Professor Cortina receiving the award in Mexico City
On Wednesday, September 27, 2023, Professor Regina Cortina in our International and Comparative Education program was recognized "for her transcendent contributions to Comparative Education and the defense of the rights of girls and women" at the IV Congress of the Sociedad Iberoamericana de Educación Comparada (SIBEC). The Congress took place at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), in Mexico City.
Professor Emerita Sylvia Schmelkes reflected on Professor Regina Cortina’s career before Dr. Cortina was presented with the award. Professor Schmelkes directed the Research Institute for the Development of Education at the Universidad Iberoamericana Mexico City from 2007 to 2013. She was the first president of the autonomous National Institute for the Evaluation of Education (INEE) from April 2013 to April 2017, and she continued as Advisor to the Governing Board of INEE until May 2019. She was Academic Vice-Rector of the Universidad Iberoamericana Mexico City 2019-2022.
As part of Professor Emerita Schmelkes’ award presentation speech, she emphasized how Professor Cortina is:
“A testimony of how, in educational research, one can be objective, one can be rigorous, but it is not possible to be neutral. Regina adopts a pedagogical-political stance that clearly focuses on the production of knowledge to promote greater social and epistemic justice based on a vision that values diversity and concern for inequity in education in our region. Her contribution to Comparative Education is located here since she has found a way to do Comparative Education with a vision from the south, committed to educational justice, and she has built a school around it”.
Picture of the award to Professor Cortina for her trajectory in International and Comparative Education 2023
During the award ceremony, Professor Cortina and attendees watched a video tribute that her students and advisees prepared as a surprise. Over years, these students have worked with Professor Cortina on a vast range of research topics and projects related to education, gender, Indigenous peoples, Latinx and Latin American students, and more. Those who participated in the video below were: Amanda Earl and Marcella Winter (PhD Candidates at Teachers College); Sara Pan Algarra (PhD Student at Teachers College); Izabella Souza (former Master’s student at Teachers College); and Dr. Romina Quezada, Dr. Lucía Caumont Stipanicic, Dr. Amlata Persaud, and Dr. Constanza Lafuente, who all received their PhD degrees from the International and Comparative Education program at Teachers College, Columbia University.
Thank You, Professor Cortina!
Upon receiving the award, Professor Cortina expressed her gratitude to her family, friends, and colleagues who have supported her along the way.
Congratulations, Professor Cortina!