Assistant Professor of Teaching
Office: Scarfe 1326A
Phone: 604–822–8891
Research Interests
- Social Studies Education
- Teacher Education
- Curriculum Studies
- Curriculum Theory
- Teaching Life
- Qualitative Inquiry
- Cultural Studies
- Affect
- Aesthetics
- Psychoanalytic Theory
- New Materialisms
- Posthumanism
- Anarchism
Biography
Dr. Peter M Nelson is an Assistant Professor of Teaching in the Department of Curriculum and Pedagogy. Originally from central Maine, Dr. Nelson completed his undergraduate studies at North Park University in Chicago, IL and earned his Master’s Degree from Northwestern University in 2013. He taught elementary and secondary social studies in Chicago before beginning graduate work at Michigan State University, earning his Ph.D. in Curriculum, Instruction, and Teacher Education in 2021.
Broadly, Dr. Nelson’s work as a social studies teacher educator, researcher, and curriculum theorist is unified by his interest in exploring the affective and more-than-human dimensions of social studies curriculum, teaching, and learning, foci constituted by the fact that what we feel matters greatly in how we view ourselves in relation to one another and to our more-than-human world.
Dr. Nelson’s work as a social studies teacher educator aims to offer visions of social studies education committed to meaningful transformations; of the self, relations with one another, and of society more broadly—a social studies invested in disrupting a status quo characterized by systemic violence and structural injustice. In his work with future social studies teachers, Dr. Nelson models how social studies curriculum can be opened up to inquiries, provocations, aesthetic texts, and reconceptualizations that interrupt normative ways of being, knowing, and feeling, helping teacher candidates envision—and begin to develop and enact—future practices of their own that are critical and purposeful.
Dr. Nelson’s current projects center on “teaching life”; how neoliberal educational aims offer versions of “a teaching life” to teacher candidates that are already overly-busy, already burning out, aesthetically-malnourished, and increasingly surveilled. His work aims to offer visions of future teaching lives that are not only livable but filled with joy, sustained by relationships and meaningful, communal action.
Dr. Nelson’s work has been published in a range of scholarly journals and edited books, including Theory & Research in Social Education, Democracy & Education, the Journal of Curriculum & Pedagogy, and the Journal of Curriculum Theorizing.
Selected Publications
Peer Reviewed Journals
Nelson, P. M., & Varga, B. A. (2025). Holding water: An index of affectual possibilities and “shuttling intensities” across the social studies. Journal of Curriculum and Pedagogy, 1–27. https://doi.org/10.1080/15505170.2025.2482712
Nelson, P. M. (2025). Contesting concepts, imagining new possibilities: David Graeber, democracy, and social studies curriculum. Critical Education, 16(1), 1-23. https://doi.org/10.14288/ce.v16i1.186874
Nelson, P. M., & Durham, B. S. (2023). Desire, interspecies love, and becoming-animal: Reading ‘The Overstory’ in social studies education. Journal of Curriculum Theorizing, 38(1), 23-45.
Chong, K. C., & Nelson, P. M. (2022). Examining curriculum as eclipse, and shadow play. Journal of Curriculum Theorizing, 37(3), 17-29.
Nelson, P. M., & Durham, B. S. (2022). Vibrant curriculum: Theorizing a new materialist social studies. Journal of Curriculum and Pedagogy, 19(3), 231–253. https://doi.org/10.1080/15505170.2021.1895381
Nelson, P. M., & Segall, A. (2022) Critical inquiry, conceptual clarity, and contextual limits: A response to “Re-centering civics: A framework for building dispositions and action opportunities.” Democracy and Education, 30(2), 1-7. https://democracyeducationjournal.org/home/vol30/iss2/6
Nelson, P. M., Segall, A., & Durham, S. B. (2021). Between aspiration and reality: New materialism and social studies education. Theory & Research in Social Education, 49(3), 449-476. DOI: 10.1080/00933104.2021.1912679
Nelson, P. M. (2019). (Dis)orderly potential: Ways forward in “post-truth” social studies. Journal of Curriculum Theorizing, 34(3), 76-90.
