Mahasan Chaney

Mahasan Chaney is an Assistant Professor of Education at Brown University, affiliated with the Africana Studies Department, Annenberg Institute for School Reform, and Cogut Institute for the Humanities. Her research focuses on post-civil rights era education history, critical policy studies, and Black education, particularly examining how education reforms perpetuate inequality through punitive discipline policies. She holds a PhD from UC Berkeley (2020) and has received prestigious fellowships including the Cogut Faculty Fellowship (2024) and Spencer Dissertation Fellowship (2019-2020).

• Education:
  • PhD in Education, UC Berkeley, 2020
  • MS in Education, University of Pennsylvania, 2011
  • BA in Education, UC Berkeley, 2010
• Research: Explores the 'educationalization' of social problems and federal education policies' impact on Black students. Current book project: Disciplining Opportunity examines how school discipline policies contribute to systemic inequality.
• Awards:
  • Cogut Faculty Fellowship, 2024
  • Writing Fellow, William T. Grant Foundation, 2021
  • Spencer Dissertation Fellowship, 2019-2020
• Teaching: Courses include Race and Democracy in Urban Education Policy and Punishment and School Discipline.

Her work critically analyzes neoliberal education reforms, anti-Blackness in institutions, and the historical roots of the school-to-prison pipeline. She collaborates with professional societies like the History of Education Society and American Education Research Association.