Current Students

Cameron Arnzen is a Politics & Education Ph.D. student at Teachers College, Columbia University. Before pursuing his doctorate, Cameron served in a variety of roles at The College of Idaho, including as an instructor and an academic advisor. He has also worked with IdahoEdNews.org, a public awareness service that spotlights public education in Idaho.  

Growing up in Idaho, rural education shaped Cameron’s research interests, which focus on education governance, public opinion, and the politics of education.

Cameron holds a B.A. in Political Economy from The College of Idaho and a M.A. in Political Science from Duke University.

Elijah Brown is an M.A. degree student in the Politics and Education program. Elijah received his Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting from Brooklyn College. While at Brooklyn College, he decided to become a teacher in the New York City Department of Education.

Elijah’s passion for creating more equitable schools and communities, propelled him into working alongside community organizations and local nonprofits. Currently, he is the Community Liaison for Community Board 16 in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn. Elijah also leads, civic engagement workshops, and voter registration drives for members of his community. 

While in the Politics and Education program, Elijah’s mission is to learn how to implement systemic changes in schools and communities to make them equitable for historically marginalized people. 

Emmel El-Fiky is an MA student in the Politics and Education program. She graduated from the College of William & Mary in 2019 with a BA in government and a double major in music. During her time in Williamsburg, she was involved in both the campus and local communities in various capacities, including as an editor for a student publication focused on art and social commentary, as an orientation leader for new students, and as an active member of the music program in numerous ways. Additionally, she was an after-school tutor, classroom assistant, and intern for the local public school system throughout her undergraduate career.

Prior to enrolling at Teachers College, Emmel was an associate editor for the periodicals team at the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) in Washington, DC. Her work with the editorial teams, which involved articles and publications about pedagogy, educational theory, and developmentally appropriate practice, as well as her growing curiosity about the political side of the field of education in the United States, led her to the decision to pursue higher education focused on the intersection of policy in theory and education in practice.

After graduating from TC, Emmel is interested in pursuing a career that advocates for policy backed by the latest research on educational practices, community and culturally responsive curriculum, and inclusivity.

Caleb Hausman is an MA student in the Politics and Education program. He graduated from Vanderbilt University in 2017 with a BA in Public Policy Studies, with a specialization in education policy. While an undergraduate at Vanderbilt, Caleb developed an interest in the intersections between politics and education through serving as campaign manager for a mayoral campaign and completing internships with Scottish Parliament and education advocacy nonprofits.

Prior to enrolling at Teachers College, Caleb spent five years working in various facets of the education field -- including roles in education research, education technology, and higher education communications. These experiences solidified Caleb's interest in supporting the development of equitable school systems and drove him to pursue further growth at TC.

Equipped with the skills and lessons gained through the TC experience, Caleb plans to pursue opportunities to build local political programs and structures that empower students and families of all backgrounds to have their voices heard in designing inclusive, change-making school systems.

Zihua (Eddy) Li is an M.A. student in the Politics and Education program at Teachers College, Columbia University. He graduated from University of California, Santa Barbara in June 2020 with majors in B.A. in Global Studies and German. At UCSB he worked as a language tutor in CLAS and was a leader involved in German Club.

Prior to his study at Teachers College, Columbia University, he spent three years running a K12 Day care educational institution in China. During this time, he worked part-time in many K12 educational institutions in China including New Orient, X Spark, and Global Education & Technology. His work has focused on K12 education primarily.

Zihua’s interests lie mainly in the field of K12 education. He is also interested in seeing how the education policies are formed and analyzed.

Yuxin is an M.A. student in the Politics and Education program at Teachers College, Columbia University. She graduated from the University of Washington in Seattle in August 2022, with majoring in Early Childhood and Families Studies and minoring in Urban Ecological Design.

Graduated from TC, Yuxin hopes to pursue possibilities for improving educational equity and justices through reshaping educational polices and systems that will allow student and their families from all socioeconomic groups to have fair access to quality educational resources.

Chloe is a Politics and Education Ph.D. student, Columbia Law School Center for Public Research and Leadership Project Associate, and former Teacher’s College Arthur Zankel REACH Fellow with a passion for educational equity research, policy, and teaching.

Chloe received her Bachelor’s Degree in History from the University of Idaho in 2018 and Master’s Degree at Teachers College in 2022. Following her studies in Idaho, she accepted a position as the Education Fellow at the National Center for Civil and Human Rights in Atlanta Georgia. There, Chloe pursued research concerning the contemporary history of public policy and educational equity. While publishing content on notable historical figures and persistent inequity rooted in historic systems, Chloe engages with historical research and the interaction of contemporary American history and political identity.

Chloe’s professional aspiration is to connect public education with evidence-based research that defines historic systemic inequity in order to understand modern political systems, movements, and identity.

Craig Sculli is an M.A. student in the Politics and Education program. He graduated from New York University with a B.S. in Social Studies Education in 2000. While an undergraduate student, he became interested in politics, leading to internships with a presidential campaign and the fundraising department of the New York State Democratic Committee.

After graduation from NYU, Craig embarked on an adventurous career in acting, spending the next several decades performing in New York productions, national tours, regional theaters across the country, and even on the high seas.

Since then, Craig has worked in organizational development in the NYC independent school system, most recently at the Dalton School and is now a TC Experience team member of the Institutional Advancement Department here at TC.

Laura Wutschik is a Politics and Education M.A. student at Teachers College.

She earned her bachelor’s degree in Political Science at the University of Hamburg in Germany, where she worked as a research assistant on analyzing states’ compliance with UN treaty bodies.

She also holds a Waldorf Early Childhood Education degree and has been teaching with great joy for many years.

During her time teaching asylum seekers on a Greek island, she has become interested in education policy development. She is particularly interested in language as an educational tool to foster participation and strengthen children’s sense of belonging.