Our dynamic research harnesses interdisciplinary strengths and community connections toward advancing the science of human lives in context and enhancing wellbeing for people and society.
Recent Highlights
Elisabeth King Publishes Article on Intersection of Food and Peacebuilding
The vice dean for faculty affairs and professor of international education and politics wrote “Hypotheses on Food and Peace: Five Ways to Use Social Gastronomy for Peacebuilding.”
Samuel Pizelo on How Games Like Tic-Tac-Toe Inspired the Modern Computer
A researcher at NYU Steinhardt concluded that 19th-century mathematicians used game theory to create algorithms used in today’s computation, sequencing, and logic modeling.
Early Academic Success Does Not Lead to Increased STEM College Enrollment for Black and Latine Students
A study from Associate Professor of International Education Hua-Yu Sebastian Cherng finds that White English-speaking students are the only group with a positive relationship between STEM aptitude and STEM college enrollment.
Research Centers
Research centers support intellectually vibrant communities of scholars working across disciplines and with policy and practice partners to understand and address society’s pressing social problems.
Center of Health and Rehabilitation Research
The Center of Health and Rehabilitation Research generates and disseminates scientific knowledge to improve human health, functioning, participation, and quality of life among individuals, groups, and communities.
Center for Practice and Research at the Intersection of Information, Society, and Methodology
Center for Practice and Research at the Intersection of Information, Society, and Methodology (PRIISM) builds capacity for researchers within academia and beyond to collect data, build inferential models and predictive algorithms, and communicate findings.
Consortium for Research and Evaluation of Advanced Technologies in Education
Consortium for Research and Evaluation of Advanced Technologies in Education (CREATE) supports various technologies that support research and conducts research on the design and evaluation of advanced digital technologies for learning.
Institute of Human Development and Social Change
The Institute of Human Development and Social Change (IHDSC) aims to break new ground through support of rigorous research/training across social, behavioral, educational, policy, and health sciences. IHDSC cultivates intellectual community and research-practice-policy partnerships focused on race and inequality, education and child development, health and wellbeing, and legal system involvement.
Metropolitan Center for Research on Equity and the Transformation of Schools
Metropolitan Center for Research on Equity and the Transformation of Schools advances equity and excellence in education, connecting to legacies of justice work through critical inquiry and research, professional development and technical assistance, and community action and collaboration.
Music and Audio Research Laboratory
Music and Audio Research Laboratory (MARL) brings together scholars from a variety of disciplines to explore and advance our understanding of the intersection between music, sound, technology, and science.
Research Alliance for New York City Schools
The Research Alliance for New York City Schools strives to advance equity and excellence in education by providing nonpartisan evidence about policies and practices that promote NYC students' development and academic success.
Areas of Work
Arts and Humanities
Culture sustains communities. Our scholarship considers the cultural dynamics of globalization; the history of media, fashion, and food; and the intersection of emerging technologies, education and the visual and performing arts, and democracy. Steinhardt’s vibrant, interdisciplinary work builds understanding of the past and present toward sustainable communities of the future.
Education
Scholars examine the urgent problems facing education today. We build knowledge of school systems, teaching and learning, digital and advanced technologies, therapeutic approaches, and inequities in local and global contexts. Through partnership, we expand equitable education opportunities and outcomes for students in pre-kindergarten through post-secondary schooling.
Health
Fundamental to human thriving is health. We study multilevel determinants of health across cultures and contexts and explore innovative, effective ways to prevent and address health problems and promote health equity. Through basic, applied, and translational research, our partnered research teams advance knowledge and improve wellbeing across the human lifespan.
Social Science
Our social scientists advance understanding in critical areas: migration and immigration; social movements and collective action; justice and welfare systems; child and adolescent development; global media and politics; and more. With robust theories and methods and creative interconnections, scholars generate and use social science evidence to better human lives.
Other Research Entities
Child and Family Policy Center works to bring state-of-the-field knowledge about how to promote children's healthy development and school success to the forefront of policymaking, program design, and practice.
Learning Analytics Research Network (LEARN) combines deep expertise in advanced data science methods with practiced skill in the research and development of innovative learning approaches to support the university in becoming a living-learning system.
Nordoff-Robbins Center for Music Therapy conducts research on the creative and developmental processes of music therapy, as well as offers training and resources for current and prospective music therapists.
Steinhardt Institute for Higher Education Policy seeks to define and assess the critical challenges colleges and universities presently face.