Lauren M. Colley is an educator and mother to three equally amazing, demanding, and unique children. She is an advocate for social justice, national paid parental and family leave, and a happier and healthier earth and world. She is an Assistant Professor in Integrated Social Studies Education at the University of Cincinnati where her research focuses primarily on how students and teachers use and think about gender in the social studies curriculum and classroom. Prior to this position, she was an Assistant Professor in Secondary Social Sciences Education at the University of Alabama from 2015-2019. She earned her PhD in 2015 from the University of Kentucky where she worked as a Graduate Assistant to the C3 Framework and the New York Social Studies Toolkit Project. Prior to pursuing her doctorate, she earned a Masters of Arts in History (2007), a Master of Arts in Education (2008), and taught high school social studies in Central Kentucky.