Who We Are


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Melissa is an Assistant Professor of Education Policy & Leadership in the College of Education at Marquette University, where she leads work in social studies education. Her research examines the enactment of  educational justice in diverse settings, most specifically looking at democratic pedagogies that promote equity and youth empowerment, such as critical approaches to civic education. Most recently, her work is exploring whiteness in relation to democratic and justice-oriented pedagogies and how white teachers, specifically, can resist and subvert its hold in the classroom. Her work has appeared in Multicultural Perspectives, Equity & Excellence in Education, Teachers College Record, The Social Studies, The Journal of Adult & Adolescent Literacy, Theory & Research in Social Education, Theory Into Practice, and Intercultural Education, as well as in several edited volumes. Prior to joining the faculty at Marquette, Melissa was a middle and high school teacher (English and social studies) in the US Midwest (Chicago and Wisconsin), Los Angeles, and Guadalajara, Mexico.  She completed her PhD in Curriculum & Instruction and Education Policy Studies, with a focus on Multicultural Education, at the University of Wisconsin Madison.