I am an Assistant Professor and Director of the Secondary History Education Program at Northern Arizona University. My research interests include the history of education in the U.S. and Latin America; modern U.S., global, transnational, and imperial history; teacher preparation; and culturally relevant and decolonial pedagogies. As a former classroom educator and policymaker, I am particularly interested in the ways history and public humanities can inform contemporary conversations related to educational equity.
I completed my PhD in the History of Education at New York University in Spring of 2020. During the 2021-2022 academic year, I served as a Mellon/ACLS Leading Edge Postdoctoral Fellow with the Children’s Defense Fund Freedom Schools Program, developing curriculum and managing a culturally relevant teacher education institute. Previously, I held an Andrew W. Mellon Predoctoral Fellowship in History Education at the Museum of the City of New York.
My book project, Seize the Schools: Empire, Education and Resistance in Cold War New York and Puerto Rico (forthcoming, University of Pennsylvania Press) analyzes the role of Cold War empire and Puerto Rican migration in shaping postwar education politics in New York, Puerto Rico, and across the Americas. I also co-edited Teaching the World’s Teachers (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2020) and co-authored Teaching Teachers: Changing Paths and Enduring Debates (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2018) with James W. Fraser.
Before beginning my Ph.D., I graduated Summa Cum Laude from NYU with a major in History and Minor in Spanish, then taught middle school on the Texas-Mexico border and high school in Brooklyn, New York. I also worked as a policy planner for the New York City Department of Education.
Research Interests
- History of Education in the U.S. and Latin America
- Transnational and Global History
- Urban History and Education
- Latinx History and Education
- Teacher Education
- Culturally Relevant and Sustaining Pedagogies
- Public History and Humanities
Fellowships and Awards
- ACLS Leading Edge Fellowship, Appointed to the Children’s Defense Fund for the project “Culturally Relevant Pedagogy and the Development of a Teacher Training Institute” (2021-2022)
- Andrew W. Mellon Predoctoral Fellowship in History Education, Museum of the City of New York (2019-2020)
- NYU University-wide Outstanding Dissertation Nominee (2020)
- Steinhardt Outstanding Doctoral Student Teaching Award (2019)
- AERA Best Graduate Student Paper Award, Division F-History (2019)
- Steinhard Outstanding Dissertation Award Nominee (2019)
- National Academy of Education/Spencer Dissertation Fellowship (2016-2017)
- NYU Graduate Research Institute Doctoral Dissertation Workshop Fellow, Paris (2018)
- Jergen Herbst Travel Award, History of Education Society (2018)
- Andrew M. Mellon Pre-Doctoral History Education Fellowship (2016-2017 awarded, declined)
- New York Council for the Humanities Public Humanities Fellowship (2016-2017 awarded, declined)
- Provost’s Course Development Grant for “History of Education in the Americas,” Teachers College Columbia University, Committee Member (Spring 2016)
- Steinhardt Doctoral Fellowship Award (2013-Present)
- Leadership for Educational Equity Policy and Advocacy Fellow (Summer 2012)
College-Level Teaching Experience
- Historical Inquiry
- Teaching and Learning: History and Geography
- Education and the American Dream: Historical Perspectives
- The American School: History of Education in the United States
- History of Education in Latin America: Nation-building and Citizenship
- History of Education in New York City
- Introduction to American Education
- Global Culture Wars
- Culture Wars in the United States
- Religion and Public Education in an International Context
Lauren Lefty, PhD 