Edited Volumes
Nelson, P. M., & Durham, B. S. (in press). The ghosts in The Teachers’ Lounge: Conjuring the event in schools. In B. Varga (Ed.), Hauntological Social Studies: More-Than-Human Deviances, Imbrications, and Proliferations of Possibility. Springer.
Nelson, P. M. (in press). Thoughtful questioning and discussion. In R. Case & P. Clark (Eds.), Learning to Inquire in History, Geography, and Social Studies: An Anthology for Secondary Teachers (5th Edition).
Nelson, P. M. (in press). Accommodating a diversity of world views. In R. Case & P. Clark (Eds.), Learning to Inquire in History, Geography, and Social Studies: An Anthology for Secondary Teachers (5th Edition).
Nelson, P. M., & Adams, T. L. (in press). An analysis of the Advanced Placement United States History Exam. In P. Gautschi, K. V. Nieuwenhuyse, J. Wojdon, & L. Gibson (Eds.), Working Title: An International Analysis of History Exams. Wochenschau Verlag.
Nelson, P. M. (2024). Affect as potential: Interrupting social studies education. In B. Varga & E. Adams (Eds.), Always-Already on the Lookout: Searching for, Enacting, and Storying Theory in Social Studies Education (pp. 18-24). Teachers College Press.
Nelson, P. M., & Harned, D. (2024). The psychical dynamics of learning: Sigmund Freud and education. In B. A. Geier (Ed.), The Palgrave Handbook of Educational Thinkers. Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-81037-5_202-1
Miller, G., Nelson, P. M., & Boatwright, S. (2023). Blending emerging technologies todifferentiate instruction with historical artifacts. In S. M. Waring (Ed.), The Educators’ Handbook for Teaching with Primary Sources (pp. 217-227).Teachers College Press.
Nelson, P. M. (2022). Into the sea: A fictive speculation on how to cope at the end of the world. In B. Varga, T. Monreal, & R. Christ (Eds.), Be(com)ing Strange(r): Towards a Posthuman Social Studies (pp. 110-120). Teachers College Press.
Halvorsen, A.L., & Nelson, P. M. (2022). Academic rationalism. Routledge Resources Online—Education. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781138609877-REE27-1
Presentations
Nelson, P. M., & Varga, B. (2025). Holding water: An index of affectual possibilities and shuttling intensities across social studies. Paper to be presented at the American Education Research Association conference in Denver, CO.
Nelson, P. M., & Durham, S. B. (2025). The ghosts in the teachers’ lounge: Conjuring the event in schools. Paper to be presented at the American Education Research Association conference in Denver, CO.
Nelson, P. M., & Chong, K. C. (2025). Examining failure in pedagogy and baseball. Paper to be presented at the John Dewey Society conference in Baltimore, MD.
Lee, S., Zhu, E., Marino, M., Gibson, L., & Nelson, P. M. (2024). Teaching about Commemoration Controversies: UBC Nitobe Memorial Garden walking tour. Presentation at the British Columbia Teachers Association (BCSSTA) Professional Development
Varga, B., Monreal, T., & Christ, R. (Eds.), Nelson, P. M., et al. (2023). Toward a Stranger and More Posthuman Social Studies. Paper presented at the American Education Research Association conference in Chicago, IL.
Nelson, P. M. (2023). Shame, U.S. history, and social studies teaching. Paper presented at the American Education Research Association conference in Chicago, IL.
Miller, G., Nelson, P. M., & Boatwright, S. (2023). Challenging epistemologies in history education: Black communities, the Underground Railroad, and 3D-printing material culture. Paper presented at the American Education Research Association conference in Chicago, IL.
Nelson, P. M. (2023).Earning “hello points,” learning to teach: The absurd pedagogy of Conner O’Malley. Paper presented at the American Association for the Advancement of Curriculum Studies (AAACS) conference in Chicago, IL.
Nelson, P. M. (2022). Rewriting the past to open up new futures: David Graeber and social studies education. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the College and University Faculty Assembly in Philadelphia, PA.
