Philosophy and Education
Teachers College, Columbia University
Teachers College
Columbia University

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Student Profiles

Adam Alexander

In 2010, Adam graduated from Viterbo, a small private college in Wisconsin. It was colder there than here, but it was also warmer. Little requirement for academic rigor allowed him to take many classes and accumulate many interests in five undergraduate years. His best education and consequently his interests have focused around continental philosophy. He's excited about playing with thoughts of Dewey, Hegel, Husserl, Nietzsche, Freud, and Lacan. The philosophy and education program's largest attractions are the centrality of Dewey and a space for creative application of philosophical theory.

Rodino F. Anderson

Rodino F. Anderson is currently teaching in the Education Department at Bowdoin College as a Pre-dissertation Fellow (2006-2007) and is a Ph.D. student in the program. He is interested in the appropriation of German Romanticism by early American pragmatic educational thinkers. He joined the Philosophy and Education Program after three years as a high school mathematics teacher.
David Backer

David Backer is a PhD student in the program. Before coming to Teachers College, he taught high school for five years in Quito, Ecuador and Washington, DC. David is interested in the philosophy and practice of discussion pedagogy.
Ken Baxer

Ken Baxer is an Ed.M. student in the program.  Before attending Teachers College, he graduated from Soka University of America with a B.A. in Liberal Arts.  He is interested in the role philosophy has in the educational experience, specifically regarding how value is learned to be created by the student.

Holly Brewster

Holly is a PhD student in the Philosophy and Education program at Teachers College.  She is interested in moral and civic education, the role of the teacher in educating for social justice, and the implications for education of feminist and post-colonial epistemology.  Before coming to Teachers College, Holly taught high school math and
physics and completed an M.Ed. in Leadership and Policy Studies at the University of Washington.
Roberto Cavallari-Filho

Roberto Cavallari-Filho is a PhD Student in the Program. He is interested in the remaining possibilities for educative experience in XXI Century society, but also in the creation of new ones. Before coming to Teachers College, he attained a Baccalaureate and Specialization Degree in Business Administration at Universidade Euripides, and a Master's Degree in Education at Universidade Estadual Paulista, both in Brazil. He is a Fulbright/CAPES scholarship Grant recipient. He is the founder of Poiesis Publishing House, an organization interested in promulgating American Philosophy in Brazil.

Patrick Comstock

Patrick Comstock is a PhD student in the program.  Before coming to Teachers college, he earned an AB in religion from the College of William and Mary, and MS in education from Pace University, and an MTS from the Divinity School at Harvard University.  Patrick is interested in character education and virtue, philosophy of science, and philosophy of religion.

Charlie Doar

Charlie Doar is currently a teacher and coach at an independent school in He is interested in how best to engage and prepare students through merging traditional and progressive educational approaches.  He graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 2007 with a B.A. in American Studies.
John Fantuzzo

John Fantuzzo is a PhD student in the program.  He is interested in the imagination's role in social and political action; the philosophical dimensions of psychological resiliency research; and the presence of organized debate in prisons.  Before coming to Teachers College, he taught high school English in Southeast Washington, D.C. Prior to this, he received an MA in philosophy and social policy from American University and a BA in philosophy from Gordon College. 
Kelsey Finkel

Kelsey Finkel is an MA student in the program.  Before coming to Teachers College, she earned a BA in English from Columbia College and worked for one year at Absolute Return for Kids.
Erin Forman

Erin Forman is an M.A. student in the program.  She is interested in educational psychology and studying how educational policies and teacher-student dynamics propel or impede learning systems.  Before coming to Teachers College, she earned her B.A. from Washington University in St. Louis. 
Cara Furman

Cara Furman is a PhD student in the program.  She currently teaches pre-service teachers in Curriculum and Teaching at Teachers College and literacy and Long Island University.  She is interested in developing inclusive communities within schools, helping teachers connect philosophy with practice, implementing narrative assessments that focus on using students' strengths to further instruction, and the role of storytelling in classrooms.  Before coming to Teachers College, she taught elementary school at a progressive public school.  She earned her masters in elementary education at Teachers College.

Greta F.

Greta is a M.A. student in the program. Before coming to Teachers College Greta graduated with her B.A. in Philosophy from Fordham University. She is particularly interested in the study of ethics.
Ana Cecilia Gallindo Diego

Ana Cecilia was born in Mexico City. She earned her BA in Education at Universidad Panamericana in her native country. During her baccalaureate she taught ESL at a private school and assisted the director of publications at her alma mater. She first came to New York in 2009 to pursue an MA in Philosophy and Education at Teachers College Columbia University. After successfully graduating in Spring 2010, Ana Cecilia went back home to teach as an adjunct professor of Philosophy at Universidad Panamericana and Universidad Iberoamericana. Currently, she is back at Teachers College enrolled in the Ph.D. program of Philosophy and Education. Her interests include Existentialist Pedagogy and Moral Philosophy. She is especially fascinated by the student-teacher relationship.

