Bonnie Tai

Bonnie Tai is a faculty member in Educational and Human Studies. Her primary teaching and research interests focus on experiential and intercultural education. Most recently, she is investigating Buddhist philosophy, psychology, and contemplative practices and their contributions to our understanding of the nature of knowledge, self, and human experience. Two overarching goals have driven her work over the last twenty years: to enhance access, equity, and quality in education and facilitate learning, teaching, and leadership that values individual and group differences and helps communities effectively negotiate conflict and change. As peer, advisor, teacher, and mentor, Bonnie aims to help educators put theory into practice in contemplative, experiential, intercultural, and democratic education.

Bonnie started teaching during college when she worked summers for the Island School, a summer enrichment program for inner-city middle-schoolers on Thompson Island in the Boston Harbor. After college, she served as a Peace Corps volunteer teaching Math and English at Mahalapye Community Junior Secondary School in Botswana. During her first graduate program, she developed a keen interest in increasing access and equity in higher education, and followed her first graduate degree working at Brandeis University as Associate Director of Admissions and Curriculum Specialist for Student Support Services. After earning her doctorate, she directed the M.A. program in Curriculum and Instruction at California State University, Long Beach.