Engaged Scholar in Residence, Swearer Center
Visiting Associate Professor of Education

Tania D. Mitchell is an associate professor of higher education in the Department of Organizational Leadership, Policy and Development at the University of Minnesota’s College of Education and Human Development. Her teaching interests include social justice theory, civic discourse, public service, leadership, college student development, action research methods, and the pedagogy, philosophy and practice of service-learning and community engagement in higher education. Much of her research focuses on service-learning as a critical pedagogy to explore civic identity, social justice, student learning and development, race and racism, and community practice. With professional experience in admissions, student activities, residential life, and academic affairs, Dr. Mitchell is a scholar-practitioner who has taught both undergraduate and graduate students at Stanford University, Mills College, California State University Monterey Bay, and the University of Massachusetts.

An internationally recognized scholar in service learning and community engagement, Dr. Mitchell was recognized with the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Award (2019) and the Early Career Research Award (2011) by the International Association for Research on Service Learning and Community Engagement and is also a recipient of the American Fellowship from the American Association of University Women. The University of Minnesota also included Dr. Mitchell in the first class of McKnight Presidential Fellows (2017-2020). She is frequently invited to lecture at conferences, universities, and community organizations. Her scholarship has been published in numerous books and journals, and she is an editor of four books: Civic Engagement and Community Service at Research Universities: Engaging Undergraduates for Social Justice, Social Change, and Responsible Citizenship (Palgrave Macmillan, 2016), Cambridge Handbook of Service Learning and Community Engagement (Cambridge University Press, 2017), Educating for Citizenship and Social Justice: Practices for Community Engagement at Research Universities (Palgrave MacMillan, 2018), and Black Women and Social Justice Education: Legacies and Lessons (SUNY Press, 2019).