educational policy and governance along racial imaginaries. Being a fellow at the Edmund W. Gordon Institute means engaging in collaborative dialogue around important educational issues in urban education, critical theory, and social justice. Lucy holds a M.Phil. from the University of Cambridge and a B.A. from University College London.

Alicia Chatterjee is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Edmund W. Gordon Institute for Advanced Study at Teachers College, Columbia University. Her research critically explores the histories and afterlives of mental health care, drawing together comparative race studies, psychoanalysis, and disability studies. Grounded in decolonial methodology and historical analysis, her current book manuscript traces the emergence of clinical social work in the United States alongside global histories of race, revealing its deep entanglements with racial dispossession. In addition to this work, Alicia investigates how trauma, therapy, and healing are shaped by technology under contemporary racial capitalism. As a Fellow at the Gordon Institute, she is excited to deepen her engagement with the intersections of race, education, and the clinic. She is currently a member of the team working on the AI and Black Youth project. Alicia holds a Ph.D. in Social Welfare from the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Social Policy and Practice.

Nasriah Morrison is a postdoctoral fellow working with Drs. Erica Walker and Lalitha Vasudevan on their Storytelling for Mathematics project, which explored the use of mathematicians’ digital stories in mathematics learning spaces as a means of promoting students’ mathematics learning and engagement. She completed her Ph.D. in mathematics education at Teachers College, Columbia University, where she currently teaches courses in multiculturalism and policy in mathematics education. For over a decade prior, she taught middle and high school mathematics in the New York City public school system. Her research interests include the development of positive mathematics identities that are rooted in broad conceptions of mathematics among students belonging to historically excluded racial and ethnic groups, and how integrating racially expansive histories throughout mathematics curricula may contribute to this development. Nasriah also holds an M.A. and M.Phil. from Teachers College and a B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley.

Ezekiel Dixon-Román was appointed Senior Advisor to the President of the Spencer Foundation on two initiatives: (1) Tools and Strategies for Transformative Research: Quantitative Focus; and (2) AI and Education.

Mark Gooden was inducted into the AERA Fellows Program. This program honors education researchers with substantial research accomplishments, to convey the Association’s commitment to excellence in research, and to enable the next generation of emerging scholars to appreciate the value of sustained achievements in research and the breadth of scholarship worthy of recognition.

Felicia Mensah was awarded the NARST Fellowship as a result of her leadership within the National Association for Research in Science Teaching (NARST), including her role as immediate-past Co‑Editor of the Journal of Research in Science Teaching, and serving on the JRST Advisory Board, reflects her dedication to inclusive, highimpact scholarship. Dr. Mensah’s exemplary service, mentorship, and scholarship make her a respected leader and advocate for equitable science education worldwide. Dr. Mensah also received the Urban Education’s annual Kofi Lomotey Outstanding Reviewer Award. This award recognizes a reviewer, outside of the Urban Education board, for exemplary service to the journal over the academic year.

Sonali Rajan was named Senior Research Director of Everytown Research, the national research arm of Everytown for Gun Safety, an organization that conducts independent, methodologically rigorous, and interdisciplinary research on gun violence across the nation, working to identify the best policies, interventions, and resources to prevent and meaningfully address gun violence across the U.S., through evidencebased solutions.

Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz has been elected as a Member-at-Large on the AERA Council, for which she will serve a three-year term.

Rachel Talbert has been awarded the National Academy of Education/ Spencer Postdoctoral Fellowship, during which she will investigate the implementation of the curriculum developed with Lenape Center.