Avi Mintz is currently an Assistant Professor at the University of Tulsa's School of Education. He received his Ph.D. from the Philosophy and Education program at Teachers College, Columbia University. His dissertation, "The Labor of Learning: A Study of the Role of Pain in Education," explores the productive role of pain in learning. His main research interest is the history of educational philosophy, particularly in the Socratic dialogues. He is also currently researching theories of social justice education and is in the early stages of a collaborative project about religious schooling in Canada. Among his publications are "Understanding Evil and Educating Heroes: A Review Article," in Journal of Philosophy of Education, 42:1 (Feb. 2008), : 185-196; "The Midwife as Matchmaker: Socrates and Relational Pedagogy," in Philosophy of Education Yearbook 2007, pp. 91-99; and "From Grade School to Law School: Socrates' Legacy in Education," in A Companion to Socrates, Eds. Rachana Kamtekar and Sara Rappe, (Malden, MA; Oxford: Blackwell Publishing Ltd., 2006), pp. 476-492.

"The Philosophy and Education Program provides a wonderful opportunity for students to conceive of education broadly -- not only as teaching and learning in K-12 education but as human cultivation and growth. Because of this broad definition, the program presents unique opportunities for students to study historical conversations about education. At Teachers College, I studied, for example, Plato, Aristotle, Kant, Rousseau, Hegel and Nietzsche. For five years, I had the pleasure of being a part of an intellectual community in which careful analysis of texts took place among passionate debate about educational ideas. I am extremely grateful for my experience in the Philosophy and Education Program and I believe that it has prepared me well to embark on a career as a scholar of education."