Biography
Megan Bang
James E. Johnson Professor of the Learning Sciences at Northwestern University and the Director of the Center for Native American and Indigenous Research
Annenberg Hall Room 140, 2120 Campus Drive, Evanston, IL 60208
megan.bang@northwestern.edu
Committee term end date: September 1, 2027
Megan Bang (Ojibwe and Italian descent) is the James E. Johnson Professor of the Learning Sciences at Northwestern University and the director of the Center for Native American and Indigenous Research. Bang studies foundational dynamics of culture, learning and development across the life course, particularly with respect to the natural world. She has been especially interested in knowledge organization, reasoning and decision-making about complex socio-ecological systems and their intersections with identity, cultural variation, history, power and ultimately well-being. In her work, these issues are central to the challenges of the 21st century, such as climate change, adaptation and sustainability, as well as the kinds of social and civic relations intertwined with these issues. She utilizes this foundational work towards improving education pre-K through undergraduate in formal and informal learning environments, educational leadership and policy. A key aspect of her work has been focused on regenerating Indigenous education systems for the 21st century through community-led projects. Bang is a member of the National Academies of Education, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Board of Science Education at the National Academy of Sciences, and the Board of Environmental Research and Education at the U.S. National Science Foundation.