Staff & Faculty Directory
Kate E. O'Hara
Associate Professor; Humanities, College of Arts & Sciences
Associate Professor; Interdisciplinary Health Sciences, School of Health Professions
Associate Professor; Psychology & Counseling, College of Arts & Sciences
Education Credentials: Ph.D., M.A.
Expertise: URBAN EDUCATION, CRITICAL THEORY, LEARNING DESIGN, INSTRUCTIONAL TECHNOLOGY
Joined New York Tech: 2009
Kate E. O’Hara is an associate professor in the Interdisciplinary Studies program, teaching courses that integrate experiential learning, technology, and critical AI pedagogy.
Her work in learning design focuses on empowering users to become agents of social change through high-impact, culturally responsive, socially just practices as well as the thoughtful integration of emerging technologies.
As a mixed media artist, O’Hara brings a visual and creative sensibility to her research, employing narrative and autoethnographic methods within a sociocultural framework. She uses photography in particular, as a phenomenological approach to understanding structures of experience and consciousness.
O’Hara earned her Ph.D. in Urban Education at The Graduate Center, City University of New York, a Master of Arts in Philosophy at The Graduate Center, City University of New York, a Master of Arts in English Education at Teachers College, Columbia University, and a Bachelor of Arts in Communication, with minors in English and Sociology, at the University of New Hampshire.
- O’Hara is the PI on the project: Age is Only a Number, a study which explores intergenerational learning through a theoretical and autoethnographic lens, examining how knowledge, values, and cultural practices are exchanged and transformed across generations in both familial and higher education settings.
- In Interdisciplinary Studies seminars O’Hara guides students in the use of principles of participatory action research and visual methods that bridge personal narrative and social action, connecting academic study with real-world practice.
- In Humanities seminars, O’Hara designs experiential and intergenerational learning projects that challenge students to engage with course concepts through multimedia storytelling and community-based inquiry
Recent Exhibitions
- Electric, photograph, (November 2025). The Places We Call Home. Women in Arts Network, International Virtual Exhibit. Juror: Charuka Arora
- After the Race, photograph, (December 2024). Poetry of the Ordinary. PhotoPlace Gallery, Middlebury, Vermont. Juror: Blue Mitchell
- Bounty, photograph, (October 2023). Food For Thought. Maryland Federation of Art, Annapolis, MD. Juror: Naoco Wowsugi
- Hungry, photograph,(November 2022). Finalist, International Achievement Awards Exhibition, Camelback Gallery, Scottsdale, Arizona. Jurors: Sesse Lind, Kathy Palaus, Marie Mccallum, Kassandra Kaye
Recent Presentations
- O’Hara, K.E. (2026, February). Age is Only a Number: An Exploration of Intergenerational Learning. 10th World Conference on Qualitative Research. Madrid, Spain (virtual).
- O’Hara, K.E. (2025, June). Fear, Freedom, and the Future of Philosophy. The International Learning Ideas Conference. New York, New York.
- O’Hara, K.E. (2024, April). I Get By with a Little Help from My Friends: An Intergenerational Design.American Association of Colleges and Universities(AAC&U) Conference on General Education, Pedagogy, and Assessment. Providence, Rhode Island.
- O’Hara, K.E. (2023, February). Ugh! Not Another Research Paper! Implementing a Humanistic, Interdisciplinary Project Design. The Conference on Meaningful Living and Learning in a Digital World. Savannah, Georgia.
Recent Publications
- O’Hara, K.E. (2021). Transcending and Transforming: Teaching and Learning in the Time of COVID 19. In K. Banda (Ed.) The Kaleidoscope of Lived Curricula: Learning Through a Confluence of Crisis. Information Age Publishing.
- O’Hara, K.E. (2020). Bring Us Back: Photographs for Meaning Making and Knowledge Production. In Tobin, K. and Alexakos, K., (Eds.), Doing authentic inquiry to improve learning and teaching. Leiden: Brill|Sense Publishers.
- Finalist, International Achievement Awards Exhibition. Camelback Gallery, Scottsdale, Arizona. Hungry, Photograph. Jurors: Sesse Lind, Kathy Palaus, Marie Mccallum, Kassandra Kaye. November 2022
- Presidential Excellence Team Award: Voya Committee: Diversifying STEAM Leadership, New York Institute of Technology, September 2020
- Presidential Engagement Award for Innovative Use of Technology to Engage Students, New York Tech 2017
- The School of Education Faculty Award for Outstanding Teaching, New York Institute of Technology, May 2013
- National Finalist for 2001 English Language Teaching Contest, created English Teaching by Video, Academy Shuppan of Tokyo, Japan.
- DATA 101: Making Sense of a Data-Oriented Society
- FCIQ 101: Foundations of Inquiry
- IDSP 410: Capstone Seminar
- IDSP 450: Internship/Service Learning
- ICPH 300 Core Seminar in Philosophy: Philosophy of Education
- EDIT/EDPC 603: Foundations I: Philosophy and Technology of Education
- EDIT 605: Instructional Applications of the Internet
- EDIT 701: Contemporary Strategies for Technology Integration in the Curriculum
- EDIT 722: Interactive 21st Century Teaching and Learning for Secondary Educators
- EDPC 605: Curriculum Design and Development
- EDSS 620: Social Studies and Technology
- EDTR 606: Social Networking Tools for Training
- EDTR 673: Collaborative Learning Spaces