Veena Vasudevan

Veena Vasudevan serves as an Assistant Professor of Practice in Digital Media and Learning within the School of Education at the University of Pittsburgh. Her academic journey includes postdoctoral work at New York University and the American Museum of Natural History, where she focused on citizen science platforms and science-community partnerships. Prior to her academic career, she designed educational technology initiatives with city and state governments and worked with non-profits addressing education equity and economic inequality.

Her educational background includes a Master of Public Administration (MPA) from Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs and a Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania's Graduate School of Education.

Vasudevan's research centers on understanding children and youth through the lenses of identity, learning, and literacies, with particular emphasis on STEM learning, educational equity, and urban education contexts. Her work consistently places people at the center of technology, teaching, design, and classrooms, challenging traditional educational structures and advocating for more equitable learning environments. She employs qualitative methodologies and educational ethnography to examine how digital media and making practices can transform learning experiences.

Her recent publications reveal a consistent focus on care-based research methodologies, youth agency in curriculum design, and the intersection of physical and digital making in learning environments. These works demonstrate her commitment to reimagining educational spaces where students co-construct knowledge and challenge traditional power dynamics in schools.

Vasudevan is deeply committed to equity and justice in education, as evidenced by her co-edited book Care-Based Methodologies: Reimagining Qualitative Research with Youth in U.S. Schools which argues that care is essential in all aspects of school-based research. The book details methods for conducting responsible research that improves understanding of youth lives while working to dismantle oppressive systems.

Her research trajectory shows significant engagement with National Science Foundation funded projects examining how online citizen science platforms shape students' science identities and how art-centered approaches can expand data literacies for middle school students. Her work bridges theory and practice, connecting academic research with real-world educational challenges.

Vasudevan's approach to educational research emphasizes transparency, reflexivity, reciprocity, curiosity, consent, and self-care as core components of ethical research with youth. Her recent work has been particularly responsive to the challenges of the pandemic era, highlighting how isolation has magnified the need for caring relationships in educational research and practice.