Dr. Lindsay Page is the new Chair of Brown's Department of Education, succeeding Dr. Tracy Steffes, who led the department for eight years. Dr. Page, recently promoted to Annenberg Professor of Education Policy, joined the Brown faculty in 2021 and studies how AI-enabled technology and behavioral science can help students get to and through college. As she settles into the role of Chair, Dr. Page shares what drew her to it, the challenges she sees facing the field of education, and how she likes to spend her time outside the office.
Dr. Page credits the department for the support she's received since arriving at Brown. "In my first five years here, I have been enormously well supported by the department overall and by Tracy Steffes, who served a long tenure as chair before me," she said. "I'm eager to pass along similarly excellent support to faculty, staff and students in the department, and to promote a productive and enriching academic environment in doing so."
This summer, Dr. Page visited Brown Summer High School (BSHS) for the first time. BSHS is the department's long-running summer enrichment program for local high school students, which offers engaging classes taught by teams of Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) candidates. "As a department, we should be enormously proud of the contributions that this program makes," she said. "I'm excited to support all of our degree programs, faculty research, and department efforts like BSHS to flourish in the years ahead."
As Chair, Dr. Page will serve as a liaison between the department and the wider university. "I'm looking forward to getting to know the broader university better and promoting the work of the Education Department as I do so," she said.
Beyond the day-to-day work of leading the department, Dr. Page is thinking about the pressures reshaping education, especially generative AI. "Generative AI has created massive disruption to long-standing practices in teaching and learning, especially in higher education," she said. It's a topic she knows well from her own scholarship, which explores how AI-enabled tools can support students on the path through college. "To be clear, I'm not opposed to technology in educational settings," she noted. However, she is candid about the tension it creates in the classroom: students, she said, "can lean on it and, by doing so, sidestep the oftentimes messy, challenging and non-linear work of deep learning." For a department that trains the next generation of teachers, she sees this as unavoidable work. "It's critical for us to wrestle with this new reality head on, both in our own instruction and in the work that we do to train and launch the next generation of school teachers."
When it comes to connecting with the community, Dr. Page is aiming for accessibility over formality. She's looking forward to department gatherings like the beginning-of-year BBQ, and on campus, she plans to keep an open-door policy. "I'm glad to have people just pop into my office," she said. If she's not around, her preference is simple: "I really don't like long emails. So, if I'm not in my office and you would like to connect with me, I'm glad to get a short email asking to set up a time to meet. I'll do my best to respond quickly. Just please save the details for our conversation!"
Outside the office, Dr. Page is happiest outdoors. "Hiking, skiing and biking are some of my favorite ways to be outside," she said. This past summer, that meant a family trip to New Hampshire's White Mountains, where she and her family summited Mount Washington and Mount Jefferson, the range's two highest peaks. She's also an enthusiastic home cook, "though washing dishes much less so," she added.
As she begins the transition, Dr. Page shares "I just want to thank everyone in advance for their patience as I learn the ins and outs of the Chair role.”