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tavis d. jules

Professor

Faculty Director of READI & OIDEI

tavis d. jules is Full Professor of Cultural and Educational Policy and International Higher Education at Loyola University Chicago, where his work focuses on Comparative and International Education and International Higher Education. Born in Georgetown, Guyana, his scholarship examines the intersections of education, governance, regionalism, and global development, with particular attention to Small Island Developing States (SIDS).

Dr. jules earned his M.A. in International Educational Development, with a specialization in Peace Education, from Teachers College, Columbia University in 2004. He subsequently completed both an Ed.M. (2005) and an Ed.D. (2008) in International Educational Development, specializing in International Educational Policy Studies, at Teachers College, Columbia University.

Prior to joining Loyola University Chicago, he held several international positions. From 2009 to 2011, he served as Head of Knowledge and Communication for the Globally Responsible Leadership Initiative (GRLI), where he led fundraising, communication, marketing, and educational initiatives. He also worked as a Curriculum Specialist for Freedom House (2008-2009), developing and managing online curriculum resources and learning platforms focused on democracy and freedom in Iran.

His research is grounded in a cross-disciplinary approach that brings together Education and International Relations. His work investigates how economic and political disruptions across national, regional, and global levels shape educational development and governance. A second strand of his research examines how endogenous political processes generate periods of transition and reform in education systems, particularly in post-socialist and post-authoritarian contexts. His scholarship has made significant contributions to the study of regionalism, governance, transitory spaces, and educational policy.

Dr. jules is the immediate past President of the Caribbean Studies Association, Book and Media Reviews Editor for Comparative Education Review, Senior Fellow at NORRAG, and an International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT) Research Fellow, becoming the first non-Arabic speaker to receive this distinguished fellowship. He has also served as a Visiting Professor at the Université de Tunis and as Associate Editor of Educational Research and Reviews. He is Co-Editor (with Florian D. Salajan) of Comparative Education Review, the flagship journal of the Comparative and International Education Society (CIES). 

Dr. jules has authored, co-authored, and edited more than 90 refereed journal articles and book chapters, three monographs, and eight edited volumes. His research excellence has been recognized through numerous honors, including the Distinguished Faculty Award for Excellence in Research from Loyola University Chicago's School of Education and a prestigious Spencer Foundation grant.

Through his scholarship, leadership, and international engagement, Dr. jules continues to advance innovative understandings of educational change, regional governance, and the complex global processes shaping education systems in the twenty-first century.

Education

  • EdD, Columbia University, New York, NY
  • MEd, Columbia University, New York, NY
  • MA, Columbia University, New York, NY
  • BS, Mercy University (formerly Mercy College), New York, NY

Research Interests

  • Regionalism and Governance
  • International Cooperation and Education
  • Leadership, Ethics, and Sustainability
  • Gender Education and Development
  • Comparative and International Education Policy Studies
  • Economic Integration and Education in Latin America and the Caribbean
  • Policy Challenges in Small Island Developing States (SIDS)
  • International Political Economy of Education in Emerging and Frontier Markets
  • Racial Capitalism, Race and Racism 
  • Decoloniality  
  • Islam, Security, and Terrorism

Specialty Area

Cultural and Educational Policy Studies, International Higher Education, Higher Education

Professional/Community Affiliations

  • Comparative and International Education Society (CIES)
  • Caribbean Studies Association
  • Mid-West Political Studies Association
  • Comparative Education Review Co-Editor (with Florian D. Salajan)

Courses Taught

  • ELPS 230 Globalization, Education and Childhood
  • ELPS 400 & 405 Introduction to Educational Policy
  • ELPS 455 Comparative Education
  • ELPS 458 International Education
  • ELPS 491 Issues in Educational Policy 
  • ELPS 503 Critical Perspectives on the Internationalization of Higher Education
  • ELPS 413 Critical Social Theories

