Isabel Nuñez, Ph.D., M.Phil., J.D.
Isabel Nuñez, Ph.D., M.Phil., J.D.
Isabel Nuñez is a professor of educational studies and dean of the School of Education at Purdue University Fort Wayne. She holds a Ph.D. in Curriculum Studies from the University of Illinois, Chicago; an M.Phil. in Cultural Studies from Birmingham University; and a J.D. from UCLA Law. She has been a classroom teacher in Los Angeles and Birmingham, England; a newspaper journalist in Tokyo; and a visiting professor at the University of San Francisco. She has published four books with Teachers College Press and a textbook with McGraw Hill. She has authored chapters in books from Peter Lang, Routledge, SAGE, the Oxford University Press, and the Cambridge University Press. Her work has appeared in Curriculum Inquiry, Educational Studies, the Journal of Curriculum Theorizing, and Teachers College Record. She has led several professional organizations, including the American Educational Studies Association, the Society of Professors of Education, and Division B of the American Educational Research Association.
- EDU 32701 Classroom Assessment
- EDU 34001 Education and American Culture
- EDU 36900 Culturally Relevant Multilingual Literacy Education for Elementary Teachers
- EDU 57001 Building Classroom Communities
- Tozer, S., Konkol, P., Nuñez, I., & Warren, C. (2026). School and society: Historical and contemporary perspectives (9th ed.). McGraw Hill.
- Vaughan, K., & Nuñez, I. (Eds). (2023). Praxis: How educators embody curriculum studies. Teachers College Press.
- Nuñez, I., & Goulah, J. (Eds). (2021). Hope and joy in education: Engaging Daisaku Ikeda across curriculum and context. Teachers College Press.
- Nuñez, I. (2021). Celebrating sexuality: My curriculum of gratitude. Curriculum Inquiry, 51(3), 350-365. https://doi.org/10.1080/03626784.2021.1941795
- Vaughan, K., & Nuñez, I. (2020). Curriculum scholars' reflections on the curriculum field. Journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Curriculum Studies, 14(1). https://doi.org/10.14288/jaaacs.v14i1
- Nuñez, I., Lopez, L., Kempf, A., Job, J., Huckaby, M. F., & Konkol, P. (2017). Provoking dialogues: Worth striking for. Journal of Curriculum Theorizing, 31(3), 1-17. https://doi.org/10.63997/jct.v31i3.669
- Nuñez, I., Michie, G., & Konkol, P. (2015). Worth striking for: Why education policy is every teacher's concern. Teachers College Press.
- Nuñez, I., Laura, C., & Ayers, R. (Eds). (2014). Diving in: Bill Ayers and the art of teaching into the contradiction. Teachers College Press.
- Nuñez, I. (2025, October 29-November 2). Justice-oriented faculty and the university: Into the contradiction [Presidential address]. American Educational Studies Association Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM, United States.
- Nuñez, I. (2024, April 3). To others as to ourselves: Courage, wisdom, and compassion [University Talk]. Soka University of America, Aliso Viejo, CA, United States.
- Nuñez, I. (2021, June 16-18). Spirituality and selfhood: Toward integrity as a teacher [Keynote address]. The 2nd International Conference on Ikeda/Soka Studies in Education (virtual).
- Nuñez, I. (2021, April 10). Coyote lessons: Bernardo Gallegos and the trickster as teacher [DeGarmo Lecture]. Society of Professors of Education Annual Meeting (virtual).
- Nuñez, I. (2017, December 4). Congratulations--it's still the best work in the world [Keynote address]. Teacher Leadership Curriculum Conference, Miami University of Ohio, Oxford, OH, United States.
- Nuñez, I. (2016, June 7). Toward peaceful inner and outer worlds: Lessons from Soka education. [Keynote address]. Thoughts on Education for global Citizenship: The Courage of Application Seminar at Teachers college Columbia University, New York, NY, United States.
- Nuñez, I. (2013, December 20). Curriculum and teaching at the end of the world: Will the phoenix arise in Chicago? [Keynote address]. Chicago Curriculum Studies Student Symposium, Chicago, IL, United States.
- Nuñez, I. (2012, May 19). Because you know the value of struggle [Commencement address]. Concordia University Chicago graduate ceremony, River Forest, IL, United States.
- 2024 American Educational Studies Association Critics Choice Book Award--Praxis: How Educators Embody Curriculum Studies
- 2022 Society of Professors of Education Outstanding Book Award--Hope and Joy in Education: Engaging Daisaku Ikeda Across Curriculum and Contexts
- 2021 Professors of Curriculum Honorary Induction
- 2020 Society of Professors of Education Charles DeGarmo Award
- 2016 Society of Professors of Education Outstanding Book Award--Worth Striking for: Why Education Policy is Every Teacher's Concern
- 2015 Society of Professors of Education Outstanding Book Award--Diving In: Bill Ayers and the Art of Teaching into the Contradiction
- 2008 Ann Lynn Lopez Schubert Memorial Fellowship (inaugural recipient), University of Illinois at Chicago
- 2002-2008 Abraham Lincoln Fellowship, University of Illinois at Chicago