Alexandra Cooperstock, Assistant Professor of Sociology and Education, is an award-winning sociologist interested in how ethnoracial and social class inequalities are produced and perpetuated in neighborhoods and schools, and how policy contexts influence the neighborhood-school nexus and create stratified opportunity structures.
Before joining Teachers College, Alexandra was a postdoctoral research associate at Brown University affiliated with the Annenberg Institute for School Reform and the Population Studies and Training Center. She received her Ph.D. in Sociology with a minor in Demography from Cornell University, and a B.A. in Sociology and Women's Studies from the University of Michigan where she graduated Phi Beta Kappa. She was formerly a K-12 teacher and worked in both public and charter schools.
Roy Danovitch (Ed.M. '16, Ed.D. '19), Visiting Assistant Professor of Teaching in the Education Leadership Program, is a researcher and practitioner dedicated to creating more equitable learning environments rooted in social justice. In addition to teaching and designing courses for master's and doctoral students at the Klingenstein Center for Independent School Leadership, he also teaches in the Summer Principals Academy and Education Leadership programs.
Danovitch brings experience as a K-12 head of school, with a focus on engaged citizenship, participatory decision-making, and culturally responsive learning. He is the founder of the Selby Project, a non-profit platform devoted to amplifying youth voices and building democratic schools, and he regularly writes on the ethics and politics of school leadership. Danovitch completed his masters and doctoral studies at Teachers College.
Elif Duman, Visiting Assistant Professor of Teaching in the Neuroscience and Education Program, is a biopsychologist exploring the impact of stress-related gene-environment interactions on neural, physiological, epigenetic and behavioral outcomes from infancy to adulthood. Her current research at her Psychoepigenetics Lab primarily focuses on the intergenerational impact of maternal early life and perinatal stress across different levels through the BABIP birth cohort she started in Istanbul, Turkey.
Prior to her appointment, Duman was a Lecturer in Columbia University’s Department of Psychology and served as the Director of the Cognitive Science undergraduate program. She holds She holds a B.S. in Molecular Biology and Genetics from Istanbul Technical University, and a M.A. in Psychology and Ph.D. in Biopsychology from Stony Brook University, New York, and has worked as a faculty in multiple universities since 2012.
Naomi Lifschitz-Grant (Ed.D. ’12), Associate Professor of Teaching in the Art and Art Education Program, is an accomplished artist, scholar, educator and TC alumna who is dedicated to “expanding the horizons of students” through engaging art education and teacher development. Her work has been displayed in 35 group and solo exhibitions, including at TC’s Macy Gallery, and she has been an artist-in-residence at residency programs around the world. Most recently she was a fellow at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts.
Prior to joining the faculty, Lifschitz-Grant was associate professor of Art Education at University of North Carolina at Pembroke. Her research has appeared in several peer-reviewed journals and edited volumes. In 2022, She received the UNCP Outstanding Teacher Award and was named Higher Education Art Educator of the Year by the North Carolina Art Education Association.
Douglas Mosher, Assistant Professor of Literacy and Education, studies literacy development and interventions for K-12 students. His research examines how knowledge acquisition through the development of vocabulary networks and schema instantiation can lead to improvements in students’ reading comprehension outcomes.
Prior to joining the faculty, Doug was a postdoctoral fellow and lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, where he designed and studied large-scale literacy interventions for elementary school students. He received his Ph.D. from Harvard University and previously taught first grade in Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools, where he was recognized as a Blue Ribbon Teacher by the district and the Nashville Public Education Foundation.
Eleni Natsiopoulou (Ph.D. ’11), Assistant Professor of Teaching, Sociology and Education Program, is a sociologist and educator examining student discipline and control in education, policy implementation, and alternative teaching methodologies. The TC alumna is particularly interested in digital governmentality, institutions, and power. Her current research projects explore how entire populations are disciplined through technology, as well as the effects this has on student intelligence, social structures, and power distribution.
Prior to her appointment, Natsiopoulou taught sociology and social theory at TC as an adjunct associate professor for 12 years. She also worked as a high school teacher of Modern Greek and part-time administrator for more than 20 years.
Lynette Overby, Visiting Assistant Professor of Teaching in the Dance Education Program, leverages arts education and community programming to help increase empathy throughout communities. She is the author of more than 60 publications, and the recipient of more than 20 awards and honors, including the Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Dance Education Organization in 2018. In 2022, Overby joined the National Council for the Humanities, the advisory board for the National Endowment for the Humanities.
In addition to her visiting assistant professorship, Overby is a research fellow at the Arnhold Institute for Dance Education Research, Policy & Leadership. She also serves as professor of Theatre and Dance at the University of Delaware, faculty director of Undergraduate Research and Experiential Learning and is artistic director of the Sharing Our Legacy Dance Theatre.
Talia Robbins, Assistant Professor of Teaching, Learning Analytics, is a cognitive psychologist whose research centers on decision-making, instructional design and the influence context has on memory and learning. She is particularly interested in exploring the ways that computational models can predict and facilitate understanding for how people integrate new information into their worldview. Robbins is also a dedicated mentor who has supported dozens of students in undergraduate and graduate programs.
Prior to joining the faculty, Robbins was Assistant Teaching Professor and Faculty Fellow at Rutgers University Honors College. They were also the lead instructor for the Honors College Forum, a readiness program for first-year students that teaches cognitive and non-cognitive skills.
Adrian O. Rodríguez (Ed.D. ’25, M.Ed. ’23), Assistant Professor of Teaching, Music and Music Education, is a conductor, educator and scholar whose work expands access and belonging in music education. After a decade of public school teaching and community music-making, he joined the TC as a doctoral student in 2020. His research explores the interplay between institutional ideals and the people who continually shape and reshape music institutions.
In addition to his faculty appointment, Rodríguez holds several positions at The Juilliard School, including manager of curriculum and family advisement for the Music Advancement Program and founding director of the Juilliard Community Chorus. He previously served as director of Community Engagement, where he supported partnerships between Juilliard students and New York City schools, hospitals, and older adult communities.
Christina Torres (Ph.D. ’26), Visiting Assistant Professor of Teaching for the Sustainability and Education Online Program, is a climate and science education researcher passionate about making sustainability education more accessible through impactful research/practice partnerships. She received her doctorate from TC in 2026 and her dissertation explored science learning and identity among youth climate activists.
In addition to her faculty appointment, Torres will continue to work with the Center for Sustainable Futures, where she conducts climate education research and supports professional development programs that prepare teachers to incorporate climate and sustainability education in their classrooms. She will also continue teaching an ecology and environment course to sustainability students at the Fashion Institute of Technology as an Adjunct Assistant Professor.
Zoi Traga-Philippakos, Associate Professor of Literacy and Education, is a literacy researcher whose work focuses on the science of reading and writing, strategy instruction, self-regulated learning, teacher professional development, and artificial intelligence in literacy education. Her scholarship has been recognized through awards and external funding supporting literacy education. She co-developed the Developing Strategic Writers, Supporting Strategic Writers, and Big Words instructional programs and has coauthored and coedited books on literacy instruction and research. Prior to joining Teachers College, she was associate professor at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, where she served as instructional team leader and director of the Literacy Specialist Program.
At TC, she will serve as faculty and Director of the Reading Specialist Program, preparing literacy professionals to apply evidence-based practices and advance literacy learning in schools and communities.