Faculty Profiles

Academic Statement (Return to top)

Jordana DeZeeuw (De-ZAY-Oh) Spencer received her M.S. in Experiential Education from the University of New Hampshire and her B.A. from Yale University. She has taught in both public and private schools, nationally and internationally, ranging from Massachusetts to California and South Africa to Greece. In addition to her classroom experience, Jordana has facilitated eight seasons of programs through Interlocken: Center for Experiential Learning (for which she traveled with students across Western Europe, Northern Africa, and the Hawaiian Islands) and toured her one-woman, Shakespeare show, Muse of Fire, to demonstrate the universal themes represented in the Bard’s canon. Jordana was the creator and first coordinator for the residential, post-secondary Bridge Year Program, an academically rigorous, semester or year-long experience, which engages students in vocational internships, cross-cultural exchanges, service learning, and scholarship. Jordana’s graduate research examined the efficacy of experiential education in cross-cultural programs to enhance students’ moral development, and her doctoral research draws upon Critical Social Theory & Pedagogy, Feminist Theory & Pedagogy, an Ethic of Care, Dialogism & Communication Theory, and Intersectionality Theory to explore what capacities the human animal needs to nurture in order to connect in solidarity across “difference” (whatever we may perceive that to be).  Jordana’s passions lie in Social Justice Education with particular foci on Gender & Sexuality, as well as Anti-Racism, Studies and solution-oriented critiques of culturally constructed oppressive systems.  Jordana complements her MAP Associate Faculty responsibilities with full-time teaching in Prescott’s residential undergraduate program (RDP) and serving as a Graduate Advisor to MAP students, while performing Shakespeare with regional theatre companies across the U.S. during the summer.  In 2011-2012, she also will fill the Graduate Teaching Assistant Program (GTAP) Interim Director role.