Our Team

Haeny Yoon

Haeny Yoon is an Associate Professor in the Department of Curriculum and Teaching at Teachers College, Columbia University. She is recommitting herself to the intellectual capacity and power of teachers to create, (re)imagine, and forward public scholarship and social change. As a former elementary school educator, she has always believed that when given the space, teachers can be engaged citizens who interrupt racism and multiple exclusions inherent in school curriculum, educational policies, and teaching pedagogies. She engages in research that studies how children and teachers create spaces of play or aesthetic experiences where creativity, social relationships, and civic engagement take precedence over standardization and regulation. She lives in New York City with her husband Neal and gets inspired daily by her niece and nephew, Emmy and Max.

Carmen Lugo Llerena

Carmen Lugo Llerena is an early childhood educator at Central Park East II in East Harlem and a doctoral student at Teachers College, Columbia University. She is committed to providing her students spaces to learn through exploration and play, while nurturing a sense of civic responsibility. Carmen’s research focuses on childhood culture, and the ways young children develop emotional literacy and make meaning of the world through play and the appropriation of popular culture. She has co-authored several articles and books around race, equity, and social justice. She is a Marvel enthusiast and loves to help little humans discover their superpowers. Carmen lives in New Jersey with her husband John, sons Nico and Lucas, and their dog Howie.

Catherine Cheng Stahl

Catherine Cheng Stahl is an educator, researcher, and doctoral student in the Department of Curriculum and Teaching at Teachers College, Columbia University. She is in her 8th year of teaching, currently working with students at the beginning of their college journey and those pursuing graduate studies. Her research explores youth learning, belonging, and identity work outside of school, particularly in digital spaces. She engages in multimodal and ethnographic methodologies to elevate youth digital identities through exploring the complex and nuanced ways young people perform self and negotiate belonging in technology-mediated worlds. This research interest stems from both her own experiences as a teenager immersed in virtual worlds (the most influential being Neopets!) and her time hanging out with Gen Zers as a former high school chemistry and biology teacher. Catherine lives in New York City with her husband Max and the two of them love taking the NYC ferry!