Christina Smiraglia

Christina is a Learning Researcher at Project Zero, where she is currently working on the Reimagining Early Childhood Education project, which examines emerging opportunities and challenges facing the field, with her particular focus on early childhood in informal learning settings. Previously, she worked with The Open Canopy (formerly Out of Eden Learn), Higher Education in the 21st Century, Agency by Design (AbD), and Learning Innovations Laboratory (LILA). She has led Arts Festival Impacts, a project investigating the impacts of a city arts learning festival, and managed Art Works at Work, a project exploring the impact of art in the workplace.

Her research interests include informal learning and object-based approaches across the lifespan. Before moving into educational research, Christina worked as an educator in more than a dozen museums, including the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, J. Paul Getty Museum, National Air and Space Museum, and the National Zoo. Christina received her doctorate in Education Policy, Leadership, and Instructional Practice at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and also holds a Ed.M. in Teaching and Learning from HGSE, M.A. in Museum Studies from The George Washington University, and B.A. in Studio Art and Art Conservation from the University of Delaware. In addition to her work at Project Zero, she is an instructor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and in Harvard's Museum Studies graduate program and on the board of directors for Massachusetts Odyssey of the Mind, a non-profit creative problem-solving competition for students.