Melissa Hauber-Özer
- Co-Director of Qualitative Inquiry
- Assistant Professor
Melissa Hauber-Özer is an Assistant Professor and Co-Director of Qualitative Inquiry in the Department of Learning, Teaching, and Curriculum. She received her Ph.D. in International Education from George Mason University and previously taught adult literacy and English for Speakers of Other Languages. She employs community-based, participatory, and ethnographic methodologies to examine issues of educational access and equity for linguistically and culturally diverse learners in migration contexts. She is a co-author of Critical Participatory Inquiry: An Interdisciplinary Guide (winner of the 2025 AERA Qualitative Research SIG Outstanding Book Award) and co-editor of The Routledge International Handbook of Critical Participatory Inquiry in Transnational Research Contexts, and her work has been published in several edited volumes and journals, including Gateways: International Journal of Community Research and Engagement, RELC Journal, and TESOL Journal.
Dr. Hauber-Özer teaches qualitative research methods courses and co-leads the Qualitative Research Consortium and Certificate in Qualitative Research. She is affiliate faculty in the Ph.D. in Language and Literacies for Social Transformation program, a faculty fellow with the Cambio Center, and a member of the Interdisciplinary Migration Studies Institute steering committee. She is also active in leadership roles with TESOL International and the American Educational Research Association.
Areas of Expertise
- Qualitative research methods
- Adult language and literacy learning
- Educational access and equity for refugees and immigrants