Maria Hantzopoulos

Our Lives, Our World at Academy of American Studies

In 2025, Maria and her Vassar students partnered with the Academy of American Studies in Queens to create a civic-engagement curriculum for a senior government class that teaches about human rights, social movements, and social change in global and local contexts. The group also partnered with the teacher to implement the curriculum over six weeks.

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Our Lives, Our World at Poughkeepsie High School

In 2022, Maria and her Vassar students partnered with Poughkeepsie High School to create a human rights-based curriculum for a senior economics class that teaches about migration, human rights, and their economy in global and local contexts. The group also partnered with the teacher to implement the curriculum over six weeks.

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UCLA Asian-American Studies AAPI Textbook Project

From 2022-23, Maria worked closely with labor activist May Ying Chen and historian Rachel Bernstein to design lesson plans and activities for a chapter on the Chinese Garment Workers Strike in New York City. The chapter is part of an AAPI Multimedia Textbook and curriculum coming out of UCLA.

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Rethinking the Region: New Approaches to 9-12 U.S. Curriculum on the Middle East and North Africa

From 2013-16, Maria was the lead of a research-based curricular project that analyzed the common categories used to describe and teach the Modern Middle East and North Africa in existing U.S. World History textbooks. Based on this research, the project offers robust alternatives for Grade 9-12 educators that integrate new scholarship and curricula in the region.

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Select Teacher Professional Development

• Athens Comics Library.  Athens, Greece.  Peace and Human Rights Education: Theory and Practice, Professional development for Athens-based teachers of migrants and refugees (2022)
• Institute for Training and Development.  Amherst, MA. Rethinking the Region: Innovative Curricula on MENA for High School Teachers, Professional development for teachers from 12 different countries (2022)
• NY State Master Teacher Program.  Designing Culturally Responsive and Socially Just Curricula in the STEM Classroom, Professional development for Grade 6-12 science teachers (2022)
• IRIS International Book Club for K-12 teacher.  University of Wisconsin, Teaching About the Middle East and North Africa:  Rethinking Approaches, Professional development for Grade 6-12 teachers based on the book Nowhere Boy (2021)
• Association for Historical Dialogue & Research, IMAGINE Retreat for Trainers, Nicosia, Cyprus, Four-day peace education training for teachers from North and South Cyprus (2019)
• Columbia University South Asia Institute. New York. An Indian Ocean of Goods:  Tracing Commodities and the Rise of Global Capitalism in South Asia Seminar, Workshops for K-12 teachers on integrating themes into Curriculum (2019)
• Columbia University Middle East Institute.  New York. Decentering the State: Refugees, Migration, and Displacement Seminar, Workshops for K-12 teachers on integrating themes into Curriculum (2019)
• Columbia University South Asia Institute.  New York. Trading companies, Commerce, and the Rise of Global Capitalism in South Asia and the Indian Ocean world (circa 1600-1900) seminar, Workshops for K-12 teachers on integrating themes into Curriculum (2019)
• Columbia University, Middle East Institute. Reconfiguring Representations of the Middle East and South Asia Symposium, Workshop for K-12 teachers on integrating themes into Curriculum (2018)
• Institute for Students Achievement, Principal professional development (2016)
• University of Chicago, Teaching about the Middle East and North Africa, Professional development for teachers (2015)
• Flushing International High School, Staff development on Restorative Practices (2013)
• Teachers Unite Summer Institute, Staff development on Restorative Practices (2012)
• Institute for Students Achievement, Principal professional development (2012)