DCSSC Speakers

Retired DuPage County Circuit Judge who served in the Divorce, Felony, and Juvenile Courts for 27 years. He graduated from Loyola University of Chicago with a B.A. and J.D. Judge Anderson has been honored for his work in violence prevention, promoting education on domestic violence and juvenile issues. He is an adjunct professor at Loyola University School of Law and he regularly presents at local and national law and social studies conferences. He is a past President of the Illinois Judges Association and a past Chair of the DuPage County Circuit Court Family Violence Coordinating Council.

Professor of History at North Central College. He earned his B.A. in History from Yale University, his M.A. in History from the University of Texas at Austin, and his Ph.D. in History from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He taught high school for three years before attending graduate school. He teaches a variety of U.S. history classes, including African American History, U.S. in the 1960s, History of the American West, American Environmental History, U.S. from 1865 to 1945, U.S. Since 1945, and Public and Local History. His main research interests are environmental history and urban history, and he has published a variety of articles and book chapters. He is the co-editor, with Kathleen Brosnan and Ann Durkin Keating, of City of Lake and Prairie: Chicago’s Environmental History, published in 2020.

Laura Brandt teaches AP Psychology and is the social studies department chair at Libertyville High School in the Chicago suburbs. She also teaches AP Psychology online for Northwestern University's Center for Talent Development and previously taught AP and IB Psychology at College du Leman in Geneva, Switzerland. A former TOPSS executive board member, she has held multiple roles at the AP Psychology exam reading, including table and question leader, and serves as an IB examiner. Laura co-created the I-Score 5 AP Psychology review app and the Books for Psychology Class blog, which reviews psychology books and classroom resources. She is also the co-author of the 3rd edition of the AMSCO AP Psychology book and has contributed to other textbooks and review materials for AP Psychology.

Executive Director of Digital Inquiry Group (DIG). He directed the Stanford History Education Group for 10 years before it became DIG. He leads DIG's efforts to research, develop, and disseminate free curriculum and assessments. He oversaw the creation of the Civic Online Reasoning curriculum, which helps students sort fact from fiction online using the strategies of professional fact checkers. The curriculum won a Global Media and Information Literacy Award from UNESCO in 2020. He received a Ph.D. from Stanford Graduate School of Education after teaching high school history in Vermont.

Professor of History at Illinois Wesleyan University and Distinguished University Professor Emeritus at WIU. His research interests include soldiers’ military service conditions in ancient armies and Corinthian coinage. He has published ten edited volumes on ancient history including most recently Brill’s Companion to Diet and Logistics in Greek and Roman Warfare (2023), co-edited with John Donahue, Women and the Army in the Roman Empire (2024), coedited with Elizabeth M. Greene, and Boundaries of War (2024) coedited with Tim Roberts. He has also published articles and chapters on Corinthian coinage, ancient military history, teaching history, Ancient technology, historiography, and the Roman army on film. He is working on a monograph study of mutiny and indiscipline in the Roman military of the late Republic and early Empire.

Professor of South Asian and Comparative Literature at Northwestern University, and the Director of Northwestern’s Alice Kaplan Institute for the Humanities. She co-founded and co-directed Northwestern’s Race, Caste, and Colorism Project. She has written, translated, and edited several publications on Dalit, anti-caste, and modern Indian and global literatures including Writing Resistance: The Rhetorical Imagination of Hindi Dalit Literature (Columbia University Press 2014), Unclaimed Terrain: Stories by Ajay Navaria (Navayana 2013) and the Routledge Companion to Postcolonial and Decolonial Literature (2024).

Taught at West Chicago Community High School for 27 years and is now the Director of the Illinois Civics Hub and Illinois Democracy Schools Program, leading efforts to support the implementation of the civics course requirements and Illinois social science standards. In addition to presenting on civic learning around the country, she has been featured on CBS Sunday Morning, highlighted in numerous publications, and has advocated for civic education before federal and state lawmakers. A former member of the NCSS Board of Directors, she worked on both the Steering Committee and Pedagogy Committee for the new Educating for American Democracy Roadmap.

