Current Students

Jennifer Boyle is a Ph.D. student in the History and Education program. She graduated with honors from Fordham University in 2009, earning her B.A. with a concentration in American Studies. She completed her M.A. in the History and Education program at Teachers College in 2011. Her Master's thesis focused on the black Episcopal church in Harlem and its role in securing education for the community during the Civil Rights Era. As a doctoral candidate, her interests include the history of urban education, community activism and the relationship between race and education. Prior to Teachers College, Jennifer interned at the American Irish Historical Society and taught an after-school program at Quest to Learn in New York City.

Lee Bynum is a Ph.D. student in the History and Education program.  He earned his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in African American studies from Columbia University.  Lee’s research has been published by the university presses of Oxford, Columbia, New York University, University College Cork, and Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, as well as presented at the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association, and the University of Birmingham in England.  Since 2011, Lee has been with the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, where he currently serves as associate director of the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship and as program associate for Diversity Initiatives and Historically Black Colleges and Universities.  Previously, he was the program associate for Scholarly Communications and Information Technology at Mellon, assistant director of the Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Race at Columbia, and visiting scholar at Caritas in Hong Kong.  Lee was the founding artistic director of the Harmony Theatre Company in New York, and is active with The BLK Projek, a Bronx-based urban agriculture non-profit.   

Sherika Campbell is a M.A. student in the History and Education program. A native of Queens, NY, she earned her Bachelor’s in Sociology with minors in Urban Studies and PPE (Philosophy, Politics and Economics) from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Sherika is an Advancement Administrator for Blue School, an independent lab school. Through professional work and lived experiences as an alumna of the Prep for Prep program, Sherika has become deeply passionate about independent school inclusion and equity practices. Her interests are around: racial identity, diversity, and school exclusivity.

Jacqueline Cunningham is a Master of Arts student in History and Education . Her interest in the program began when she wondered how her understanding of the public education system in the United States could be used as points of transference for her middle and high school students. Prior to attending Teachers College, Jacqueline completed her undergraduate degree in Secondary History Education, American Studies, and Leadership Development at Rider University through the Baccalaureate Honors Program. Her research focus sought to understand the development of standardized assessment in New Jersey. As an advocate for social emotional development, Jacqueline's work outside of TC includes facilitating the growth of students, particularly of regions across Pennsylvania, through creative problem solving initiatives and structured discussions on respect, relationships, and responsibility. When not studying, Jacqueline can be found trying to create new adventures through traveling and time well spent with her family. 

Esther Cyna is a Ph.D. student in the History and Education program. Esther is a Fulbright scholar for 2015-2016 and Department Doctoral Fellow at Teachers College. She pursued a graduate course of study at the Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon, where she prepared a Master’s Degree in Anglophone Studies, with a concentration on American Civilization. Esther earned an English teaching degree for secondary schools from the French Ministry of Education (agrégation, 2014). When she was teaching undergraduate French Language classes at Duke University, she became interested in the history of education in North Carolina. She now conducts research on high school desegregation in Durham, NC during the 1970s.

Amanda is a M.A. student in the History and Education program. She received her Bachelor's in Psychology with a minor in Global Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles in 2013. In Los Angeles, Amanda also worked at The Center for Autism and Related Disorders as a researcher and as a behavioral therapist. She worked within a team that validated a skills assessment used with children with Autism (published in Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders). Amanda became curious in the way schools could support students individual needs within a diverse classroom. She earned her credential in early childhood Montessori education, and taught in the classroom for two years before beginning her studies at the Teachers College. She is currently investigating the development of the learning disabilities construct during the 1960's and 70's. 

Barry Goldenberg is currently a Ph.D. student in the History and Education program and a Graduate Student Fellow at the Institute for Urban and Minority Education (IUME) where he is the Project Director of Youth Historians in Harlem (YHH). YHH is an after-school program which seeks to explore how innovative history experiences and public history can be used to both improve the academic literacies of traditionally marginalized youth and produce historical scholarship. Barry holds a B.A. in History (highest departmental honors), magna cum laude, from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a minor in education studies. Barry's publications have been featured in Urban Education, Voices from the Middle, and Education's Histories, in addition to his self-published book first book entitled "The Unknown Architects of Civil Rights" available on Amazon.com and in various libraries. In addition, Barry has been featured on the Harlem World Magazine Radio Show and prior to TC, served as an Intern for U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (CA) and volunteered abroad in Cape Town, South Africa. You can find his personal website at www.barrygoldenberg.com.

