Staff
Michael C. Reichert, Ph.D.Executive Director
Education:Georgetown University, BSFS, 1974
University of Pennsylvania, MS.Ed., 1980
University of Pennsylvania, Ph.D., 1984
Professional Biography:
Dr. Reichert earned his doctorate in Professional Psychology and received additional clinical training at the Philadelphia Child Guidance Clinic. He has specialized in work with children, families and males in a clinical and consulting practice for the past 25 years. He created and served as Director of an urban youth development program, Peaceful Posse, sponsored by Philadelphia Physicians for Social Responsibility, and currently serves as Executive Director of the Center for the Study of Boys’ and Girls’ Lives, a research consortium of independent schools operating in partnership with the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Reichert has published and spoken at conferences, schools and to community groups on subjects related to boys’ and girls’ lives and traumatic disruptions in children’s experience. He has consulted to and conducted training for many independent schools, is currently on staff at The Haverford School outside of Philadelphia.
Research Interests and Current Projects:
Current research interests include the impact of gender curricula on boys' and girls’ lives, the social dimensions of learning, development of emotional intelligence and leadership, moral development, developmental trajectories toward violence and programming for democracy and sanctuary in schools. Dr. Reichert is especially interested in psychological programs, both in schools and in communities, which can contribute to lives of greater possibility and integrity for children. With Richard Hawley, he has developed the Boys’ Audit as a service to schools. And, as father to two sons, Dr. Reichert is committed to supporting other parents of boys and has developed the workshop, Raising Sons 101.
Peter Kuriloff
Research Director
Education:Antioch College, B.A., 1965
Harvard University, Ed.M., 1966
Harvard University, Ed.D.,1970
Professional Biography:
Dr. Kuriloff earned his doctorate in counseling psychology and is a fellow of the American Psychological Association in School Psychology. He has taught at the University of Pennsylvania since 1970 and twice chaired the Psychology in Education Division. He moved to the Educational Leadership Division (now the Foundations and Practices of Education Division) in 1992. Besides teaching at GSE, Dr. Kuriloff is the senior advisor on Group Effectiveness and Career Development in Wharton’s Executive MBA program. Dr. Kuriloff has held a number of University-wide positions, including chair of the Grievance Commission, chair of the Senate Committee on Academic Freedom and Responsibility and chair of the Faculty Senate.
Research Interests and Current Projects:
Dr. Kuriloff’s interests include gender dynamics (masculinities, femininities, and school gender "offers") and their impact on the opportunities of children; minority retention in schools and colleges; and, in general, the reinvention of schools as more inclusive, open, generous, and effective places for the children who inhabit them. His research has involved the study of learning and teaching in small groups, the impact of legal reform on educational practice including the effectiveness of various kinds of dispute resolution in public schools, the nature of parent-child communications about human sexuality, the organizational and educational consequences of parental involvement in public schools, and most recently, the impact of various constructions of masculinity on boys’ learning and emotional development. In his capacity as research director of the Center for the Study of Boys’ and Girls’ Lives, a coalition of independent schools, he fosters teacher-initiated research to discover and implement best practices for boys and girls.
Brett G. Stoudt
Director of Boys’ Research
Education:
Moravian College, B.A., 1998
The Graduate School of the City University of New York, Ph.D. Candidate, 2008
Professional Biography:
Brett G. Stoudt is a Ph.D. candidate in Social-Personality Psychology at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. He has previously conducted work on understanding the experiences of people with disabilities especially people who stutter. He is currently focused on examining privilege in education, especially in regards to hetero-normative masculinities, whiteness, and socioeconomic status. He is a statistical consultant at the Mt. Sinai Ruttenberg Cancer Center and the Director of Boy’s Research for the Center for the Study of Boys’ and Girls’ Lives. Brett is particularly committed to using the processes and outcomes of “participatory action research” to build the social and material infrastructure necessary for institutional change. He is in the process of working with Global Rights, a human rights advocacy group, to conduct participatory action research with marginalized women living in Nepal and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Research Interests and Current Projects:
Global Rights: Partners for Justice (Washington, DC)
2007-present Participatory Action Research & Statistical Consultant
Enshrining Minority Women’s Rights as Constitutional Rights: A Research Collective of Nepali Women (2007-present). Kathmandu, Nepal. Increased Access To Justice For Victims of Sexual Violence Through Empowerment & Mobilization of Local Communities: A Research Collective of Congolese Women (2007-present). Bukavu, Democratic Republic of Congo. Addressing the Human Rights Dimensions of Natural Resource Exploitation in Africa (2007-present). Central Africa. Violence Against Women in Afghanistan Families: A Survey (2007-present). Kabul, Afghanistan. Amplifying International Youth Voices on Rights, Poverty & Discrimination in Education (2007). Nigeria, Brazil, Cameroon, Columbia, Dominican Republic, Honduras & India. With Michelle Fine, Eve Tuck & Amber Hui.