Current social studies teacher at Naperville North High School who has taught a variety of courses, including sociology, comparative religions and AP Human Geography. Mr. Dengel has sought to provide engaging learning to his students through the use of panel discussion, guest speakers, and field trip experiences. He has also been a sponsor for several cultural clubs, including the Muslim Student Association. He is a graduate of Northern Illinois University.

Was eight years old when his older brother ran over him with his bike, leaving a giant skid mark across his forehead that lasted for days. This has nothing to do with his role as a Social Studies Chair for the last 11 years or teaching social studies for more than 20 years, rather this is just an amusing story.

Has been teaching at DePaul for over forty years and has lectured in Russia, Poland, Hungary, and Croatia. His research compares strategies for political and economic development in post-Communist and post-conflict countries. He has consulted for some of the largest corporations in the U.S. and has appeared frequently on U.S. and international media. Additionally, he is a Fulbright/US State Department designated “Senior Specialist” on Balkan, Ukraine, and Post-Communist Societies.

Associate Professor of Political Science at Roosevelt University in Chicago and a contributing writer for The Week magazine. His most recent work includes The Kids Are All Left: How Young Voters Will Unite America (Melville House, 2020). His academic work has been published in Arab Media & Society, Middle East Policy, and the International Journal of Middle East Studies. He has also written widely for popular audiences, including for The Washington Post, The New Republic, Washington Monthly, Salon, Buzzfeed, USA Today, US News and World Report, The Christian Science Monitor, NPR.org, and Informed Comment.

Curator of research at Naper Settlement in Naperville, IL. She received her Ph.D. in American History and Public History from Arizona State University in 2017. Her research focuses on the intersections of race and economics and community efforts to commemorate public housing communities in changing neighborhoods. For the past four years, she has been part of an Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) National Leadership grant entitled Unvarnished: Housing Discrimination in the Northern and Western United States, researching segregation, tools of discrimination, and resistance strategies across America.

Dedicated educator with 23 years of high school teaching experience, including eleven years as an instructional coach. Additionally, she spent eight summers traveling nationwide as a national trainer for Kagan Cooperative Learning. Geeve is passionate about empowering students to find their voice in the classroom. With a strong commitment to professional development, she thrives on creating innovative training programs that inspire educators to foster student engagement and success. Geeve is dedicated to guiding students on their pathways to achievement, fostering an atmosphere where they can thrive and take ownership of their education. Her approach centers on collaboration, creativity, and a deep understanding of individual needs.

Leads iCivics’ policy and advocacy work through the CivXNow Coalition and oversees civic education campaigns. He plays an active role in recruiting supporters to fund policy, advocacy, and implementation efforts nationwide. He previously chaired the Illinois Task Force on Civic Education, spearheaded legislative campaigns for a required civics course in Illinois, and led the Illinois Social Science Standards Task Force. He also serves as an adjunct Public Policy professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago and is a member of the Serve Illinois Commission. He began his career as a social studies teacher in Wisconsin and Illinois. A 2001 James Madison Fellow, Healy holds an M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Chicago in political science, and a bachelor’s degree with distinction in Political Science, History, and Secondary Education from the University of Wisconsin at Madison.

Education consultant who developed and oversaw delivery of Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Chicago‘s professional development model Teaching about the Asian American Experience: A Primer. In addition to Asian American history and racial identity, she is also involved in Holocaust education, human rights issues, and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) topics. Throughout her nearly 30 years of experience, she has authored a number of curriculum lessons, journal articles, and blog posts, and has traveled domestically and internationally with others sharing best practices of inclusive curriculum. Hurh received her Ed.M. in Human Development and Psychology at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and her B.A. in Political Science at Northwestern University. She lives in Chicago, Illinois, and refers to her learning how to tap dance as a practice in humility.

In addition to serving as the Social Studies Department Chair at Glenbard East High School, Jaffe is a prolific viewer of television programming that really has no right to be broadcast (looking at you, TLC and Bravo networks!). In elementary school, Jaffe won the Fourth Grade Social Studies Award. His two oldest children (10 years old and 8 years old) often remind him that his jokes are “just ok…sometimes.” His co-presenter Adam Dyche has applied sixteen times to join Jaffe’s Inner Circle of Friends. Perhaps the seventeenth time is the charm!

