Scott Tharp is a scholar-practitioner and educational interventionist in the areas of social justice education curriculum design, facilitation, and assessment. He received his Ph.D. in Curriculum Studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago and his Masters in Social Work from the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor with a focus on community organization and intergroup dialogue. His research interests focus on the development and assessment of social justice education curriculum and pedagogical practices. Scott has published scholarly articles in the Journal of Transformative Education, Multicultural Education, Multicultural Perspectives, and Whiteness in Education. Additionally, he is the author of two books, Doing Social Justice Education: A Practitioner's Guide for Workshops and Structured Conversations (2020), and Decoding Privilege: Exploring White College Students' Views on Social Inequality (2022).
Scott currently serves on the national leadership team for NASPA’s Assessment, Evaluation, and Research Knowledge Community as the co-Chair for the Professional Development. He previously served on the National Advisory Board for the National Conference on Race and Ethnicity in American Higher Education (NCORE). Scott currently serves the Associate Director for Academic Program Review and Assessment at the University of Illinois Chicago. In his role, he enhances students’ educational experience by partnering with academic degree programs, institutes, and centers to regularly assess student learning and implement campus-wide review processes.