Heddy Lahmann

Dr. Heddy Lahmann is a Clinical Assistant Professor of International Education at NYU Steinhardt. Her research focuses on education in contexts of conflict, crisis, and political violence and on the role of arts and creative practice in education, peacebuilding, and social change. She has particular expertise in Afghanistan and in mixed-methods research, including participatory and arts-based approaches. She is the author of From Margins to Masterpieces: Charting Pathways to Strengthen Arts in Global Public Education, a study spanning more than 50 countries examining the structural barriers and policy levers shaping arts education in public education systems worldwide. Her current research in Afghanistan focuses on sustaining and expanding educational access for girls, including as Co-Principal Investigator on research examining multimedia distance learning.

At NYU, she teaches at the intersection of international education, human rights, and the arts. Her Human Rights Education and Activism course pairs the study of human rights education with practice-based collaborations with NYU’s Verbatim Performance Lab and New York City human rights organizations. She developed and teaches Bridging Divides Through Art, examining arts and creative practice in peacebuilding, dialogue, and cross-cultural connection, and Inside the Global Network University, which uses NYU’s global network as a lens for investigating international education, mobility, exchange, and the changing role of global universities.

Her work bridges academic research and creative practice. In collaboration with Carnegie Hall’s Social Impact and Education teams, she led peacebuilding workshops for young musicians from around the world during Carnegie Hall’s inaugural World Orchestra Week. She has worked as a teaching artist, performer, and artist-researcher with children and youth in the United States and internationally, and has consulted on research, evaluation, and program design for organizations including the Community Arts Network, Porticus, FCDO, UNHCR, UNICEF, USAID, and the World Bank. She previously served as Senior Managing Editor of the Journal on Education in Emergencies and continues to serve on its Editorial Board.

A 2024–2025 NYU Public Voices Fellow, Dr. Lahmann holds a PhD in International Education from New York University, an MFA in Theatre from the University of Connecticut, and a BA in Dramatic Arts from San Diego State University. Her doctoral research, a multidisciplinary mixed-methods study of a U.S. State Department-funded arts program in Afghanistan, was nominated for NYU’s University-Wide Best Dissertation Award and Steinhardt’s Outstanding Dissertation Award.