Melanie Petcoff
Indexer
Dr. Melanie Petcoff (she/her) is an indexer at Ideas on Fire, where she crafts rich indexes that reflect the depth and complexity of interdisciplinary scholarship, particularly in the fields of disability studies, feminist and queer studies, critical pedagogy, and German studies.
Based in New York City, Melanie directs a writing and learning center and teaches at an high school and early college within the NYC public school system, in addition to running an indexing, copyediting, and translation business.
Her teaching and scholarly activity unite around an investment in making education accessible to all students. Committed to the #K12Feminism movement, she uses an intersectional approach to destabilize marginalizing narratives in curriculum, radicalize pedagogical practices, and create classrooms where every student can participate in critical analysis and world-changing practices.
She is the former associate director of the women’s and gender studies programs at the University of Pennsylvania and Vanderbilt University, and is the founding chair of the National Women’s Studies Association’s Feminist Pedagogy Interest Group.
Melanie holds a PhD in German literature from the University of Pennsylvania, an MA in German literature from Tufts University, and a BA in German and Spanish from Boston University.