Viola Huang is a Ph.D. candidate in the History and Education program at Columbia University’s Teachers College. Before beginning her doctoral studies at Teachers College in 2012, she completed a teaching degree in secondary education at the University of Konstanz in Germany. She also studied, as a visiting student, at the University of Windsor in Canada, the University of York in the United Kingdom and National Taiwan Normal University in Taipei, Taiwan. She has taught history, literature, linguistics, philosophy, English and German on multiple teaching levels. Her research interests concern 20th century African-American history, specifically the history of social movements, community activism, and alternative and transformative education. Since 2016, Viola is also a research assistant at the University of Passau in Bavaria, Germany. Here, she is involved in the teacher education project SKILL (Strategien zur Kompetenzentwicklung: Innovative Lehr- und Beratungskonzepte in der Lehrerbildung) focusing on Information and Media Literacy.

Matt Kautz is a Ph.D. student in the History and Education program. Matt graduated with a Bachelor’s in English Language & Literature and a minor in History from the University of Michigan in 2011. Upon completion of his undergraduate studies, Matt earned his Master’s degree from Michigan the following school year in educational studies. He then taught for two years on the west side of Detroit and two more years on the west side of Chicago. During his time as a high school teacher, Matt became interested in the way his students were labeled and how reform efforts were often codified in a deficit framework that had moralistic connotations. He has since become interested in how the discourse of morality has been used to create and perpetuate inequality in schools.  

Diane McKoy is an Ed.D. student in the History and Education program. She has been an admissions officer for 20+ years at Columbia University Office of Undergraduate Admissions. She is a consultant with College Board/Overseas Project and works with international counselors in Africa.  Prior to Columbia, she was a middle school history teacher in Newton, MA.  Diane earned a B.A. in History from Yale University and has a M.A. and M.Ed. in History and Education from Teachers College.  Her research interests are in higher education for minority women in the South and the overlap of religion, community and culturally based organizations. 

Jean Park is a Ph.D. student in the History and Education program, and will serve as a Graduate Research Fellow for the Center on History and Education at Teachers College for 2013-2014. Prior to her graduate studies, she served as the Development Director at St. Joseph School in lower Manhattan for two years. Jean earned her A.B. degree from Princeton University in 2008, where she majored in History and received a Certificate in East Asian Studies. Her research interests include: urban education, immigration, and social history.  

Sarah Rebell is currently pursuing a Masters of Arts in the History and Education program, focusing on the history of arts education. Sarah previously taught English at the Via Ugo Bassi middle school in Civitanova Marche, Italy, where she developed a curriculum that drew upon elements of theatre, music, and dance as a means of complementing and reinforcing class material. As a theatrical journalist, she has written for The Interval and Howlround. Sarah received her MFA in Graduate Musical Theatre Writing from NYU Tisch of the Arts, and her BA from Vassar College, where she studied History and Drama. 

Read Sarah's recent article on teaching artistry, published by The Interval on 09/27/2017.

Alexa Rodriguez is a Ph.D. student and research assistant in the History and Education program. Before beginning her doctoral studies at Teachers College, she received her Masters of Science in Education at The Johns Hopkins School of Education and her Bachelor of Arts degree at Fordham University in History and American Studies. While in Maryland, Alexa taught for three years in an Elementary/Middle School located in Baltimore City. Her research interests concern the intersection of 20th century Latin American history and United States history, specifically examining the way educational initiatives traveled between these two areas as well as their implications in the region. Currently, Alexa is researching the United States controlled education system during the occupation of the Dominican Republic between 1916-1924.

Antonia is a Ph.D. student in the History and Education program and Graduate Fellow at the Center for History and Education at TC. Her research interests include prison education and reform, industrial education, and the history of children and families. Antonia is currently serving on the History of Education Society’s Graduate Student Committee. She is also the Senior Director of the Arts and After School Program and Summer Arts Camp at Greenwich House in Greenwich Village. Antonia earned her B.A. from the University of Chicago in 2003 where she concentrated in Art History and Early Modern European History. When not at work, you can find Antonia scuba diving somewhere warm and tropical.

As a Ph.D. student working at the intersection of history, philosophy, and education, Eric’s dissertation addresses the development of the German University model in the United States during the Age of the University, with particular attention to the seminar as pedagogy and locus of institutional reform.  Eric is also interested in methodological change in the digital humanities, and is at work on a book chapter featuring quantitative analysis of early Republican educational writing.  When not working, he teaches chess to 2nd & 4th graders and raises vegetables.