Highlights

Recent Graduate, Abigail Robichaud, MAT Art Education '20, I hated my dress, featured in Boston Arts Book Fair

Robichaud's book entitled, I hated my dress, was featured in the 2019 Boston Art Book Fair and received First Runner-Up in Illustration at the SMFA Graphics Annual. The book aims to bring awareness to child abuse and neglect and promote child advocacy. The book was inspired by the complicated relationship between the author and her mother. Abi reflects on her creative process: "Drawing on some of my earliest childhood memories (particularly the unsettling ones) I drew simplistic illustrations of material objects, playing with Piaget's theory of object permanence in infancy. The seemingly meaningless objects became permanent in my mind, along with the traumatic response to them. The objects as well as text are often floating in space without obligation to conventional borders. As the story progresses, the narrator ages, and the "thoughts" you are reading become more developed, more perceptive." The story was first hand written with sketched illustrations. The illustrations were then recreated as digital drawings, printed, and water colored by hand. The book can be ordered here.

Graduate Matthew Callahan, MA '19, Keeps Students Connected with "Chalk Talk"

Alum Matthew Callahan, a US history teacher at Catholic Memorial, was recently featured in the Boston Globe for his exceptional dedication to keeping his students motivated during their cancelled lacrosse season. To engage his students during the COVID-19 pandemic, Callahan created "chalk talks," a forum which is open to students ranging from high school seniors to seventh graders.  During these sessions, Callahan and his staff discussed lacrosse strategy and answered student questions, before dividing the players into grade-level subgroups.

Student Gage Mohammed shares: "As a coach, I think [Callahan is] doing everything in his power to keep us motivated, and you can tell he genuinely cares for us ... He's always there as a coach, and teacher."

As a senior at Tufts, Callahan was named the outstanding defender in the US Intercollegiate League, later serving as an assistant coach of Tufts Division 3 national championship squad in 2015.

Callahan expresses what many teachers are feeling these days: "No one gets into teaching or coaching to spend all day in front of a computer. You get into it for the relationships ... It's been difficult given the circumstances, but we're just teachers trying to help students better themselves, and we happen to be teaching lacrosse."

Alumni Spotlight on Max Metz

Max Metz, Jr., MA, Museum Education (G'18) is Manager of School and Teacher Programs in the Learning Programs Department at Shedd Aquarium in Chicago. Before moving to Chicago, he finished his degree at Tufts while serving as the Manager and Educator at the Durant-Kenrick House and Grounds of Historic Newton in Newton. In his position, Max manages programs including teacher in-service trainings, a science educator conference, dissections, and water testing labs for students at Shedd and at their schools, and a series of tablet-based, exhibit-based learning programs used in the aquarium galleries. Max says, "I am inspired daily by K-12 educators throughout the region who have been able to utilize programming we've created to enrich the lives of their students, and who have given us feedback so we can better align with the needs of their students, families, and colleagues. I have also been fortunate to use my professional network of colleagues and friends made during the Tufts program to heighten the best parts of my position and to commiserate in some of the more difficult situations."

School Psychology Alum '17 Cat Magielnicki and colleague publish book, Four Weeks of Radiating Gratitude: a positivity journal made for the classroom

Designed by two school psychologists, Cat Magielnicki and Julie Woodbury, Four Weeks of Radiating Gratitude was created with schools in mind, meaning it’s appropriate for k-12 settings, the book has detailed lesson plans outlined, and offers easy modifications to implement for all types of learners. This workbook was created to last an entire school month, where a lesson can be added each day of the week for as little as 10 minutes or as long as 30 minutes (or even longer).

Art Education Director, Susan Barahal, represented in the exhibit, Natural Visions, at the Lexington Arts and Crafts Society

Two of Susan Barahal's stone sculptures were selected to be included in the juried exhibit, A celebration of Earth Day: Representational and Abstract Work by New England Artists on Nature, the Environment, and Conservation. The exhibit will be on display from April 23 - May 15, 2022 with a reception on Sunday, April 24th  from 1-3pm. For more information visit the Lexington Arts and Crafts Society.

