Department of Rehabilitation Psychology and Special Education
University of Wisconsin, Madison
Email: <my-last-name>@wisc.edu
I am accepting doctoral students whose research interests center on the intersections of equity, disability, inclusion, and special education, particularly those pursuing interdisciplinary approaches.
I am an Assistant Professor at the Department of Rehabilitation Psychology and Special Education at UW-Madison. My research interests broadly cover these two areas:
Intersections of race, class, geography, and disability: In my research, I have examined racial disproportionality as an entry point to explore disability intersections. Particularly, I delved into critical geography to understand how space is both a tool and a product of systemic discrimination.
Transformative learning via school-family-community-research partnership: In this strand of research, I explore issues such as power imbalances and the inclusion/exclusion of historically marginalized students, parents, and community members in educational decision-making. I work with local schools to design collaborative spaces that recognize students with and without disabilities from various intersecting identities, along with their families and community members, as experts in identifying both the problems and solutions to educational inequities.
Mawene, D. (2026). From a territorialized to a transformative space: Reimagining inclusive educational decision-making space. Educational Policy, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/08959048261461446
Mawene, D., & Schrader, E. (2026). Collective transformative agency: The power of ordinary people to create systemic change. Teachers College Record: The Voice of Scholarship in Education, 128(2), 130-160. https://doi.org/10.1177/01614681261433290
Mawene, D. (2025). Coded words in a demographically changing suburban school district: A critical geography perspective of White spatial imaginary. Whiteness and Education, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1080/23793406.2025.2531831
Mawene, D., Bal, A., Ko, D., Orie, L., Schrader, E., & Yoo, J. (2025). Decolonizing Agency: A Framework for an Inclusive Co-Design of Behavioral Support Systems in Indigenous Land. Exceptional Children, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/00144029251350059
Mawene, D., Li, L., Mejia, A., Mella, B., Cass, H. N., Tohuey-Childress, K., & Chandrashekhar, S. (2025). Fostering inclusion: students’ voices in the co-design of a school-district level policy. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603116.2025.2496419.
Ko, D., Mawene, D., Lee, Y., Lim, S., & Yoo, J. (2025). When Good Intentions Go Awry: A Critical Policy Analysis of Equity-Focused Policies Intended to Reduce Racial Disparities in Special Education. Exceptional Children, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/00144029241292589 (PDF)
Mawene, D., Bal, A., Bird Bear, A., Ko, D., Orie, L., & Mayer-Jochimsen, M. (2024). Creating Thirdspace: Indigenous Learning Lab to Transform a School Discipline System. American Educational Research Journal, 61(4), 842-878. (PDF)
See list of all publications here.
Young NH teachers leaving the profession. The ’heartbreaking, infuriating’ reasons why.Seacoastonline. July, 19, 2022. www.seacoastonline.com/story/news/education/2022/07/19/why-young-new-hampshire-teachers-students-leaving-profession/10056587002/
Mawene, D. (2020). Suburban Segregation: A tale of two rezonings. Center for Education and Civil Rights. School Diversity Notebook.
Mawene, D. (2018, September 8). Disability rights: Learning from Shinta Utami. The Jakarta Post.
Mawene, D. (2017, July 25). Where is the disability? My stump don't define me. The Jakarta Post.
EDUC 650: Introduction to Disability in Inclusive Schools and Communities.
EDUC 856: Advocating for Diverse and Inclusive Family-School-Community Partnership