Center for the Study of Boys’ & Girls’ Lives (CSBGL) (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
2003-2007 Senior Research Associate (formerly Center for the Study of Boys’ Lives)
2007-present Director of Boys’ Research
Strengthening & Supporting the Advisor System through Teacher Research (2005-present). Episcopal High School: Alexandria, Virginia. Investigating Faculty Beliefs about Masculinity & Boys’ Development (2005-2007). University School: Shaker Heights, Ohio. Character Education for Boys: Curriculum Evaluation, Research & Curriculum Development (2005-present). Chestnut Hill Academy: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Examining the Positional & Multilevel Experiences of Hetero-Normative Bullying from Lower School to Upper School (2004-present). Haverford School: Haverford Pennsylvania. Assessing the Socio-Educational Boarding School Experiences of Boys & Girls: A Thirty Year Gender Audit (2004-2006). St. Paul’s School: Concord, New Hampshire. Assessing the Achievement of Boys & Girls in the 2002 & 2003 Cohort (2004-2005). Episcopal High School: Alexandria, Virginia. Understanding Boys’ Risk Taking & Moral Behavior within the Context of a Values Driven School (2004-2005). Chestnut Hill Academy: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Mount Sinai Hospital: Ruttenberg Cancer Center (New York, New York)
2000 Research Assistant
2002-present Statistician & Data Analyst
Women’s Circle of Life: Behavior, Estrogen, Metabolism & Breast Cancer Risk: A Molecular Epidemiology Study (2005-present). Department of Defense: Washington, DC. Principal Investigator: Dana Bovbjerg, Ph. D. Cancer Prevention & Control: Multidisciplinary Training (2004-present). National Cancer Institute: Bethesda, Maryland. Principal Investigator: Dana Bovbjerg, Ph. D. Psychological & Behavioral Factors in Chemotherapy-Related Fatigue (2001-2006). American Cancer Society: New York, New York. Principal Investigator: Dana Bovbjerg, Ph. D. Presurgery Stress: Biological Impact in Breast Cancer (2000-2003). National Cancer Institute: Bethesda, Maryland. Principal Investigator: Dana Bovbjerg, Ph. D. Inherited Susceptibility to Breast Cancer in Healthy Women: Mutations in Breast Cancer Genes, Immune Surveillance, & Psychological Distress (1998-2005). Department of Defense: Washington, DC. Principal Investigator: Dana Bovbjerg, Ph. D. Familial Cancer Risk: Stress Induced Consequences (1998-2000). National Cancer Institute: Bethesda, Maryland. Principal Investigator: Dana Bovbjerg, Ph. D.
Sharon M. Ravitch, Ph.D.
Director of Girls’ Research
Education:Harvard University, Ed.M. 1994
Harvard University, Ed.M. 1995
University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education, Ph.D., 2000
Professional Biography:
Sharon M. Ravitch, Ph.D. is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education, where she serves as the Interim Director of, and Faculty Research Fellow in, the Center for Collaborative Research and Practice in Teacher Education. Ravitch teaches master’s and doctoral-level courses including qualitative research, ethnography, academic literacies, dissertation development and instrument design, research on teaching, fieldwork and mentoring, and race and cultural issues in urban education for the Foundations and Practices of Education Division, the Mid-Career Doctoral Program in Educational Leadership, and the Teach for America program. Ravitch earned two master’s degrees from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education, one in Human Development and Psychology and the other in Education. She earned her doctorate at the University of Pennsylvania in an interdisciplinary program that combined anthropology, sociology, and education to study issues of culture and identity in the American Educational System. Ravitch authored the book "School Counseling Principles: Multiculturalism and Diversity" (American School Counselor Association, 2006) and co-authored a book entitled "Matters of Interpretation: Reciprocal Transformation in Applied Development Contexts for Youth" (Jossey-Bass, 1998). Ravitch is currently working on a co-authored book entitled "Teaching, Learning, and Doing: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Educational Inquiry and Professional Development". She publishes articles and book chapters in the area of qualitative research broadly and ethnography and practitioner research specifically. Ravitch speaks nationally in the areas of practitioner and action research, ethnography, multicultural education, and teacher education and consults internationally in the areas of ethnography and applied research.
Research Interests and Current Projects:
Dr. Ravitch’s research has three main strands: (1) Practitioner research: Dr. Ravitch’s research on practice-based inquiry centers on practice-based research that works from a participatory action research approach to engendering professional and institutional change. Her research focuses on both the pedagogy of practitioner research and the influences of practice-based inquiry on school-based practice and educational leadership more broadly. Dr. Ravitch is particularly interested in how educational practitioners learn about inquiry and how they conceptualize and utilize research in relation to their daily practices and commitments. Dr. Ravitch is engaged in the teaching of and collaborative research with educational leaders across the United States as well as with systemic family therapists at the Central Integral de la Familia and the Universidad Cristiana Latino Americana in Quito, Ecuador. (2) Teacher education: Dr. Ravitch is engaged in research that focuses on teacher education and professional development, specifically the ways in which issues of diversity, inequity, and the sociopolitical context of schooling shape urban teachers’ perspectives on a diverse range of students, their own worldviews, and their pedagogy as well as the teaching and learning that take place in and around teaching and teacher education courses. She is engaged in collaborative research focused on the role of reflective writing and inquiry groups on teachers’ processes of learning to teach.
(3) Ethnography across disciplines: Dr. Ravitch is engaged in collaborative research on issues of methodology, representation, and media influence on the practices, conceptions, articulations, and uses of ethnography across disciplines. Return to Top
