Shushan Vardanyan

Shushan Vardanyan serves as a full-time tenure track Assistant Professor of Early Childhood Education within the Department of Teacher Education at the University of Mississippi's School of Education, teaching undergraduate and graduate courses including EDEC 320 (Early Childhood Methods) and EDEC 605 (Integrating Arts in Early Childhood Education).

Her academic credentials include:

• B.A. in Linguistics from Yerevan State University of Architecture and Construction (2002)
• M.A. in Education from Murdoch University (2013)
• Ph.D. in Early Childhood from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (2019)

Dr. Vardanyan's research centers on constructivist frameworks applied to multicultural contexts, with emphases on:

• Play-based pedagogy and STEAM integration
• Cultural influences on language acquisition and child development
• Forest school methodologies and outdoor learning environments
• Educational applications of Piaget/Vygotsky/Bronfenbrenner theories

Her work is informed by 12 years of K-4 classroom experience across Dubai and American schools, alongside Armenian cultural perspectives on nature-based education.

Recent 2025 publications analyze children's gun violence trauma through artistic expression and examine systemic barriers to active learning implementation, revealing her commitment to addressing contemporary educational challenges through qualitative case study methodologies.

Her teaching directly integrates practical classroom insights with theoretical frameworks, preparing future educators to implement developmentally appropriate practices in diverse early childhood settings through programs like the Early Childhood Education B.A.Ed. and M.Ed.