Susan Barahal named 2021 Higher Ed Art Educator of the Year

In recognition of faculty member Susan Barahal's outstanding passion and dedication to the arts and creative learning, the Massachusetts Art Education Association (MAEA) named her Higher Ed Art Educator of the Year in 2021. Susan's teaching philosophy is grounded in the belief that curiosity is natural, learning is enjoyable and life long, and self-expression is a fundamental human quality and need. She is responsive to her students, embraces inclusivity, and differentiates her instruction to include all learners.

Koretsky named McDonnell Family Bridge Professor

Milo Koretsky to join Tufts School of Engineering and Tufts School of Arts and Sciences as the inaugural McDonnell Family Bridge Professor.

The McDonnell Family Bridge Professorship was established in 2017 to support a senior faculty member of academic distinction in a science, technology, engineering, or math (STEM) discipline and in discipline-based education research. The position awards the holder primary appointments in both the School of Engineering and the School of Arts and Sciences, allowing them to serve as a bridge between the two schools.

Professor Milo Koretsky has been appointed the inaugural McDonnell Family Bridge Professor in the School of Engineering and the School of Arts and Sciences. Arriving at Tufts in April 2021 as a bridge professor, Koretsky will hold appointments in both the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering and the Department of Education.

Koretsky joins Tufts from nearly 30 years teaching in the Department of Chemical, Biological, and Environmental Engineering at Oregon State University (OSU). He led the Engineering Education Research Group, where he conducted research on innovative curricular design. He is a Fellow of the Center for Lifelong STEM Education Research at OSU and a Fellow of the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE). He received his PhD from UC Berkeley and his BS and MS degrees from UC San Diego, all in chemical engineering.

Koretsky studies and develops technological innovations that promote knowledge integration and higher order cognition. He has a particular interest in helping faculty effectively use research-based instructional practices to enable more equitable learning, and in understanding what prevents students from connecting the knowledge learned in class to the demands of professional practice.

The McDonnell Family Endowed Bridge Professorship and the Institute for Research on Learning and Instruction (IRLI) one of the first research centers dedicated to understanding how students learn at the university level were established at Tufts through the generosity of the James S. McDonnell Family Foundation and members of the McDonnell family. Koretsky will be working with IRLI across departments to further the fundamental study of education and to help support the critical knowledge being generated by IRLI and transformations happening in education at Tufts. 

Congratulations Brian! Assistant Professor Brian Gravel receives book award.

Assistant Professor Brian Gravel and co-author Eli Tucker-Raymond's book, STEM Literacies in Makerspaces, was awarded the 2020 Society of Professors of Education Outstanding Book Award. Routledge Education Books tweeted out "This book bridges the scholarship of literacy studies and STEM and offers a window into the practices that makers learn and interact with. A book description and option to purchase the book can be found at Routledge's website. Congratulations Brian and Eli on this great honor!

Assistant Professor, Brian Gravel, "With Classrooms Closed, Will Kids Fall Behind?"

"Fall behind whom?" Brian replies. "Everyone is doing this...We have this vision that if we're not doing traditional work, then we're not doing good learning."

The interview focuses on Brian Gravel's research specialty; learning that occurs outside of the traditional academic work taught in classrooms. "While children are home with family members or loved ones, that is an opportunity to learn together as a family and to teach traditions," he said. "That looks different than so-called 'on-line learning solutions,' but this is the moment to think about what learning looks like and what forms it can take. We have created this false distinction that learning happens in school and life is some other thing."

In the interview, Brian also calls attention to the inequities of our society and how COVID-19 is casting a spotlight on this harsh reality, stating: "Part of the re-examining means looking closely at these inequities and how schooling often furthers them."

The entire interview is featured in an April 2020 Tufts Now article.

