With extensive background in the New York City public education system, and an academic focus in educational and developmental psychology, Rachel Besharat Mann joins Wesleyan University as a Visiting Assistant Professor, bringing an interdisciplinary background to the College of Education Studies.  She previously served as a professor of educational psychology and curriculum and teaching at Fordham University in New York. She currently serves as a research consultant for Digital Promise, a non-profit educational company seeking to improve education access and opportunity through research. Her focus at Digital Promise is on lifelong literacy development and what the learning sciences show about the  impacts of various academic, cognitive, demographic, and social/emotional factors on outcomes.

Dr. Besharat Mann’s research interests lie in media, literacy, and adolescent development.  Her research seeks to understand how adolescents consume media, specifically social media, and how this may impact their development of self-concept, both in and out of the classroom.  Within her focus on media, Dr. Besharat Mann also explores the need for media literacy and the skills adolescents need to efficiently and safely navigate online spaces.  This research helps to more clearly define the role of educators and other adult mentors in helping to develop these wide-ranging skills. Dr. Besharat Mann also holds expertise in traditional literacy development, which she has comparatively studied alongside media and new literacies.