Faculty Profiles: Margaret Nash
Professor Margaret A. Nash
Bachelor's Degree, major
B. Ph. (Bachelor of Philosophy), Interdisciplinary Studies, Miami University
Master’s Degree, major
M.A., Educational Policy Studies, University of Wisconsin
Doctoral Degree, research area, conferring institution
Ph.D., Educational Policy Studies, University of Wisconsin
Some favorite quotes:
"Never be afraid to sit awhile and think."
—Lorraine Hansberry (1930-1965), playwright
"Read, every day, something no one else is reading. Think, every day, something no one else is thinking. Do, every day, something no one else would be silly enough to do. It is bad for the mind to continually be part of unanimity."
—Christopher Morley (1890-1957), essayist, novelist
Area of research:
My research focuses on the history of education in the United States, especially the role education plays in the historical construction of identity. I am interested in the social contexts for and meanings of education, the question of who gets educated and why, and the relationships between education and citizenship and between education and policy.
Publications:
Nash, Margaret A. “Contested Identities: Nationalism, Regionalism, and Patriotism in Early American Textbooks,” History of Education Quarterly (forthcoming).
Nash, Margaret A. “The Historiography of Education for Girls and Women in the United States,” in Rethinking the History of American Education, John L. Rury and William J. Reese, eds., New York: Palgrave Press, 2008, 143-159.
Klein, Susan S., and Homer, Elizabeth Ann, with Cheris Kramarae, Margaret A. Nash, Carol J. Burger, and Linda Shevitz, “Summary and Recommendations for Achieving Gender Equity in and through Education,” in Handbook for Achieving Gender Equity through Education, 2nd ed., Susan S. Klein, ed., Mahwah, New Jersey and London: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2007, 655-681.
Nash, Margaret A. “The Relationship between Academic Social Scientists and Educational Policymakers: A Historical Overview,” in New Foundations for Knowledge in Education Policy, Politics, and Administration: Science and Sensationalism, Douglas E. Mitchell, ed., Mahway, New Jersey and London: Erlbaum Press, 2006, 3-28.
Nash, Margaret A. Women’s Education in the United States, 1780-1840. New York: Palgrave Macmillan (formerly St. Martin’s Press), 2005.
Nash, Margaret A. "'How to Be Thankful for Being Free': Searching for a Convergence of Discourses on Teaching Patriotism, Citizenship, and United States History," Teachers College Record 107 (January 2005), 214-240.
Nash, Margaret A. “Patient Persistence: The Political and Educational Values of Anna Julia Cooper and Mary Church Terrell,” Educational Studies 35 (April 2004), 122-136.
Nash, Margaret A. ‘“A Triumph of Reason’: Female Education in Academies in the New Republic,” in Chartered Schools: Two Hundred Years of Independent Schools and Academies in the United States, 1725 -1925, Nancy Beadie and Kimberly Tolley, eds., Routledge Press, 2002, 64-86.
Tolley, Kimberly and Margaret A. Nash. “Leaving Home to Teach: The Diary of Susan Nye Hutchison, 1815-1841,” in Chartered Schools: Two Hundred Years of Independent Schools and Academies in the United States, 1727-1925, Nancy Beadie and Kimberly Tolley, eds., Routledge Press, 2002, 161-185.
Nash, Margaret A. “Cultivating the Powers of Human Beings’: Gendered Perspectives on Curricula and Pedagogy in Academies in the New Republic,” History of Education Quarterly 41 (Summer 2001), 239-250.
How I discovered my professional passion:
For many years my professional commitment has been to educational equity. In Washington, D.C. (1984-1989) and in Madison, Wisconsin (1989-2000), my work centered on promoting gender and racial equity in schools.
As a researcher and writer, my work has focused on issues regarding underserved populations. I produced a book on school-based programs for youth considered to be at risk and did analyses of school policies regarding pregnant and parenting teenagers, the need for comprehensive school health services, and on AIDS/HIV education.
When I went back to graduate school, I took a course on the history of education and immediately became immersed in exploring the roots of educational inequities. Now I see historical research as critical to understanding the complexities of our educational systems.
What reading do you keep on your nightstand?
The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan
Leisure activities:
Watching movies, reading novels (Ian McEwan and Jane Hamilton are two current favorite authors), traveling
A favorite book from childhood?
The Happy Hollisters series!