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Mary Battenfeld is Clinical Professor of American Studies and Director of Undergraduate Studies in the American Studies Program at Boston University. She joined Boston University in 2018 after serving as a tenured full professor of humanities at Wheelock College, where she also chaired the General Education program. Dr. Battenfeld earned her Ph.D. in American Studies from the University of Maryland in 1990, with a dissertation titled “Writing on the Battlefield: Women and Documentary Discourse in the 1930s,” following an M.A. in American Studies from the same institution in 1985 and a B.A. with honors in linguistics from Swarthmore College in 1980.
Her research areas include education and civil rights history, the literature and history of adoption in the United States, and contemporary education policy and parent advocacy. Selected publications include the co-authored book Notable Books, Notable Lessons: Putting Social Studies Back into the K-8 Curriculum (ABC-CLIO, 2017), the article “Why Every Student Succeeds Act Still Leaves Most Vulnerable Students Behind” co-authored with Felicity Crawford (U.S. News and World Report, 2015), “Round and Round Together: The Civil Rights Movement Comes to an Amusement Park” (Social Studies and the Young Learner, 2013), a chapter titled “Indigenous Perspectives on the American Dream” in The Routledge Handbook on the American Dream, Volume 3, and the article “The impact of cultural representation of youth on political representation” (Frontiers in Political Science, 2025). She is a three-time Fulbright Scholar, with awards for work in Indonesia, Nepal, and Slovenia, and previously served as a Public Impact Scholar at Boston University’s Initiative on Cities. Dr. Battenfeld has held leadership roles including president of the New England American Studies Association and has contributed to peer review for journals such as MELUS. She maintains an active commitment to undergraduate teaching and public engagement on education equity issues.
Explore the controversy at Boston University where pride flags were removed from windows, igniting faculty backlash over signage policies and academic freedom amid national DEI scrutiny.
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