Maria Hantzopoulos

Maria Hantzopoulos is associate professor of education at Vassar College, where she is coordinator of the Adolescent Education Certification Program and a participating faculty member in the programs in International Studies, Urban Studies, and Women’s Studies. Prior to Vassar, she taught and worked in New York City public schools for 13 years, served on several public school planning teams, and worked with a variety of established youth organizations. Dr. Hantzopoulos’s work has appeared in a variety of peer-reviewed publications and she is coeditor, with Dr. Alia Tyner-Mullings, of Critical Small Schools: Beyond Privatization in New York City Urban Educational Reform (2012) and, with Dr. Monisha Bajaj, of Peace Education: International Perspectives (forthcoming). She was also the primary investigator for and recipient of the British Council/Social Science Research Council “Our Shared Past” Grant (along with four other co-investigators), which has culminated in the curriculum “Rethinking the Region: New Approaches to 9–12 U.S. Curriculum on MENA.” She currently is conducting a research project, funded by the Spencer Foundation, documenting how schools transition from high-stakes testing to project-based assessment. Dr. Hantzopoulos went to public schools in Peabody, Massachusetts, before earning her BA magna cum laude from Boston University in history. She obtained her MA in social studies education and her doctorate in international educational development, with a specialization in peace education, from Teachers College, Columbia University.