Part-time Lecturer, Deborah Donahue-Keegan, "Navigating the Pandemic: Knowledge, Resilience, Civic Purpose and Engagement"

"Navigating the Pandemic: Knowledge, Resilience, Civic Purpose and Engagement" will be launched this summer as an eight-part weekly webinar series sponsored by Tisch College of Civic Life.  The series is aimed at supporting students during the COVID-19 pandemic and will be broadcast via Tisch College's YouTube channel on Wednesdays from 11am - 12:30pm EST, beginning June 10th. Tisch College faculty and staff, Tufts faculty, and experts from Boston-area universities, hospitals, and community nonprofit organizations will participate in the series. Deborah Donahue-Keegan, who is leading the effort along with Tisch Associate Dean Peter Levine, explains: "We have developed this webinar series to help mitigate the sense of isolation and unsettledness many students are experiencing ... We are offering a way for students to stay connected to the university community and to each other over the summer. We also want to help students acquire more knowledge and skills in order to navigate conflicting information and misinformation regarding COVID-19." The weekly seminars for undergraduate and graduate students are free. Additional information, a list of topics, and registration and certificate information can be found on the Tisch College of Civic Life website.

Associate Professor, Julia Gouvea, highlighted in Inside Higher Ed Article

Biology Education Assistant Professor, Julia Gouvea, was highlighted in the April 14th Inside Higher Ed's "Remotely Hands-On: Teaching lab sciences and the fine arts during COVID-19" article. "Julia Svoboda Gouvea, assistant professor of science education at Tufts University, coincidentally taught a computation-based module on the flu in her organisms and populations lab at the beginning of the semester. The goals of the project were to track the flu season on the genetic sequencing database Nextstrain and ultimately recommend a course of action to the World Health Organization for next year’s flu season. But students became more and more engaged in tracking COVID-19 as the weeks wore on." Read the full article on the Inside Higher Ed's website.

Distinguished Senior Lecturer Beardsley Reflects on Career, Student-centered Education

Department of Education Senior Lecturer, Linda Beardsley, was interviewed by Tufts Daily and reflected on her career in Education in the January 28, 2020 edition.

Find the full Q&A article on The Tufts Daily website.

Faculty Included in NAEA Exhibition

Art Education faculty member Pamela Bower-Basso is included in the 2019 Juried National Art Education Association (NAEA) Exhibition. The exhibit showcases artwork from art educators throughout the country at the NAEA Studio and Gallery located at the association’s headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia. The show runs from June 17, 2019 – December 6, 2019. Jurors selected 60 works for the gallery showing, and submissions were reviewed in the following areas: originality and uniqueness, clarity and meaning, innovation and creativity, material usage and medium application, and quality and craftsmanship. Founded in 1947, the NAEA is the leading professional membership organization exclusively for visual arts educators.

Museum Education student, Michaela Antunes Blanc, had her school work featured in the Brazilian Times newspaper. The call to Portuguese speakers in Massachusetts as a part of an assignment was picked up by the newspaper, urging readers to contact Michaela.

The Massachusetts School Psychology Association awarded the 2021 Ena Vazquez-Nutall Diversity Scholarship to Kat Su, a current School Psychology Program student.

The Massachusetts School Psychology Association (MSPA) 2019 Fall Conference took place on Friday, November 15, 2019 in Springfield, Massachusetts, gathering school psychology professionals and students statewide. Among the attendees, Karina Ribeiro in the School Psychology Program at Tufts University, was recognized and awarded the Ena Vazquez-Nutall Diversity Scholarship, a scholarship that supports the graduate training of culturally and linguistically diverse students in School Psychology. MSPA has been continuously committed to fostering and encouraging the diversity of professionals within the field, as they will eventually help to serve and provide services to diverse student populations.

Christian Walkes, a 2020 alum of the Educational Studies program, published a book review in the prestigious Teachers College Record. The review outlines sj Miller's About Gender Identity Justice in Schools and Communities (2019) and its framework for gender identity justice and offers considerations grounded in Afro-pessimism's perspective. As a researcher interested in patterns of social stratification in education, sj Miller’s book proves to be timely given the shifting legal protections for gender complex identities in the United States. When asked about the review, Christian stated, "Invitation to write in this prestigious journal bears testament to those invested in my academic and professional growth." He gives special thanks to his advisor, Shameka Powell, who made this opportunity possible through their rigorous academic training and mentorship.