Paula M. Salvio

Paula M. Salvio is a Professor of Education at the University of New Hampshire (UNH) and an affiliate professor in Classics, Humanities, and Italian Studies within the College of Liberal Arts. Her research focuses on cultural and historical foundations of education, particularly exploring psychoanalysis, life-writing, and the impacts of marginalization, trauma, and war on women, children, and youth. She examines how historical transitions like wars and revolutions influence education, culture, and politics. Her interdisciplinary work combines archival research with visual and literary analysis, engaging feminist and post-colonial theories.

Salvio has authored books including Anne Sexton: Teacher of Weird Abundance (2007) and The Story-Takers (2017), and co-edited volumes such as Love’s Return: Psychoanalytic Essays on Childhood, Teaching, and Learning (2006). Her research has been supported by grants from the Canadian SSHRC, U.S. Department of Education, and others. She received notable awards like the Critics Choice Award from the American Educational Studies Association and the Lindberg Award from UNH’s College of Liberal Arts.

Her teaching spans courses in educational studies, curriculum theory, and qualitative research methods. She actively mentors students and faculty while contributing to initiatives in program development, shared governance, and academic assessment. Salvio also engages in public humanities through writing on cookbooks and food blogs as forms of public pedagogy, reflecting on hegemonic and counter-cultural narratives.

Her recent work delves into fascist legacies in Italy, antimafia resistance movements, and critical explorations of childhood in neoliberal contexts. She emphasizes listening practices in community-based media projects and the ethical dimensions of memory work in education.