Publications/Research Listings

  1. jules, t. d., Smith, A. & Naidoo, K. (2026). Moving from the periphery to the centre: Re/framing decolonial educational innovation in the Caribbean. Comparative and International Education / Éducation Comparée et Internationale. 55(2).1-17. https://doi.org/10.5206/cie-eci.v55i2.24479
  2. jules, t. d., Garrett, A., Christensen, E., Anderson, E., & Olsen, E. (2026). A cultural political economy of insurgent strategic communication: Islamic States’ construction of jīhadi imaginaries through digital recruitment. Studies in Conflict and Terrorism. https://doi.org/10.1080/1057610X.2026.2707957
  3. jules, t. d. Brissett, N., & Eugene, C. (2026). Pluriversal Futures – Ecological Reparatory Justice as a Reparatory Framework, Round Table,  https://doi.org/10.1080/00358533.2026.2708083
  4. jules, t. d. & Parker, D.* (2026). From Afro-pessimism to Afrofuturism: Epistemic educational justice through reparations – Lessons for CARICOM countries. Futures, 183(1). http://doi.org/10.1016/j.futures.2026.103893
  5. jules, t. d. (2026). Epistemic Educational Futures in an Era of Deglobalization and the Polycrisis: Reparative Futurism in an Age of Reparatory Justice, Racial Justice and Educational Justice. Nordic Journal of Comparative and International Education (NJCIE), 10(1). https://doi.org/10.7577/njcie.6410
  6.  jules, t. d., Crumley-Effinger, M. & Liveris, M.* (2025). The ascent of ‘neoliberal regionalism’ in an era of multistakeholderism: deglobalization, higher education and labor mobility in CARICOM, Globalisation, Societies and Education, http://doi.10.1080/14767724.2025.2598274
  7. jules, t. d. & Salajan, F. D. (2025). Dis/re/assembling comparative and international education: The polycrisis and the decolonial turn in a deglobalizing world. The International Journal of Comparative Education and Development, 27(3-4): 286–306 https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCED-01-2025-0007
  8. Shah, S. & jules, t. d. (2025). Higher education in crisis – from dictatorship to neoliberalism: Peacebuilding at the University of Balochistan in Pakistan. Globalisation, Societies and Education, https://doi.org/10.1080/14767724.2025.2549722
  9. Salajan, F. D. & jules, t. d. (2025). An examination of socio-cultural region-building through comparative regionalism: Syncretic transcultural regionalism in the European and Caribbean education spaces. Globalisation, Societies and Education, https://doi.org/10.1080/14767724.2025.2543316
  10. Scherrer, B. D. & jules, t. d. (2025). Rethinking climate change in education: From climate coloniality to decolonial educational ecologies in comparative and international education, 27(1), 153-171. Current Issues in Comparative Education. https://doi.org/10.52214/cice.v27i1.13416
  11. Brissett, N. O. M., & jules, t. d. (2025). (Re)thinking material and epistemic futures: Caribbean reparations, development, and education,  27(5), 1140-1146, Race, Ethnicity and Education.  https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2023.2217088
  12. Eugene, C., jules, t. d., & Indrarajah, T.* (2024). An African Union-Caribbean Community alliance in the global reparations movement: Promises, perils, and pitfalls. Round Table: The Commonwealth Journal of International Relations, 113(1), 29-42. https://doi.org/10.1080/00358533.2024.2307789 

* denotes student mentorship and collaboration 

 

Awards

  • Spencer Foundation (2025-2027)
  • Co-Investigator, Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi Foundation for Policy Research: Seed Grant (2019-2020)
  • Loyola University Chicago, School of Education Distinguished Faculty Award for Excellence in Research (2018)
  • Fellow, International Institute of Islamic Thought (2017-2021) 
  • Senior Fellow, NORRAG (2021-2024) 
  • Summer Research Stipend, Loyola University Chicago (2012, 2014, 2017, 2020, 2023, & 2025)
  • Fellow, OpEd Project Fellowship (2017-2018)
  • Stimulating Multidisciplinary Research at Loyola's Lakeside Campuses, Loyola University Chicago (2014)
  • Research Fellowship to Conduct Research in Tunisia, Loyola University Chicago (2012)