Welcome 2025 Doctoral Cohort!
The ICEP program is excited to welcome six new doctoral students this year. Read more below to find out about their research interests and plans at TC.
Emily Forbes
Emily Forbes is a Ph.D. student in the International and Comparative Education Program (ICEP) in Teachers College, Columbia University. Her research interests center on how higher education institutions can serve as platforms for international collaboration in support of environmental justice and sustainable development. She is particularly interested in how universities can partner with K–12 schools, grassroots organizations, and global networks to expand access to sustainability education and foster global citizenship.
Emily’s work is inspired by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. She is motivated by the belief that education plays a critical role in addressing climate change, promoting equity in education, and preparing learners to engage in international efforts for social and environmental change.
Professionally, Emily has designed inclusive online courses across more than 20 disciplines and supported international graduate programs serving students from over 160 countries. She has trained teaching assistants from around the world, led workshops on accessible and equitable course design, and developed MOOCs on sustainability and environmental consulting. Beyond the university, Emily helped establish Illinois’s first folk school, a community initiative rooted in place-based experiential learning with a focus on outdoor education.
She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and a Master of Education in Education Policy, Organization, and Leadership with a concentration in Philosophy of Education from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. As a graduate student, she taught and supported graduate courses on critical thinking in education and educational reform. These experiences shaped her interest in how thoughtful pedagogy can support students in becoming informed and engaged global citizens.
At Teachers College, Emily looks forward to contributing to the Center for Sustainable Futures’ cross-disciplinary work at the intersection of sustainability, education, and international collaboration. She is particularly drawn to its commitment to championing the right of all people to access high-quality learning experiences that address the complex relationships between ecological systems, social equity, and the future of our communities. Her long-term goal is to help learners and institutions achieve sustainable development goals through international collaboration and civic engagement.
Something special about TC
I’m drawn to Teachers College for its strong commitment to social and environmental justice, which aligns with my goals as an educator and researcher. TC’s Center for Sustainable Futures, in particular, offers a unique opportunity to engage in meaningful, interdisciplinary work on sustainability and education.
Youngkwang Jeon
Youngkwang Jeon is a Ph.D. student in the International and Comparative Education Program (ICEP) at Teachers College, Columbia University, where he explores the intersections of educational policy, equity, and global development. His research primarily focuses on education systems in low- and middle-income countries, with particular attention to inclusive education, socioemotional learning, and the implementation and evaluation of education policies in resource-constrained settings. He is especially interested in how national education reforms are adapted at the local level and how educators navigate challenges related to equity, inclusion, and well-being in under-resourced environments.
Youngkwang holds an Ed.M. in International Education Policy from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, an M.Div. from Yale Divinity School, and a B.A. in Human Development from Boston College. His interdisciplinary academic background informs his commitment to education as both a technical and moral endeavor. He has received several competitive fellowships and research grants, including the Harvard Center for International Development/Malcolm Wiener Center Joint Award, the Harvard Center for African Studies Research Grant, and Yale’s President’s Public Service Fellowship, which have supported his local and global education and development research.
Professionally, Youngkwang has collaborated with international organizations such as the World Bank and UNICEF, contributing to field-based evaluations and research initiatives in Sub-Saharan Africa, particularly Tanzania. His work has involved authoring studies on early childhood development, remote learning during emergencies, and teacher professional development. He uses rigorous mixed-methods approaches to ensure that his research is both contextually grounded and policy-relevant.
Fluent in Korean and proficient in Kiswahili, Youngkwang brings a global, multilingual perspective to his work. Across all his academic and professional efforts, he remains deeply committed to advancing educational equity, supporting underserved learners, and producing research that informs inclusive, evidence-based policymaking.
Something special about TC
Teachers College is special to me because it brings together a unique blend of academic rigor, social justice, and global perspective that aligns deeply with my personal values and aspirations. Being part of this close-knit community inspires me to think critically, act compassionately, and contribute meaningfully to the field of international education development.
