Visiting Scholars
Merav Hayak, a visiting scholar at the Department of International and Transcultural Studies, is also a post-doc researcher at the Center for Sustainable Futures at Teachers College, Columbia University. She earned her PhD from Ben-Gurion University in Israel, focusing on how organizational factors shape educational innovation. Her dissertation, supported by the Azrieli Fellowship and ISEF, examined Digital Game-Based Learning for middle school students. Merav’s recent article in Technology, Pedagogy, and Education explores teachers' planning for integrating technology in classrooms. During her postdoc, she will co-lead a study on implementing climate change education in NYC public schools.
Hosting Faculty: Oren Pizmony-Levy
AY 2024-2026
Avner Rogel joins the Department of International and Transcultural Studies as a visiting scholar and is affiliated with the Global Observatory of LGBTQ+ Education and Advocacy. His research focuses on social change in both formal and informal educational settings, emphasizing the role of educators, activists, and youth as agents of transformation. Rogel earned his doctorate from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, with his dissertation, supported by the Spencer Foundation, examining queer pedagogies in organizational contexts. He is the founding director of the Magnus Hirschfeld Research Institute, focusing on LGBTQ+ youth in Israel, and co-leads the SOGIE special interest group within the Comparative and International Education Society (CIES). At Teachers College, Rogel will study the civic and school involvement of LGBTQ+ youth.
Hosting Faculty: Oren Pizmony-Levy
AY 2024-2026
Dr. Warangkana Lin is researching the cultural dimensions of international school development. She brings extensive administrative experience in K-12 international schools, notably through the authorization of International Baccalaureate (IB) programs and accreditation of the Council of International Schools (CIS). Her latest comparative research project, funded by Taiwan’s National Science and Technology Council, examines the identity formation of ethnic Chinese teachers in international schools in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Thailand and the US Bay Area. From 2021 to 2023, Dr. Lin served part-time as a Commissioner on the Kaohsiung International Relations Committee of the Kaohsiung City Government. She earned her doctoral degree from The University of Hong Kong.
Research Interests: internationalization, cross-cultural studies, international and comparative research.
Hosting Faculty: Gita Steiner-Khamsi
AY 2025-2026
Dr. Katsuki Sakaue is an Associate Professor in the Graduate School of International Cooperation Studies at Kobe University. He is also the Deputy Director of the Global Research Center for Education Policy and Planning. His research interests lie in the economics of education, refugee and forced migration studies, and the evaluation of public policies in the education sector in developing countries particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa. He is currently leading a comparative research project on policies for including forcibly displaced children in national education systems in developing countries supported by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. His work is published in prestigious journals such as International Journal of Educational Development and Education Economics. He is also currently serving as a Board Member of the Japan Comparative Education Society, Japan Society for International Development, and Japan Society for Africa Educational Research. Prior to joining academia, Dr. Sakaue worked as a Programme Officer at UNESCO's Asia and Pacific Regional Bureau for Education. He also worked for the World Bank as a Short-term Consultant and on development projects funded by other donors, including UNICEF and JICA. He holds his Master of Economics and Doctor of Philosophy from Kobe University, Japan. He also served as a visiting scholar at the FHI 360 and the Institute for International Studies in Education in University of Pittsburgh when he was a doctoral student.
Hosting Faculty: Mary Mendenhall
AY 2025-2026
Dr. Shamo Thar is a multilingual scholar-practitioner in international and comparative education whose work advances equity, inclusion, and belonging among Indigenous and minoritized communities. She is currently a Postdoctoral Researcher at SOAS, University of London. Her research employs ethnographic, qualitative, and secondary analysis of policy, media, and archival sources to explore the intersections of language, identity, society, and education. Her current project examines China’s multilingual education models, with particular attention to bilingual education policies for Tibetans, investigating how language policies are shaped by evolving ideologies of national integration, state-building, and cultural identity.
Dr. Shamo holds a Ph.D. in International Education from the University of Massachusetts
Amherst and an M.A. in Sustainable International Development from Brandeis University. With over a decade of experience in research, teaching, and nonprofit leadership, she has founded and directed educational programs, designed literacy initiatives, and led programs in multicultural and international education centers at U.S. universities. She is also the author of a children’s book rooted in the Tibetan cultural storytelling tradition. Her academic publications include “Tibetan Pastoralists and Schooling: Local Challenges in a Context of Educational Reform” and additional works on education, policy, and language. Her work has been recognized with the Margaret McNamara Education Grant, the Ambassador Synthia Shepard Perry Award, UMass Amherst’s Scholarly Excellence Award, and multiple research grants. She previously served as a Visiting Scholar at Drexel University, where she lectured on education, language, and representations of Tibetan Buddhism in U.S. higher education.
Hosting Faculty: Prem Phyak