Mila Zhu, Ph.D.
Ludic Scholarship | Curriculum Theorizing
Dr. Mila Zhu is Associate Professor of Curriculum and Instruction and Coordinator of the EDUC Program at Southeastern Oklahoma State University, where she also serves as Founding Director of the Center for Interconnected Curriculum and Networked Learning (ICoN Learning). Her research integrates health-science–informed pedagogy, XR learning design, and ethical decision-making with ludic and narrative-based approaches to curriculum and inquiry. She is the series editor of Ludic Scholarship: Games, Learning, and Innovative Pedagogy (Peter Lang), where she advances work that bridges game design, learning sciences, and educational philosophy. Her book, The StrataPlay Methodology: A Lorekeeper’s Game Design in Postqualitative Inquiry, provides the methodological foundation for this work by modeling multi-layered, game-inflected and narrative-driven approaches to research and design-based inquiry. Building on this framework, her current projects focus on XR- and AI-enhanced learning environments for health education, resilience training, and ethical reasoning, particularly in contexts of teacher education and professional preparation.
Before joining Southeastern, Dr. Zhu lived, studied, and taught in Hong Kong, Tokyo, and Shanghai, experiences that inform her global perspective on curriculum and teacher education. A grand winner of the First Asian Youth Piano Competition and an active freelance musician, she integrates musical practice into pedagogy, infusing teacher preparation and curriculum theory with interdisciplinary inquiry across the arts and multicultural education.
Dr. Zhu was named to Oklahoma Magazine’s 2025 “40 Under 40,” recognizing her leadership in shaping the future of education. She is the recipient of Southeastern’s 2024 Faculty Senate Recognition Award for Outstanding Research and Scholarly Activity and the 2023 Faculty Senate Recognition Award for Excellence in Teaching. These honors reflect her commitment to bridging rigorous scholarship and compelling storytelling and to partnering with pre-service teachers and underserved communities to advance inclusive, high-impact learning across contexts.
Before joining Southeastern, Dr. Zhu lived, studied, and taught in Hong Kong, Tokyo, and Shanghai, experiences that inform her global perspective on curriculum and teacher education. A grand winner of the First Asian Youth Piano Competition and an active freelance musician, she integrates musical practice into pedagogy, infusing teacher preparation and curriculum theory with interdisciplinary inquiry across the arts and multicultural education.
Dr. Zhu was named to Oklahoma Magazine’s 2025 “40 Under 40,” recognizing her leadership in shaping the future of education. She is the recipient of Southeastern’s 2024 Faculty Senate Recognition Award for Outstanding Research and Scholarly Activity and the 2023 Faculty Senate Recognition Award for Excellence in Teaching. These honors reflect her commitment to bridging rigorous scholarship and compelling storytelling and to partnering with pre-service teachers and underserved communities to advance inclusive, high-impact learning across contexts.