2025 Alumni Award of Excellence Recipient: Patricia K. Kubow
Patricia K. Kubow (she/her) is Professor and Program Chair in International and Comparative Education in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at Indiana University. As founding director of the Center for International Education, Development and Research, she received numerous federal grant awards that brought prestigious Fulbright teacher and international educator programs to the IU School of Education. Her comparative research focuses on global-local constructions of democracy, citizen identity, and formal and indigenous education in Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East. She has conducted research in 25 countries worldwide. Kubow has received distinguished research awards from the: Association of North America Higher Education International; Comparative and International Education Society (i.e., Joyce Cain Award for Distinguished Research on People of African Descent); American Educational Research Association; and Association of Teacher Educators. A former President of the United States/The White House and the U.S. Agency for International Development Education have recognized her work in the area of democratic citizenship education. Kubow has been a U.S. Fulbright Scholar to Jordan and also received a Fulbright-Hays Seminars Abroad award for South Africa and a Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad award for Jordan.
Current Job: Professor, International and Comparative Education Program Chair at Indiana University
CEHD Degree: MA, educational administration; PhD, educational policy & administration
Current job
Professor, International and Comparative Education Program Chair at Indiana University
CEHD degrees
MA, educational administration; PhD, educational policy & administration
What is your favorite memory from the University of Minnesota?
Some of my favorite memories from the University of Minnesota are serving as research assistant and project coordinator for The Citizenship Education Policy Study (CEPS) and traveling to Hong Kong, Japan, and Thailand for work with a nine-country research team. The countries involved in the CEPS future-forecasting study included: England, Germany, Greece, Hungary, the Netherlands, Japan, Thailand, Canada, and the U.S. We studied the changing nature of citizenship and the role of education for citizenship forecasted for 25 years. The research led to presentations in, and travel to, Australia, Canada, and various locales in the U.S. as well. A book was published from this work and used to inform the national curriculum in the area of citizenship education in England, for instance.
What professor(s) or course(s) were most influential during your time in the College of Education and Human Development (CEHD)?
My courses in Comparative and International Development Education (CIDE) with Professors John J. Cogan, R. Michael Paige, and Josef Mestenhauser were the most influential during my time in the College of Education and Human Development (CEHD) at the University of Minnesota. I am one of the first graduates of the Ph.D. program in CIDE, as the doctoral program was created by these outstanding professors and approved during my time in the M.A. program in International Development Education, which led to my continuing on to complete the Ph.D. in CIDE as well.
What was the impact and benefit of your educational experience in CEHD?
Obtaining a doctorate from CEHD has provided professional knowledge and research skills that has led to a professional platform for scholarship and dissemination of my continued research that focuses on global-local forces on cultural constructions of democracy, citizen identities of children and youth, and formal citizenship education, especially in the Middle East and Sub-Saharan Africa. Through my experience in CEHD at the University of Minnesota, I realized that an academic life as a professor was the career direction I desired. I have been in the field of comparative and international education for almost 30 years.
When you have 30 minutes of free time, what do you do?
Go to the lake for sunshine, picnics, and to enjoy nature
What's a good book you'd recommend to others
Recently, I have been revisiting 'Habits of the Heart: Individualism and Commitment in American Life' by Robert N. Bellah et al. It explores how Americans find meaning in their lives and explores the implications of individualism and community for U.S. democracy.
If you could have coffee with anyone from history, who would it be?
Jesus Christ
What gets you excited about work?
As a Professor of International and Comparative Education in Indiana University's School of Education, a nationally-recognized leader in the field, I enjoy helping students understand the relationship between education and the social, cultural, political, and economic forces shaping schooling in national and international contexts.
When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
As early as second grade, my teacher wrote on my report card that I was interested in people and cultures. From the fourth-grade and onward, I knew that I wanted to be a teacher when I grew up. In my senior year of high school, my English teacher asked students in the class to individually list the top three things they wanted in the years ahead. While most students wrote down 'get married, buy a house, and have children', I wrote down: 'Be a teacher, write a book, and live in an African country.' All of those goals have been accomplished. I credit my mother who instilled in me the joy of learning, the value of formal education, and the power of the pen. I credit my fourth-grade teacher and my high school English teacher who taught me how to write well. And, I credit my graduate school experience in CEHD as challenging me to engage in in-depth inquiry about the underlying assumptions of theory, educational structures, and policies and practices. I learned how to question why things are the way they are and what can be done differently to foster educational opportunity, access, equality, and equity.