Nelson, P. M., & Durham, B. S. Desire, interspecies love, and becoming-animal: Reading ‘The Overstory’ in social studies education. Paper presented at the Bergamo Conference on Curriculum Theory and Classroom Practice in Dayton, OH.
Nelson, P. M. (2022). Affect and social studies teaching: Methods and findings from a dissertation study. Paper presented at the American Education Research Association conference in San Diego, CA.
Nelson, P. M. (2022). Worlding more livable teaching lives: Attending to the teacher in teacher education. Paper presented at the Association of Teacher Educators Annual Meeting in Chicago.
Chong, K., & Nelson, P. M. (2021). Examining curriculum as eclipse, and shadow play. Paper presented at the Bergamo Conference on Curriculum Theory and Classroom Practice in Dayton, OH.
Nelson, P. M. (2021). A report to an academy: Uncovering the Kafkaesque in social studies curriculum. Paper presented at the American Educational Research Association conference held online.
Nelson, P. M., & Jarvie, S. (2021). Ataturk, baby!: The cynicism of teacher self-annihilation. Paper presented at the American Educational Research Association conference held online.
Nelson, P. M. (2021). Ideology and teacher decision-making in social studies. Paper presented at the American Educational Research Association conference held online.
Nelson, P. M. (2020). Student encounters with difficult knowledge in social studies: A phenomenological study. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the College and University Faculty Assembly held online.
Nelson, P. M. (2020). Teaching and coping in an age of accountability: Towards a contingent social studies. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the College and University Faculty Assembly held online.
Durham, B. S., & Nelson, P. M. (2020). Trauma in the social studies: How teachers negotiate its ever-present reach. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the College and University Faculty Assembly held online.
Nelson, P. M. (2019). An inevitable paradox: An exploration of identity and community in social studies. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the College and University Faculty Assembly in Austin, TX.
Nelson, P. M., Segall, A., & Durham, B. S. (2019). Between aspiration and reality: New materialism and social studies. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the College and University Faculty Assembly in Austin, TX.
Nelson, P. M. (2019). Marilynne Robinson and my mother: Phenomenological reflections on endings in parenting and teaching. Paper presented at the Bergamo Conference on Curriculum Theory and Classroom Practice in Dayton, OH.
Nelson, P. M. (2019). Imagining (non)fictional futures: Social studies, “The Three-Body Problem,” and finding refuge in theory. Paper presented at the Bergamo Conference on Curriculum Theory and Classroom Practice in Dayton, OH.
Nelson, P. M., & Durham, B. S. (2019). Vibrant curriculum: Affective interventions and material movements in social studies curriculum. Paper presented at the Social Science Education Consortium in Charlotte, NC.
Nelson, P. M. (2019). Beyond the historical novel: Considering literary representations of nature and the individual in social studies curriculum. Paper presented at the Midwest Social Studies Retreat at Michigan State University.
Nelson, P. M. (2019). Necropower, progress, and phantasmatic rights: Towards a politically-reactive rendering of the civil rights movement. Paper presented at the American Educational Research Association conference in Toronto, ON.
Nelson, P. M. (2018). The civil rights movement and teacher decision-making. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the College and University Faculty Assembly in Chicago, IL.
Nelson, P. M. (2018). Teacher ideology and teacher decision-making in the Trump era. Paper presented at the Bergamo Conference on Curriculum Theory and Classroom Practice in Dayton, OH.
Nelson, P. M. (2018). Discussing trauma: Inviting difficult knowledge into social studies classrooms. Paper presented at the Michigan State University—Beijing Normal University—East China Normal University Doctoral Forum in Beijing, China.
Nelson, P. M. (2018). Making social studies uncertain: A tenuous task. Paper presented at the Doctoral Students International Forum on Education in Chongqing, China.
Nelson, P. M. (2018). Uncertainty and difficult knowledge: Considering a social studies without answers. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Researchers Association in New York, NY.
Nelson, P. M. (2017). Lacan, desire, and teacher decision-making in the social studies. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the College and University Faculty Assembly in San Francisco, CA.