Yaa Oparebea Ampofo, Assistant Professor of Teaching in the Sustainability and Education Program, works across environmental and sustainability education, education policy, and the anthropology of socio-ecological change, exploring how education can better support human and planetary well-being. She is particularly interested in foregrounding young people’s learning, livelihoods, and futures in how education systems understand and respond to socio-ecological crises.
Ampofo received her doctorate from the Department of Educational Policy Studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 2026. Her dissertation, funded by the Wenner-Gren Foundation and the NAED/Spencer Foundation, explored how Ghanaian youth conceptualize and make sense of socio-ecological change and its impacts on their lives. She was also a visiting scholar at Future Forests Cluster of Excellence, University of Freiburg.
Alexandra Cooperstock, Assistant Professor of Sociology and Education, is an award-winning sociologist interested in how ethnoracial and social class inequalities are produced and perpetuated in neighborhoods and schools, and how policy contexts influence the neighborhood-school nexus and create stratified opportunity structures.
Before joining Teachers College, Alexandra was a postdoctoral research associate at Brown University affiliated with the Annenberg Institute for School Reform and the Population Studies and Training Center. She received her Ph.D. in Sociology with a minor in Demography from Cornell University, and a B.A. in Sociology and Women's Studies from the University of Michigan where she graduated Phi Beta Kappa. She was formerly a K-12 teacher and worked in both public and charter schools.
Naomi Lifschitz-Grant (Ed.D. ’12), Associate Professor of Teaching in the Art and Art Education Program, is an accomplished artist, scholar, educator and TC alumna who is dedicated to “expanding the horizons of students” through engaging art education and teacher development. Her work has been displayed in 35 group and solo exhibitions, including at TC’s Macy Gallery, and she has been an artist-in-residence at residency programs around the world. Most recently she was a fellow at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts.
Prior to joining the faculty, Lifschitz-Grant was associate professor of Art Education at University of North Carolina at Pembroke. Her research has appeared in several peer-reviewed journals and edited volumes. In 2022, She received the UNCP Outstanding Teacher Award and was named Higher Education Art Educator of the Year by the North Carolina Art Education Association.
Douglas Mosher, Assistant Professor of Literacy and Education, studies literacy development and interventions for K-12 students. His research examines how knowledge acquisition through the development of vocabulary networks and schema instantiation can lead to improvements in students’ reading comprehension outcomes.
Prior to joining the faculty, Doug was a postdoctoral fellow and lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, where he designed and studied large-scale literacy interventions for elementary school students. He received his Ph.D. from Harvard University and previously taught first grade in Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools, where he was recognized as a Blue Ribbon Teacher by the district and the Nashville Public Education Foundation.
Eleni Natsiopoulou (Ph.D. ’11), Assistant Professor of Teaching, Sociology and Education Program, is a sociologist and educator examining student discipline and control in education, policy implementation, and alternative teaching methodologies. The TC alumna is particularly interested in digital governmentality, institutions, and power. Her current research projects explore how entire populations are disciplined through technology, as well as the effects this has on student intelligence, social structures, and power distribution.
Prior to her appointment, Natsiopoulou taught sociology and social theory at TC as an adjunct associate professor for 12 years. She also worked as a high school teacher of Modern Greek and part-time administrator for more than 20 years.
Lynette Overby, Visiting Assistant Professor of Teaching in the Dance Education Program, leverages arts education and community programming to help increase empathy throughout communities. She is the author of more than 60 publications, and the recipient of more than 20 awards and honors, including the Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Dance Education Organization in 2018. In 2022, Overby joined the National Council for the Humanities, the advisory board for the National Endowment for the Humanities.
In addition to her visiting assistant professorship, Overby is a research fellow at the Arnhold Institute for Dance Education Research, Policy & Leadership. She also serves as professor of Theatre and Dance at the University of Delaware, faculty director of Undergraduate Research and Experiential Learning and is artistic director of the Sharing Our Legacy Dance Theatre.
Adrian O. Rodríguez (Ed.D. ’25, M.Ed. ’23), Assistant Professor of Teaching, Music and Music Education, is a conductor, educator and scholar whose work expands access and belonging in music education. After a decade of public school teaching and community music-making, he joined the TC as a doctoral student in 2020. His research explores the interplay between institutional ideals and the people who continually shape and reshape music institutions.
In addition to his faculty appointment, Rodríguez holds several positions at The Juilliard School, including manager of curriculum and family advisement for the Music Advancement Program and founding director of the Juilliard Community Chorus. He previously served as director of Community Engagement, where he supported partnerships between Juilliard students and New York City schools, hospitals, and older adult communities.
Zoi Traga-Philippakos, Associate Professor of Literacy and Education, is a literacy researcher whose work focuses on the science of reading and writing, strategy instruction, self-regulated learning, teacher professional development, and artificial intelligence in literacy education. Her scholarship has been recognized through awards and external funding supporting literacy education. She co-developed the Developing Strategic Writers, Supporting Strategic Writers, and Big Words instructional programs and has coauthored and coedited books on literacy instruction and research. Prior to joining Teachers College, she was associate professor at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, where she served as instructional team leader and director of the Literacy Specialist Program.
At TC, she will serve as faculty and Director of the Reading Specialist Program, preparing literacy professionals to apply evidence-based practices and advance literacy learning in schools and communities.