Nicole Giambalvo

Nicole Giambalvo is an MA student in the program.  Prior to coming to Teachers College, she earned a BA in philosophy and studio art from Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, MA. Throughout her time as an undergraduate, she facilitated philosophy for children discussions at several elementary schools.  In addition to her interest in philosophy for children, she is interested in aesthetics, feminist philosophy and exploring the ways that alternative schools enable students to construct their identities.

Dennis Graham

Dennis is an M.A. student in the program.  He is interested in rebuilding communities in decline through public school systems that recognize social studies education as the foundation for instruction in math, science, and language arts by organizing their curriculum and pedagogy around the idea of "citizenship" so that students - and teachers - will be more apt to take responsibility for their actions, participate in their communities, and reflect on the meaning of social justice.  Dennis graduated from the Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University with a B.S. in international affairs and a certificate in justice & peace studies, and he earned certification as an ESL teacher from the Via Lingua Language school in Barcelona, Spain, before accepting teaching positions in Indonesia, South Korea, and Las Vegas.  He is focused on becoming a social studies teacher in New Jersey.

Alex Hunley

Alex Hunley is a PhD student in the program.  Before coming to Teachers College, he worked as a tutor in K-12 and college settings.  His interests include the relationship between ethics and aesthetics, early childhood language acquisition, ancient Greek philosophy, and Wittgenstein.

Timothy Ignaffo

Timothy Ignaffo is currently the Program Manager/Field Coordinator for the Early Childhood Education program at Teachers College, as well as a PhD student in the program.  He is also involved in the Columbia University Philosophy Outreach.  Before coming to TC, he taught English Language Arts at a small high school in East Harlem, NY.  He earned his B.A. from the University of Scranton.

Carmen James

Carmen James is a Ph.D. student in the Philosophy and Education program at TeachersCollege, Columbia.  Her Masters thesis title, completed in 2011 in the same program, is "Imagination: A Practice of Attentiveness for Building Understanding." She is interested in philosophy of education (specifically the teaching of philosophy not only as a tool box but as a way of life), aesthetic philosophy, moral philosophy and strategies for incorporating a curriculum of aesthetics and ethics in schools. She has experience teaching at the elementary level, as a full time Kindergartners and First Grade teacher along with part time at other ages, and she has explored questions of culture, education and urban identity abroad, most recently in 2011 working with a grant from ILAS, Columbia Univeristy in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She graduated with an A.B. in Comparative Literature from Harvard University where her Senior Thesis was titled "The Poet and the City." 

Dan Kramarsky
 
Dan Kramasky is currently Dean of Students at the Lycee Francais de New York  and an Ed.D. student in the program. He is interested in the ethical foundations of schooling and how those foundations have slowly evolved into the current set of purposes which inform K-12 education. Before coming to Teachers College, Dan was a middle school teacher and Dean at the Dalton  School  and a high school teacher and Dean at Brooklyn  Friends  School, both in New York City.
Jung Kyung Hwa

Kyung Hwa (Alice) is a Ph.D. student in the program. She is interested in moral education and the formation of educational community. Before coming to Teachers College, Kyung Hwa obtained a B.A. in Mathematics Education, from Korea University, a B.A. in Education, Sookmyung Women's University, and a M.A. in Philosophy of Education and Curriculum Studies, Sookmyung Women's University. She was a volunteer teacher in Youndong Night School and a peace education teacher of Okedongmu Children.

Ruaridh MacLeod

Ruaridh MacLeod is a PhD student in the program. He is interested in the technologies operant in the formation of the self, with a particular emphasis on Foucault's analyses of the ancient Greek practices related to the care of the self as found in the Stoic and Epicurean academies. Before coming to the US, Ruaridh taught Philosophy and English Literature in the UK, studied Psychoanalytic Developmental Psychology at University College London, and worked as a mentor to vulnerable adults in the London Borough of Southwark. He has a BA (Hons) in Philosophy from the University of Durham, and an MA (Distinction) in Continental Philosophy from the University of Warwick, UK. He intends eventually to train as a psychoanalyst.