Associate Professor, Curriculum and Instruction at Northern Illinois University. Professor Manderino studies the intersections of digital literacies for disciplinary learning, especially with adolescent learners. He is an incoming co-editor of the Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy. Manderino is on the executive board of the Association of Literacy Educators and Researchers in the role of social media manager and incoming vice-president of the organization. He is also the co-director of the NIU Social Justice Summer Camp for Educators. He is co-author of three books including, Graphic Novels in High School and Middle School Classrooms: A Disciplinary Literacies Approach. He has also authored over 25 journal articles and book chapters.

Licensed clinical psychologist with practices in Naperville and Chicago. He has been in the field since 1981 and has worked in numerous settings, including community mental health centers, private hospitals, rehabilitation centers, residential programs, and private practice. A former high school teacher, Dr. Maniacci has over 50 publications, including five textbooks, and has been a core faculty member and instructor at several graduate programs throughout the area.

Executive director of the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability (CTBA), a bipartisan 501(c)(3) think tank committed to ensuring that state, federal, and local workforce, education, fiscal, economic, and budget policies are fair and just, and promote opportunity for all, regardless of race, ethnicity, or income. He is also the Rubloff Professor of Public Policy at Roosevelt University. At the CTBA, he helped create a bipartisan legislative task force to integrate workforce and economic development policies and has received numerous awards for his work on education and public policy reform. He is a regular columnist on education, fiscal, and economic policy and graduated with highest honors from Indiana University with a B.A. in history and received his J.D. from the University of Michigan.

Professor at Northwestern University who specializes in the history of race, politics, and law in the United States. She’s the author of Until Justice Be Done: America’s First Civil Rights Movement, from the Revolution to Reconstruction, a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in History and a New York Times "critics' pick" for 2021. She regularly collaborates with museums and other nonprofits, including the National Park Service, the National Constitution Center, the Newberry Library, and the Smithsonian Museum of African American History and Culture. She was a key consultant for the 2019 documentary, Reconstruction: America after the Civil War, and appeared in the 2021 CNN film, Lincoln: Divided We Stand.

Dr. Ganae McAlpin-Toney currently serves as the Director of Equity for Evanston Township High School having begun her career at ETHS in 2010 as a history teacher. Ms. McAlpin has provided leadership in various ways including serving as an instructional coach and as an Evanston Educator Academy induction and mentoring facilitator. Ms. McAlpin is an experienced leader of professional learning and adult learning having provided various professional development nationwide as a Democratic Classrooms Leadership facilitator through Full Circle Leadership, offering insight and critical analysis to policy and practice.

Award-winning author and Senior Director of Professional Learning at EdTechTeacher. He currently serves as Secretary of the Illinois Digital Educators Association. He has 25 years experience as a teacher and leader in public, private, and alternative schools. McCusker is the author of Becoming Active Citizens, winner of the Forward INDIES 2022 Book of the Year, Gold Award for Education. His column “the Tech Savvy Classroom” was featured in Digital Learning Magazine. As an expert in technology integration, his lessons and student products have been featured in THE Journal, Educational Leadership, and the Huffington Post. In 2006, he was recognized as a finalist for the Golden Apple Award for Excellence in Teaching. In 2016, he was named a Top Trailblazing Educator on Twitter by eSchoolNews. He regularly appears as a keynote and featured speaker at conferences across the US.

Professor and Head of the Department of History at the University of Northern Iowa where she teaches courses on early modern European history and the history of England. Dr. McNabb has received several awards for her teaching and has completed four courses for The Teaching Company’s The Great Courses on the Renaissance, witchcraft, sex, and marriage. Her scholarship has appeared in The Sixteenth Century Journal, Quidditas: The Journal of the Wooden O, Women’s History, and Cheshire History, and she has published chapters in The Youth of Early Modern Women (Amsterdam University Press) and Religion and the Early Modern British Marketplace (Routledge). She was recently elected to serve as a Councilor in the Professional Division of the American Historical Association.

Director of the D’Arcy McNickle Center for American Indian and Indigenous Studies at the Newberry Library and Adjunct/Affiliate Faculty in the History Department and the Center for Native American and Indigenous Research at Northwestern University. Her research explores Indigenous history in the Great Lakes, especially related to public history and memory. She holds a BA in History and a Ph.D. in American Studies from the University of Minnesota.