Amine Mechaal
Amine Mechaal is a Ph.D. student in the International and Comparative Education Program (ICEP) at Teachers College, Columbia University. His research lies at the intersection of language policy, postcolonial theory, and the internationalization of higher education, with a regional focus on North Africa. He is particularly interested in how multilingualism in Morocco—across French, English, Arabic, and Amazigh—reveals tensions between neocolonial continuities and local aspirations for epistemic justice, mobility, and national development.
At Teachers College, Amine serves as Executive Director for Global Engagement and is the founding architect of the College’s first institutional study abroad programs. He developed and launched two inaugural faculty-led programs with ICEP faculty: Education, Conflict, and Peacebuilding (Costa Rica, with Dr. Garnett Russell) and Education, Refugee & Migration Policies and Practices (Morocco, with Dr. Mary Mendenhall). These programs have created new pathways for international experiential learning rooted in TC’s values of justice, equity, and global responsibility.
Amine is also the co-founder of the Consortium for Diplomacy and Global Action (CDGA), an official TC initiative in partnership with the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) and the International Academy for Arts (IAA). CDGA blends academic study with hands-on engagement in diplomacy, global governance, and multilateral leadership. In addition, Amine is the founder of the Institute for Moroccan American Development and Education (IMADE), a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that supports Moroccan students and professionals through cross-border advising, academic exchange, and community development.
He holds graduate degrees in International Education Development (Teachers College), International Relations (CUNY), and in Translation and Conference Interpreting (Abdelmalek Essaâdi University; Tangier, Morocco). His early professional experience includes working as a conference interpreter for international organizations, including the United Nations, where he developed a deep appreciation for language as a tool of inclusion, diplomacy, and institutional transformation.
Before joining Teachers College, Amine held senior roles at IES Abroad, where he developed and managed over 120 global programs and later served as Assistant Director for Academics and Customized Programming in Rabat. A Fulbright alumnus and recipient of multiple awards in teaching and educational innovation, Amine is committed to bridging academic research and global practice to build inclusive, multilingual, and internationally responsive education systems.
Something special about TC
Something truly special about Teachers College is its deep and unwavering commitment to the public good—not as a slogan, but as a living principle that shapes every corner of the institution. As someone whose work centers on global engagement, I see this ethos reflected in the way TC empowers individuals to lead with integrity, think critically across borders, and act courageously in service of a more just and interconnected world. TC doesn’t just prepare educators and scholars—it prepares changemakers. And for me, that is both inspiring and profoundly personal.
Moisa Saidu
Moisa is a Ph.D. student in the International and Comparative Education Program (ICEP) at Teachers College, Columbia University, with a concentration in sociology. His 17-year professional journey is rooted in a deep commitment to education, human rights, and community-driven change. Before he began his academic path in the U.S., Moisa worked with women, youth, and communities worldwide, conducting capacity-building workshops and implementing rights-based initiatives.
After completing his master's at the Heller School at Brandeis University, he spent a couple of years in the United States, helping U.S. companies with their international business development strategies. Later, he felt a strong urge to return to Sierra Leone, where he reconnected with his network of local civil society leaders and collaborated on projects in education, public health, and policy reform. Witnessing the daily challenges faced by youth and women at the crossroads of education, conflict, and health reignited Moisa's intellectual curiosity in this body of work, which led him back to Teachers College for a second graduate degree.
At Teachers College, he served as a Zankel Graduate Fellow, teaching refugee students in New York City. Most recently, Moisa was the Director of Education for the United States government-funded program focused on migrant youth in West Texas.
His current research investigates how refugee youth exercise their agency and navigate educational outcomes in new learning environments. Drawing on Human Rights and Liberation theories, he examines the balance between student agency and the structural forces at play in pedagogy and institutional power.
Something special about TC
TC is a place where you meet people who genuinely understand you and stand with you. I chose to return to TC because its greatness extends beyond academics; it is a community that celebrates growth, belonging, and the richness of its neighborhood.
Kseniia Tishkus
Kseniia is a Ph.D. student in the International and Comparative Education Program (ICEP) at Teachers College, Columbia University. She holds an M.A. in International Education from The George Washington University in Washington, D.C. and a B.A. in Asian and African Studies from the National Research University Higher School of Economics in Moscow.
