Dr. Kurian is a Teaching Associate and Associate Fellow at the Cambridge Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence. She specialises in child wellbeing and is currently examining how innovations in Artificial Intelligence impact the wellbeing and development of young children. She recently became the first Education researcher to win the Cambridge Applied Research Award for "outstanding research with real world application" and also recently received the Cambridge Vice-Chancellor's Award for Social Impact. Previously, as a Yale University Henry Fellow, she used international human rights law to design an anti-bullying framework for marginalised children. Her work has most recently been published in the Oxford Review of Education, the British Educational Research Journal, and the International Journal of Human Rights. She co-chairs the University of Cambridge Wellbeing and Inclusion Special Interest Group and previously co-chaired the Cambridge Peace and Education Research Group.
She enjoys working with impact-driven and humanitarian organisations focused on the education and care of children from vulnerable or at-risk groups. Her projects include leading the Inter-Agency Network for Education in Emergencies’ advocacy brief for supporting young children and caregivers in acute crisis, co-analysing discriminatory teacher beliefs for the World Bank, and exploring the link between early childhood education and peacebuilding for Plan International and International Alert. Her writing on wellbeing-supportive technology for refugee and trauma-affected children has been featured in outlets including the UNESCO Artificial Intelligence and Education Forum and Harvard University's Refugee REACH (Research, Education, and Action to create Change and Hope) Initiative.
Kurian, N. (2024). Where technology meets empathy: using digital storytelling, gaming and AI to teach about peace and human rights. In O’Hair, M. J., Woods, P., & O’Hair, H. D. (Eds.). Education and communication: Promoting peace and democracy in times of crisis and conflict, Volume 3. Wiley Blackwell.
Kurian, N. & Rajala, A. (2023). Building cultures of compassion for children, teachers and families. In Archer, T., Hajir, B. & McInerney, W. (Eds.) Routledge Handbook of Innovations in Peace and Education Praxis. London: Routledge.
Kurian, N. (2022). School as a Sanctuary: Trauma-Informed Care to Nurture Child Well-Being in High-Poverty Schools. In Green, A. (Ed.) Springer International Handbook of Education Development in Asia-Pacific. London: Springer.
Bevington, T., Kurian, N. & Cremin, H. (2019). Peace Education and Citizenship Education: Shared Critiques. In Peterson, A., Stahl, G. & Soong, H. (Eds.). Palgrave Handbook of Citizenship and Education. Palgrave Macmillan: Switzerland.
Kurian, N. (2023). AI’s empathy gap: the risks of conversational Artificial Intelligence for young children’s wellbeing and key ethical considerations for Early Childhood Education and Care. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood.
Kurian, N. (2023) Toddlers and Robots? The Ethics of Supporting Young Children with Disabilities with AI Companions and the Implications for Children’s Rights. International Journal of Human Rights Education, 7(1).
Kurian, N. (2023). Building inclusive, multicultural Early Years classrooms: strategies for a culturally responsive ethic of care. Early Childhood Education Journal.
Hajir, B., Clarke-Habibi, S., & Kurian, N. (2022). The ‘South’ speaks back: Exposing the ethical stakes of dismissing resilience in conflict-affected contexts. Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding, 1-17 DOI: 10.1080/17502977.2020.1860608
Cremin, H., Aryoubi, H., Hajir, B., Kurian, N., & Salem, H. (2021) Post‐abyssal ethics in education research in settings of conflict and crisis: Stories from the field. British Educational Research Journal.
Kurian, N. (2020) ‘Kindness isn’t important, we need to be scared’: disruptions to the praxis of peace education in an Indian school, Journal of Peace Education, 17(2).
Kurian, N. (2019). Empathy: simple and inevitable? Development education and narratives of African poverty. UCL International Journal of Development Education and Global Learning, 11 (1): 120–37.
Kurian, N. & Kester, K. (2019). Southern voices in peace education: interrogating race, marginalisation and cultural violence in the field. Journal of Peace Education, 16(1), pp. 1-28.
Advocacy Briefs and Blogs
Kurian, N. (2023) ‘My digital dreamkeeper’: Using technology and human-centred design to support refugee learners’ wellbeing. Harvard University.
Kurian, N. (2023) My robot friend: The appeal of social AI as children’s companions is clear, but what about the darker ethical issues? Sociological Review.
Kurian, N. (2023). Designing for the world's largest minority: disability-inclusive technology in e-learning. University of Cambridge: Knowledge, Power and Politics.
Kurian, N. (2023). Building bridges, not barriers: 5 takeaways from innovations in disability-inclusive technology. University of Cambridge: Wellbeing and Inclusion Special Interest Group.
Kurian, N. (2023). Miss Leela's Inclusive Early Years Classroom. In Dryden-Peterson, S. & Marien, H. (Eds.) Pedagogies of Belonging: Educators Building Welcoming Communities in Settings of Conflict and Migration. Boston: Harvard University, Refugee REACH.
Hajir, B., Kurian, N., and McInerney, W. (2021). Decolonial Work: Moving Beyond Simplistic Approaches to ‘Alternative Knowledges’. University College London Center for Education and International Development Blog.
Kurian, N. (2021). Helping children feel safe and hopeful again: rebuilding peaceful schools post-pandemic. Cambridge Wellbeing and Inclusion Special Interest Group.
Kurian, N. (2020). ‘My teachers didn’t notice’: Nurturing the wellbeing of internally displaced children through trauma-informed education. Harvard University.
Reports
Kurian, N., & Singal, N. (2021). Conducting rigorous and ethical educational research with young people in sub-Saharan Africa: A review of the literature. Leaders in Teaching Research and Policy Paper Series, November 2021, Laterite and REAL Centre, University of Cambridge.
Kurian, N. & Gruijters, R. (Under Review). Teacher Beliefs about Disadvantaged Students in the Global South: Theory and Evidence. World Bank.
Vice-Chancellor's Award for Social Impact
Cambridge Applied Research Award
Yale University Charles and Julia Henry Fellowship
Cambridge Mary Hesse Award
Best Paper, Peace Education SIG, Comparative and International Education Society
Job Title:
Teaching Associate in Digital Sociology, Chruchill College