Graduated from Western Illinois University with a B.A. in American History. He earned his M.A. in Curriculum and Instruction from Chicago State University and in Law Policy & Criminal Justice from the University of Illinois at Chicago. He is a retired Social Studies teacher who founded the DuPage County Law Education Workshop for Teachers and worked for 12 years as Project Evaluator on three successive Teaching American History federal grants.

Professor of History at Western Illinois University. Her teaching and research interests include modern Japan, women’s movements, public health, and history of food. She has published articles in several journals, including the Pacific Historical Review and U.S.-Japan Women’s Journal. She also published “Women and Social Movements in the Philippines during the American Empire, 1900-1940,” in Indigenous Women’s Voices in North America, American Empire, and the Global South, 1820-2020: A Syllabus with Documents (Alexander Street Press, 2024).

Veteran English teacher of twenty years. He has taught at both Naperville North High School and Dundee-Crown High School. He has multiple degrees, including an M.A. in Educational Leadership with Principal endorsement, an M.A. in English Language and Literature, and a B.A. in English Language and Literature. Pearson and Patrick Burns run their own podcast channel called the Bot Brothers and have created and published a variety of online content related to AI in Education.

Passionate 7th grade teacher and Social Science Department Chair at Kennedy Junior High in Naperville 203. With 22 years of teaching experience, she continually seeks ways to get students engaged with the world through critical thinking, driving them to investigate perspectives regarding history, people, culture, and current events. She has engaged in work with organizations such as Google Earth and National Geographic, collaborating with educators to create engaging, up-to-date resources. Reitz has an M.Ed. in Educational Administration and an Ed.D. in curriculum, with an emphasis in curricular leadership, where she continues to focus on how to utilize varied resources and teacher learning to better prepare students for our ever-changing world.

Professor of Geography in the Department of Geography, Geology, and the Environment at Illinois State University. He has a B.S. in geography from Brigham Young University, and M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in geography from the University of Kansas. At ISU, he teaches GIS, National Parks Geography, Human Geography, Maps and Society, World Geography, and field classes to explore cultural landscapes in the American Southwest and Japan. In addition, he is the geography program internship coordinator. His research interests are cultural landscapes, sense of place, and geographic information science. Rowley has published Everyday Las Vegas: Local Life in a Tourist Town, an in-depth study of local life and sense of place in a tourist town. He has also published articles in such journals as GeoHumanities, Journal of Cultural Geography, Geographical Review, Great Plains Quarterly, Asian Geography, and Cartographica, as well as chapters in a number of edited volumes including Explorations in Place Attachment and The Changing World Religion Map. He loves exploring new places on student field trips and on family vacations.

Dedicated 6th grade language arts and history teacher at Washington Junior High School in Naperville 203. With 25 years of teaching experience, she is passionate about creating a classroom environment where students feel safe to engage in constructive conversations and learn to respect and appreciate diverse perspectives. Trannon continually explores new ways to make complex historical and literary content accessible and meaningful, helping students build the skills they need to think critically about the world around them. She believes that fostering respectful dialogue empowers students to become empathetic, informed citizens, ready to navigate today’s dynamic society.

Teaches at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth and at the University of Chicago. He holds a Ph.D. in public policy from the University of Chicago, a Master’s in Public Affairs from Princeton University, and a B.A. from Dartmouth College. He is a former correspondent for The Economist and the author of numerous books, including Naked Economics, Naked Money, and Naked Statistics, that attempt to make serious topics more accessible (and even fun). Dr. Wheelan has a passion for making economics and public policy interesting and understandable to laypeople. He is also the author of The Centrist Manifesto, a book that grew out of his experience as a candidate for Congress in Chicago in 2009. He is the founder and chair emeritus of Unite America, a non-partisan movement working to put voters first by fostering a more representative and functional government. His forthcoming book, Naked Government, is slated for publication in 2025.

Current resident of Georgia who was wrongfully accused of a crime he did not commit. White spent almost 27 years in prison, and through the efforts of attorneys and students at the Georgia Innocence Project, DNA testing finally proved White’s innocence. He has been a guest speaker at Naperville North High School for the last four years to share his story with students in sociology and criminal justice classes.