Meenal Rana
Professor of Child Development
Child Development Professor Meenal Rana’s dedication to teaching shows in her scholarly work, service, and collaborative partnerships. Known for being supportive, thorough, energetic, and engaging, Rana actively engages her students in grant projects and scholarly activities. She also fosters unique hands-on experiences that connect research and practice. In 2018, for instance, she was the principal lead for the Rural Youth Volunteers in India. For this international and interdisciplinary project, students from Child Development, Environmental Science & Management, and Environmental Resources Engineering collaborated with students from Lady Irwin College, New Delhi, to work in two rural Indian communities on social entrepreneurship projects. Rana’s collaborator, Environmental Resources Engineering instructor Lonny Grafman, shares, “It was a pleasure to see the academic background of Meenal be applied directly and rooted in the messy reality, on-the-ground, projects. She taught and applied theory, while taking daily feedback from students and stakeholders.”
Rana is solution-oriented and continuously treads new territory to provide the best opportunities for students. Since her appointment in 2013, she has taught at least 10 different courses including Life-Span Development and Parent-Child Relationships, Methods of Observation, and Directed Field Experience. During the pandemic, she not only prepared new course content but also persevered through unique challenges. In one course, she worked on creating resources to emulate an experience similar to observing children in the Child Development Lab, which was closed during the pandemic.
Engaged with and supportive of students, she tries new teaching strategies or uses familiar strategies in new ways—an inspiring approach that brings out the best in students and colleagues. The student members of the campus Child Development Association say, “Every now and then we encounter an educator who goes above and beyond the curriculum to foster relationships with students, inspire them, and help them grow personally and professionally. One such educator is Professor Rana. Her work does not end with each class day. She gives students her time and support to check in, discuss ideas, and help them pursue their passions.”
That human connection, says Rana, is the most important aspect of her teaching, “which requires a reciprocal process in which both the teacher and the learner, with exchangeable roles, engage in a mutually respectful and meaningful relationship, remain curious, learn from one another, and agree to disagree.”