For the second consecutive year, a member of the Teachers College faculty will head the flagship organization for scholars and practitioners in comparative and international education. Gita Steiner-Khamsi, Professor of Education, will become President of the 1,300-member Comparative and International Education Society (CIES), taking over from Henry Levin, the William H. Kilpatrick Professor of Economics & Education, at the organization’s annual conference in March.

“It was a lucky coincidence, but TC is huge in this field,” Steiner-Khamsi said. “What I want to do as president is strengthen universities with smaller international education programs. International and comparative ed is a booming field. Everyone is hiring in our field, so I want to help the smaller programs that are just starting up.”

 

Last year, TC hosted the CIES annual conference. This year, it will be held in Charleston, South Carolina, from March 22 to 26. Steiner-Khamsi, who is an expert in international policy evaluation and has done work across Eastern Europe and Central Asia, said that given the increasing use of international comparisons to drive national policies, the theme of the conference this year will be “The Politics of Comparison.”

 

TC has a long history in the field. The world’s first course on comparative education was taught at Teachers College in 1899, and the field was shaped largely by scholars at the College during the early twentieth century.