Sarah Stitzlein

Professor of Education and Affiliate Faculty in Philosophy, University of Cincinnati
I am a Professor of Education and Affiliate Faculty in Philosophy at the University of Cincinnati. As a philosopher of education, I explore and clarify key concepts within and purposes of education from the perspective of social and political philosophy. Additionally, I work to uncover problems in education and envision better alternatives. I am especially interested in issues of political agency, educating for democracy, and equality in schools.

My most recent book, American Public Education and the Responsibility of Its Citizens: Supporting Democracy in an Age of Accountability (Oxford University Press, 2017), supported by a Spencer Foundation grant, responds to the increasing hostile climate toward public education, especially in the era of school choice and lingering neoliberalism. It argues that citizens should support public schools as a central institution of democracy. My previous book,Teaching Dissent: Citizenship Education and Political Activism, investigates the role of political dissent in citizenship education. My AESA Critics Choice award-winning 2008 book, Breaking Bad Habits: Transforming Race and Gender in Schools, draws upon American pragmatism and feminist poststructuralism to offer teachers pathways out of persistent hierarchies of race and gender in schools. This social justice commitment carries throughout my work which has appeared in many journals, including: Educational Theory, Teachers College Record, Review of Educational Research, Journal of Curriculum Studies, Theory and Research in Education, Journal of Philosophy of Education, and Educational Studies. I also serve as co-editor for the journal Democracy & Education and co-direct the Center for Hope and Justice Education.

I have received the University of New Hampshire Outstanding Professor award and the University of Cincinnati Golden Apple award. I am also the recipient of the American Association of University Women Postdoctoral Research Fellowship and the National Endowment for the Humanities Teaching Development Fellowship.