Sousan Arafeh
Sousan Arafeh, Ph.D., Assistant Professor
Dr. Sousan Arafeh is an Assistant Professor in the Educational Leadership and Policy Studies Department where she teaches courses in education policy, leadership theory, leadership development, administrative applications of learning theory, supervision and staff development, and the advanced seminar in leadership and supervision. She also supervises doctoral students working on their dissertations and students conducting their field-based Internships.
Dr. Arafeh has worked in the fields of education, policy, and communications as a
classroom teacher and a researcher for over 15 years. She has substantial expertise
and experience in qualitative methods, STEM education initiatives, program evaluation,
teacher professional development and training, technology use in education and education
policy. Other areas of research interest are education and the future, alternative
educational approaches/informal education, and parent/student voices.
Having begun her career in education as a middle-school, then high-school teacher,
she has since taught undergraduate, graduate, adult education and teacher education
pre-service and in-service courses. Originally from Connecticut, Dr. Arafeh is pleased
to be back in-state and teaching/doing research in the Administrator Certification
and Doctoral programs of the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies.
Prior to SCSU, Dr. Arafeh served as the Deputy Director of the National Center for
Technology Innovation (NCTI) - a National Center to innovate assistive technology
for improved outcomes for students with disabilities. She was also a Senior Research
Analyst at the American Institutes for Research (AIR) - an education research firm
and think tank in Washington, D.C. where she consulted for key education-related agencies
nationwide. She continues to provide independent research, evaluation and strategic-planning
services through her Connecticut-based firm Research Images.
Dr. Arafeh has published and lectured nationally and internationally. In addition
to book chapters and peer-reviewed articles, she has authored numerous reports for
national organizations such as the National Science Foundation/SRI, U.S. Department
of Education, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Pew Research Centers, College Board,
the American Association of Colleges of Teacher Education, Cable in the Classroom,
and the National Commission on Writing for American's Families, Schools, and Colleges.
Key reports include The Digital Disconnect: The Widening Gap Between Internet-Savvy
Students And Their Schools (Pew Internet and American Life Project), Writing, Technology
and Teens (Pew, College Board & National Commission on Writing), and the Third International
Mathematics and Science Study Pursuing Excellence: Comparisons of International 8th-Grade
Mathematics and Science (U.S. Dept. of Education). Recently, she has been working
with the P-20 Council of Connecticut's Board of Regents for Higher Education.
At SCSU, Dr. Arafeh is committed to teaching, advising, and supervising the diverse teachers and educational leaders enrolled in our EDL and Doctoral programs. She enjoys co-creating challenging, engaging, and authentic educational activities with her students so that they may develop leadership and research abilities in keeping with their personal visions for the future - and those of the State of Connecticut's educational system.
Dr. Arafeh received her B.A. from Hampshire College in Classics, her M.A. from the University of British Columbia in the Sociology of Education, and holds a joint Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin - Madison in Curriculum and Instruction and Education Policy and Communications and Cultural Studies. She is proud to say that Drs. Michael Apple and John Fiske were her dissertation sponsors.