Stephen Sommer (he/him/his) is a dual doctoral candidate in the Learning Sciences and Human Development Program (Education) and the Institute of Cognitive Science at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Prior to this Stephen academically studied philosophy of mind, linguistics, and social theory at Lewis & Clark College while working as a volunteer coordinator and outreach officer for the office of Student Leadership and Service.
For more than a decade Stephen worked with the Colorado Outward Bound School and other educational outreach programs facilitating backcountry expeditions to foster spaces of collaboration, communication, conflict resolution, and expeditionary responsibility.
Stephen has taught sections of LEAD 4000 (Capstone), EDUC 4112 (Adolescent Development), and INVS 2989 (Dialogues Across Difference) and worked on several outreach programs for both CU Dialogues & the CU Engage programs
Stephen's current work concerns the intersectionality of applied learning sciences and curriculum design with cognitive science. He believes that a most productive paradigm of leadership & pedagogical studies is informed by a trans-disciplinary approach that considers scholarship, application, and 'lessons from the field' in a variety of academic and applied approaches. Other academic research foci concern trajectories of identification, STEM literacy, multi-modal representation, meta-cognitive awareness, and student agency to expand what counts as 'learning'.
Stephen continues to find 'praxis' by balancing his time studying learning and development while still exploring the canyon & high country of the American West. He lives in Denver, CO.