Dr. Marcia (Marci) Watson-Vandiver, PHD
Dr. Marcia (Marci) Watson-Vandiver is an Assistant Professor of Elementary Education at Towson University. She attended Mercer University in Macon, Georgia, where she received her B.S. in Middle Grades Education with specializations in language arts and social studies methods. After her undergraduate studies, she worked for Atlanta Public Schools as an alternative middle school teacher and was awarded Teacher of the Year in 2010 at Forrest Hill Academy. She received her M.Ed. in Educational Policy and Leadership from Georgia State University. She later received her Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction – Urban Education and Graduate Certificate in Africana Studies from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Marci is the co-author of Unshackled: Education for Freedom, Student Achievement and Personal Emancipation [Sense Publishers], which connects the historical and contemporary importance of education as a transformative tool for social mobility. She is also the co-editor of Contemporary African American Families: Achievements, Challenges, and Empowerment Strategies in the 21st Century [Routledge Publishers]. Marci’s research interests explore various intersections of Black education, including: resistance pedagogy, historical and contemporary issues in urban education, critical multiculturalism, and transformative/emancipatory learning.