Jacob B
- Research Program Mentor

PhD at University of New Hampshire

Expertise

US education law and/or policy, labor relations, critical race theory, dignity and belonging in the workplace

Bio

I've been an educator for more than 15 years, with expertise in writing instruction, legal research, and public policy analysis. While I currently teach high school English, I also have extensive experience at the undergraduate and graduate levels. When I think of my many years "in front of the class," the image that comes through most clearly is of me kneeling at the desk of a student to talk through a thorny question and planning how to approach it most effectively. Outside my teaching, I'm a girl-dad of three, an avid hiker and biker, a bread-baker, and a poet.

Project ideas

Project ideas are meant to help inspire student thinking about their own project. Students are in the driver seat of their research and are free to use any or none of the ideas shared by their mentors.

X Marks the Spot: Mapping Policy Decisions

Choropleth maps convey a lot of meaning through vibrant color-coded visualization. No matter your policy interests -- economics, education, health, immigration, labor, voting -- you can bring those issues into stark relief in static or interactive displays. What similarities or differences do you see? What are the implications for residents in different parts of your map?

What's Past is Prologue; What's Next is Intertext

When Antonio observes, in Shakespeare's "The Tempest," that "what's past is prologue," he implies that the present and future are shaped by previous events. That may be so, but the literary concept of intertextuality allows us to reframe earlier texts and imbue them with new meaning that may not have been intended by their authors. One example of intertextuality is Aimé Césaire's "Une Tempête" ("A Tempest" in English translation), which reinvents Shakespeare's famous final play and addresses it to a new century's issues. Can you discover any other intertextual reinventions? What can we learn about the past, present, or future through a modern interpretation of a classic?

On "Divisive Concepts"

Legislative action in the realm of public school curriculum has been in overdrive since early 2021 when states saw a wave of bills aimed at so-called "divisive concepts." The sponsors of these bills have variously described Critical Race Theory (CRT) as seditious, anti-American, and racist. However, the existence of CRT is virtually non-existent below the college level and is much more prevalent at the graduate level and in law schools. This project describes the tenets of CRT, the origins of the "divisive concepts" wave of legislation, and indications of chilled speech among instructors at all levels of education.

Teaching experience

I have more than 15 years' experience as an educator in the humanities and social sciences. I started as a writing tutor (2008-2010), worked briefly as an instructor of English in Prague (2009), and began my faculty career teaching university composition and literature courses in 2010 after earning an MFA in Creative Writing. Since earning a PhD program in Higher Education Leadership and Policy Studies in 2020, I have taught courses in higher education policy and governance and educational policy at the PK-12 level. In 2025 I started teaching high school English at a large regional high school in NH.