Joseph Kahne

Mills College

Area of Expertise:

Democratic and civic education; digital media and public participation

Joseph Kahne is Chair of the YPP Research Network and is the John and Martha Davidson Professor of Education at Mills College. He was previously Dean of the School of Education. His research focuses on ways school practices and new media influence youth civic and political development. He also studies urban school reform. Together with Ellen Middaugh and Chris Evans at Mills and Amanda Lenhart, Alexandra Rankin Macgill, and Jessica Vitak at the Pew Internet and American Life Project, Professor Kahne recently completed the first nationally representative survey of youth that examined the civic potential of video games. He also recently completed a longitudinal study with Sue Sporte of how opportunities in students’ schools, homes, and communities influenced the civic outcomes of 4,000 students in Chicago’s public schools. Currently, he is writing up findings from a panel study of the impact of new media participation and civic education on students from 19 districts across California. His work has been published in leading education journals including the American Educational Research Journal, Phi Delta Kappan, and the Harvard Educational Review. Professor Kahne sits on the steering committee of the National Campaign for the Civic Mission of Schools and on the Advisory Board of the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE). With Cathy Cohen, he is Co-Principal Investigator on YPP’s quantitative research component – The Youth Participatory Politics Survey Project.