Overview
Maja Anderson, is a Visiting lecturer at Cornell University and Instructor at Tompkins Cortland Community College, teaching Moral Psychology in Action, Portfolio Development, and Digital Storytelling. She also has a fifteen-year history at Cornell managing programs like the Milstein Program in Technology and Humanity and the Laidlaw Program in Leadership and Research and is currently, the Student Development Project Manager at Cornell's David M. Einhorn Center for Community Engagement, managing the redesign of the center's student development student-run and peer-mentorship programs. Concurrently, she is Assistant Director for the Virginia Governor's School for the Visual and Performing Arts and Humanities. Maja holds an MFA in Art, Human-Centered Design, and an MA in Education and Emerging Technology.
Research Focus
My research explores the impacts of using human-centered design methodologies, and co-creation of creative outputs on student agency, intrinsic motivation, and interpersonal connection. I investigate how the synthesis of community-engaged pedagogy and innovative, student-centered learning modalities impact learning outcomes, and how educators might design curricula, teaching methodologies, and systems that promote autonomy, authority, and self-directed learning while equipping students with the skills and mindset required to confront the "wicked problems" and complex global issues of our day.