The Art Effect

Mary Ellen Iatropoulos has over fifteen years’ worth of experience educating a vast range of humanity, from prisoners to preschoolers, from unhoused teens to blue-chip executives. In her current role as Director of Education for The Art Effect, she oversees successful design, implementation, and evaluation of sequential arts curricula across all programs, alongside teaching her own courses in media/digital literacies and multimedia production, with a focus on social justice and student empowerment. She holds a BA in English from Vassar College, in addition to an MA in English and an MPS in Humanistic/Multicultural Education (both from SUNY New Paltz). She earned the Outstanding Graduate Award for the MPS degree. In addition, Mary Ellen is an award-winning scholar of media, literature, and pop culture. She regularly presents at academic conferences, and has won “Best Paper” awards from the northeast Modern Language Association as well as the Whedon Studies Association. She conducts peer review for numerous academic journals and is co-editor of the volume Joss Whedon and Race: Critical Essays available from McFarland Publishers. She is a three-time winner of the Mr. Pointy award for best work in Whedon Studies, and most recently, she was named one of the 2019 Top 40 Under 40 Movers and Shakers in Dutchess County.