Curtis O'Dwyer

Curtis O’Dwyer is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. His research lies at the intersection of science education, science studies, Black Studies, and political economy. He is currently investigating how the teaching philosophies and pedagogies of Black science educators—past and present—may unsettle racialized mechanisms of discipline and control within the profession. Curtis’s project has been recognized with a Pella Science Education fellowship, and he currently serves as the Division B junior representative for the American Educational Research Association (AERA). His scholarship has been published in book compilations and the St. Louis American newspaper. Curtis earned a B.S. in Biology with a minor in Mathematics from Roosevelt University and a Master of Arts in Teaching from Washington University in St. Louis. Before pursuing his doctoral degree, Curtis taught middle school science, led teacher trainings, and developed secondary science curricula.

Awards and Honors

NAEd/Spencer Dissertation Fellowship (September 2026 – May 2027);

Pella Science Education Fellowship, September 2025 – May 2026.

Graduate Student Researcher Travel Fund, AERA Science Teaching & Learning—Special Interest Group, 2025.

Student Research Grants Competition—Conference Presentation Fund Wisconsin Scholarship HUB, 2024.

UW-Madison School of Education Graduate Research Scholar (Ed-GRS) Fellow, September 2022 – May 2027.

Washington University in St. Louis Student Marshall of Arts & Sciences, 2016.

Publications / Presentations

O’Dwyer, C. (2026). Unsettling the overrepresentation of the normative science teacher: The entangled history of a pedagogical ‘Other’. American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting. Los Ángeles, CA.; presentation.

O’Dwyer, C. (2026). “Unsuited for the times:” Edward K. Weaver’s (1913-1984) conceptual personae and Black liberatory science education. American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting. Los Ángeles, CA.; presentation.

O’Dwyer, C., Wells, L., and Berland, L. (2026). Reconciling differences: Historical considerations to ongoing tensions between science education and Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy. American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting. Los Ángeles, CA.; presentation.

Kirchgasler, K. and O’Dwyer, C. (2026). “Sleeping police in teacher education: The politics of techniques for sensitizing science teachers to ‘diversity’. American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting. Los Ángeles, CA.; presentation.

Granberry, G. & O’Dwyer, C. (2026). Rebellious Storytelling: Black Liberatory Placemaking Practices in Traditional and Go-Along Interviews. University of Wisconsin-Madison Department of African American Studies 2026 Student Symposium., Madison, WI.; presentation.

O’Dwyer, C., Wells, L. B., & Berland, L. G. (2026). The Difficult Relationship Between Science Education and CSP: Are We Heading Towards Separation? In D. Silva Pimentel & K. Terrell (Eds.), Science Education and Culturally Sustaining Pedagogies: Research, Practices, and Critical Reflections (pp. 1-42). IGI Global Scientific Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4018/979-8-3373-5342-5.ch001.

O’Dwyer, C. (2025). “Efficiency isn’t the only important thing:” Racialized contours of justice in an NGSS case study. American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting. Denver, CO., presenter.

O’Dwyer, C (2025). A 20th-Century Moral Evolution: Racialized Sociopolitical Strategies in an NGSS Case Study. National Association for Research in Science Teaching Annual International Conference. Washington D.C.

DelaRosa, T., & O’Dwyer, C. (forthcoming). #SquadGoals 2.0: Doctoral student fathers of color, friendtorship for homeplace. Critical Storytelling: Doctoral Students’ Journeys of Becoming Critical Scholars. Franklin, J., Johnson-Yates, K., Cleveland, H. Teachers College Press.

Wells, L. and O’Dwyer, C. (2024). Examining the role of supervisors in supporting pre-service teachers towards authentic engagement with critical pedagogies. Mary T. Kellner Teacher Education Colloquium. Madison, WI.

O’Dwyer, C. and Hassemer, R. (April 2024). The color-line in U.S. science education reforms: Implications of liberalism and hope for emancipation. Paper to be presented at the American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting. Philadelphia, PA.

O’Dwyer, C. (2024). Appropriation of culturally relevant teaching: Demystifying whiteness in science education. Paper to be presented at the Science Educators for Equity, Diversity, and Social Justice Conference. Tucson, AZ.

Banks, A., Fields, L., O’Dwyer, C., Scott, M. L., & Joe, S. (2018). Treating mental illness among diabetic black male adolescents: A review. Research on Social Work Practice, 28(3), 330–339.

Teaching / Service

Junior Graduate Representative for AERA Division B: Curriculum Studies.

Teaching Assistant:  Curriculum & Instruction 590: Advanced Practices in the Teaching of Science (Spring 2026)