Her primary research interests center on education policy and the transfer of global education reforms. During her Master’s studies, Kseniia’s thesis examined the internationalization of teacher education programs through the integration of global citizenship education within higher education institutions in D.C., Maryland, and Virginia. Through this research, she discovered that barriers to transforming and globalizing local educational systems are rooted in the reluctance of academic institutions to develop and adopt new policies. As a result, this experience deepened her interest in understanding how education policies and reforms are developed, institutionalized, and transferred worldwide, as well as why some countries embrace these policies while others resist them. Drawing on her professional background in the Chinese education sector, Kseniia is particularly interested in exploring China’s educational cooperation and policy influence in African countries—a research area she plans to examine in-depth during her doctoral studies at ICEP.
Kseniia brings over seven years of experience in international education, having begun her career as an educator in Russia and China before transitioning to work on higher education internationalization in the United States. Deeply committed to advancing the Sustainable Development Goals through education, Kseniia also worked at the UNESCO Asia-Pacific Centre of Education for International Understanding (APCEIU) in South Korea, where she supported the development and evaluation of academic and training materials that promote global citizenship education, peacebuilding, and sustainability across the Asia-Pacific region. During her Master’s program, Kseniia also served as a Research Assistant at the GW Global Education Lab, where she contributed to research projects on sustainability education and global competence development through study abroad programs in public schools in Washington, D.C.
Something special about TC
Something truly special about Teachers College is the deep connection I’ve felt with the work of the ICEP faculty—long before I ever imagined I would study here, as I was reading a number of publications from the faculty. What feels especially meaningful is the opportunity to now be working with the very scholar whose writing has inspired me for years. I am especially thrilled to start working with and learning from Dr. Gita Steiner-Khamsi, whose research profoundly grounded my interests in global education policy. The chance to learn from her directly, not just through her books, but in person as my adviser, is both a privilege and a dream come true.
Haoyue Wuang
Haoyue Wang is a Ph.D. student in the International and Comparative Education Program (ICEP) at Teachers College, Columbia University. Her research explores the intersection of education policy, digital governance, and school reform. She is particularly interested in how artificial intelligence (AI) and digital tools are used in educational planning and management (EPM) to enhance transparency, equity, and data-informed decision-making. Her current work examines national strategies for digital transformation in education, as well as the evolving role of ministries of education in regulating and implementing these tools.
Before joining the doctoral program, Haoyue worked as a consultant at UNESCO’s International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP) in Paris. At IIEP, she contributed to global projects on the application of AI and digital innovation in education governance, including a multi-country study analyzing how ministries of education are integrating digital tools into planning processes.
Haoyue holds a master’s degree in International Educational Development from Teachers College, where she specialized in policy analysis and planning. She also earned dual bachelor’s degrees in Economics and French from Beijing Normal University. Her academic training is grounded in comparative education and critical policy studies, with an emphasis on mixed-methods research.
Broadly, Haoyue’s doctoral research investigates how national education systems adopt and adapt digital tools, particularly those involving algorithmic decision-making. She is interested in how global policy norms surrounding AI are translated and contextualized in different countries, especially in the Global South. Through this work, she hopes to contribute to more inclusive and critically informed approaches to digital transformation in education.
Something special about TC
To me, what’s most special about TC is the people—it’s a place where I’ve found generous mentors, encouraging peers, and a global community that truly cares. They’ve helped me reflect on my experiences in China, grow as a researcher, and get one step closer to the work I dream of doing. Education, at its heart, is about human connection—and I’m grateful that TC gives me the space to build those connections every day.
Good luck Emily, Youngkwang, Amine, Moisa, Kseniia and Haoyue!
The International and Comparative Education Program prepares doctoral students to enter academia and/or assume leadership positions in various organizations in the field. Our teaching framework emphasizes theory, disciplinary and content knowledge specific to sub-fields, research methods, and applied skills. If you are interested in applying to our doctoral program, visit the Office of Admission.
— International and Comparative Education