Dian Mawene
Assistant Professor
Department of Education
Dian Mawene will join UNH in spring 2022 as an assistant professor of education. She is currently finishing her Ph.D. in special education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, from where she holds an M.S. and B.Ed. Her research interests are at the intersections of race, class, space and disability. She is particularly interested in understanding structural factors such as public policies and school de/segregation politics that shape the educational opportunities of students, especially students of color. Mawene’s research is transdisciplinary in nature, combining perspectives from special education, disability studies, education policy and critical geography. Currently, she is working on examining how students of color and of low-income backgrounds are spatially othered. She has also developed systemic transformation with local school stakeholders to create a culturally responsive school discipline system. An emerging new line of study for Mawene is establishing teacher-preparation programs that develop justice-oriented teaching forces.