Maria Hantzopoulos

Maria Hantzopoulos earned her BA from Boston University in History, her MA in Social Studies Education from Teachers College, Columbia University and her doctorate at Teachers College in International Educational Development. Her work broadly considers how educational processes structure inequity in their contexts and beyond. Her research interests include school culture and climate, project-based assessment, peace and human rights education, migration and education, and social studies curricula. Her work has appeared in a variety of journals including Anthropology and Education Quarterly, TC Record, Social Studies Research and Practice, and Policy Futures in Education. She is the author of the book Restoring Dignity: Human Rights in Action (Teachers College Press, 2016), and co-editor of Peace Education: International Perspectives (Bloomsbury, 2016) and Critical Small Schools: Beyond Privatization in New York City Urban Educational Reform (Information Age, 2012).  She is also the co-author of the free web-based 9-12 curriculum "Rethinking the Region: New Approaches to U.S. 9-12 Curricula on MENA."  Her research has been supported through the Spencer Foundation, the British Council, and the Social Science Research Council. Her forthcoming book is Education for Peace and Human Rights: An Introduction (Bloomsbury, 2021).

Before Vassar, she worked with pre-service student teachers at Columbia University’s Barnard and Teachers Colleges and conducted staff development for middle and high school teachers throughout New York City and nationally. She also taught and worked in New York City public schools, served on several public school planning teams, and continues to work with a variety of established youth organizations and professional educator organizations.