Special Studies Program

Alumni & Careers

Read about a couple recent graduates of the Special Studies Masters program:

David Klevan, Ed.M. 2004, is a program coordinator for community partnerships in the education division of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. David has developed and implemented educational programs at the museum for more than ten years, and he currently manages their Law Enforcement and Society program for police agencies locally and nationally. David chose the Special Studies degree program at HGSE so he could take advantage of the curricular flexibility it offered. Aside from taking classes across program areas, he enjoyed the opportunity to take classes on organizing and leadership at the Kennedy School of Government that complimented courses on afterschool education and community issues at the Ed school. His goal for his education at HGSE was to prepare him to enter a leadership role upon his return to work at the museum, as well as to position himself for educational leadership in non-traditional learning environments beyond the museum world. Being in the Special Studies program provided a level of autonomy and choice that enabled David to craft a program for himself that both supported the work in which he is engaged and prepared him to branch out into broader realms of education work.

Sally Fallon, Ed.M. 2004, teaches Biology and Human Genetics at Tabor Academy in Marion, Massachusetts, where she is also the Director of National Boarding Students. Her Special Studies degree from HGSE included four classes from a variety of programs offered by the Ed School (Higher Ed, Learning and Teaching and Human Development) and four from the biological sciences departments at FAS [Faculty of Arts and Science]. Sally designed this program primarily to enrich her teaching background in molecular biology and evolution. She found that it did just that, and that the intellectual energy and opportunities of being right in the thick of the latest work in these fields was exhilarating. She also found her classes at HGSE to be extremely helpful in providing a wider perspective not only for her teaching and administrative work, but also in furthering her understanding of the role of independent schools within the complex educational spectrum currently in place in the U.S. "This program was all I expected it to be, and more," says Sally, and she encourages prospective students to explore and design programs for themselves that uniquely fit their own special interests and needs.

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