Yoshi Nakazawa

Yoshiaki Nakazawa is a Ph.D. student in the program. He has a BA in philosophy and English Literature from Seattle Pacific University. And he taught at a public middle school in Japan for a year before joining the program here. He is interested in the differences between the three major schools of Hellenistic thought in antiquity with respect to ethical/moral development. To this end, he is studying Ancient Greek and would welcome anybody who would like to join him in this difficult pursuit.
Kiera Nieuwejaar

Kiera Nieuwejaar is a Ph.D. student in the Program. She is interested in the psychological aspects of educational philosophy, and in the role that educational philosophy can play beyond formal schooling. Currently, she is researching the educational theory of Jane Addams. Before coming to Teachers College, Kiera was a preschool teacher; she has also worked as a behavioral therapist with autistic children.
Gonzalo Obelleiro

Gonzalo Obelleiro is graphic and web designer for EdLab, a research, design, and development unit at Teachers College, Columbia University and a Ph.D. student in the program. He is interested in liberal education as human education, particularly as that concept developed within the Buddhist tradition of moral education. Before coming to Teachers College, Gonzalo attended the School of Architecture, Design and Urban Planning of the University of Buenos Aires where he studied graphic design; later he moved to California  to join the first graduating class of Soka University of America, Aliso Viejo, where he obtained his B.A. in Liberal Arts.
Dror Post

Dror Post is currently a facilitator at "Project Tolerance", a dialogue group on topics of the Middle East and Cross Cultural understanding at Columbia University, and a Ph.D. student in the program. He is interested in Philosophy of Education and Ancient Philosophy. Currently, he is working on the concept of hope and its role in education, and on the internal link between love and competition and its implications for education. Before coming to Teachers College, Dror received his B.A. and M.A. (summa cum laude) in Philosophy from Tel Aviv University, where he taught undergraduate philosophy courses.
Yibing Quek

Yibing Quek is an M.A. student in the program. Before coming to Teachers College, she graduated from Cambridge University with a Bachelor's Degree in Biochemistry. She had experiences teaching high school science, working at an autism children's center and interning at the Ministry of Education in Singapore where she is originally from. She is interested in finding out if the philosophical way of thinking could complement the scientific mind."

Matthew Rowe

Matthew Rowe is an EdM student in the Philosophy and Education department, also studying in the Teaching Physics grades (7-12) MA program. He graduated Carnegie Mellon University with a Bachelors of Science double majoring in Physics and Philosophy. His current interests are in studying Heidegger, Phenomenology, and creating a Language therapy through these schools of thought, as well as through the work of Nietzsche. He loves biking, exotic beers, and of course anything having to do with philosophy. He is currently a computer teacher at a French school, but has taught Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Philosophy courses as well throughout the past two years at various schools and institutions.
Alyssa Samson

Alyssa Samson is an M.A. student in the program.  She graduated from the University of Vermont with a B.A. in English and a B.S. in Secondary Education.  Her undergraduate thesis work focused on reader's displacement within a literary experience, focusing on contemporary author Paul Aster.  She hopes to apply this concept of displacement to current policy as it affects both students and educators.  She has participated on various panels and judged the Vermont Competition for Excellence in Writing.  Currently she is work with a UVM professor on a publication pertaining to Emanuel Levinas and the Hebraic Bible.  She has also worked as a residential counselor, working working with children who have both emotional and behavioral disturbance as a result of trauma history.
Michael Schapira

Michael Schapira is a Ph.D. student in the program.He is interested in the relationship between moral and civic education, and the school setting conditioned by urbanization and technological advances.Before coming to Teachers College, Michael received a B.A. in Philosophy from the University of Oregon and a M.A. in Culture, Values and Education from McGill University.
Marguerite Spyreas

Marguerite Spyreas is an MA student in the program.  Prior to coming to Teachers College, she earned a BA in philosophy from St John's University and taught English at a kindergarten in Italy.  She is interested in exploring the connection between philosophy and education.
Adam Valenstein

Adam Valenstein is an EdM student in the program. His interests include: ethics and knowledge with respect to teacher authority and the teaching of philosophy at all age levels.  Before arriviing at Teachers College, Adam earned a B.A. in Philosophy and an M.A. in Liberal Studies from Columbia University.

Brian Veprek

Brian Veprek is a Ph.D. student in the program. He is interested in the nature of human autonomy and what, if anything, a teacher can do to help students attain it.  Before coming to Teachers College, Brian taught theatre arts, English, history, and Latin in in public and private schools both in America and abroad.  He earned a B.A. in Theatre Arts from Boston College and an Ed.M. in Learning and Teaching from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Oriel Whyte

Forthcoming

Alice Yang

Alice is a MA student in the program. Before joining Teacher's College, she studied English, History, Psychology, and Education at Columbia University. She is particularly interested in teaching the interdisciplinary and aesthetic education for high school students.

Kazuaki Yoda

Kazuaki Yoda is a Ph.D. student in the program. He is interested in Ancient Philosophy. Before coming to Teachers College, Kazuaki graduated with a M.A. in Philosophy from Boston University. He has a B.A. and M.A. in Physics from the International Christian University in Japan.