Carissa (Cari) J. Zall

Cari Zall (she/they) is Assistant Professor and Content Area Coordinator in the Secondary MAT Program at Lewis & Clark Graduate School of Education and Counseling. Cari teaches Social Studies Methods, Legal Issues in Education, and other foundational Education courses. She advises and coordinates clinical practicum placements for graduate teacher candidates in Social Studies, Math, and Science. Cari is also the Director of the Education Minor and the Teacher Pathway Program for the College of Arts and Sciences. She teaches the two Education courses offered at the undergraduate level and which are a part of the Education Minor.

Cari is also the Director and primary instructor of the Trans Youth Support and Advocacy Certificate at Lewis & Clark’s Center for Community Engagement.

Cari brings to her equity education practice over 20 years in the classroom and 15 years in the legal field prior to that. Her background includes human rights advocacy, conflict resolution, and civil rights law in Northern Ireland and in Washington, D.C. She has been a curriculum designer and faculty administrator for a national online high school dropout recovery program and has experience in advocacy, providing professional development, and conflict resolution/mediation work. She served as the Senior Program Manager for Civics Learning Project, providing Civics education professional development and K-12 programming throughout Oregon. She is a licensed teacher in multiple states, is certified in online education, instructional design, and gamification, and is a James Madison Foundation Fellow for Constitutional Law Educators. Cari is a table-top gaming enthusiast, mom and bonus mom to 5 incredible trans and gender expansive young adults, and spends most of her time with her puppy, Ramona.

Areas of Expertise

Critical Civics Education, Social Studies Strategies & Methods, Law Related Education, Conflict Resolution & Management, Ethic of Care, Transformative Social Emotional Learning, Teacher Education 

Academic Credentials

PhD, Education Theory & Practice: Simon Fraser University (expected 2026)

MA, Political Science: Virginia Polytechnic University (2013)

MAT, Secondary Education: Lewis & Clark Graduate School of Education and Counseling (2005)

BA, Conflict Analysis & Resolution: George Mason University (1997)