Dr. Katie McAllister completed her Ph.D. in neuroscience at the University of Cambridge and B.Sc. in Cognitive Systems at the University of British Columbia. She is currently the Head of the College of Social Sciences, accreditation liaison officer, and professor of complex systems, cognitive neuroscience, and the science of learning at Minerva University. As a 2021-22 Fellow with the WSCUC, she conducted research and developed educational programming for her project: Student Success and Educational Effectiveness: It Starts With Engagement.
In her previous role as Head Instructor of the Complex Systems Cornerstone, Dr. McAllister managed curriculum and oversaw the team of instructors dedicated to this year-long foundational Social Science course focused on effective interactions in complex social systems, which is required of all freshmen undergraduate students at Minerva. She also designs curriculum for online active-learning seminars, including external partners in business contexts, facilitates instructional review of teaching faculty, and has taught undergraduate and master’s level courses.
Prior to Minerva, she developed a broad skill-set as a management consultant with the London office of The Boston Consulting Group, with experience including transformation execution in the British National Health Service; private healthcare provider strategy; large-scale post-merger integration; government strategy, including fostering social enterprise; global insurance strategy; and negotiation strategy in industrial goods. This role required engagement and constructive interactions with individuals ranging from those “on the ground” within a specific organization or industry to the c-suite of Global Fortune 500 corporations.
She is passionate about interdisciplinary approaches to undergraduate education, particularly focused on developing critical thinking, creative problem solving, and effective interaction skills. Her book is titled, Beyond the Lecture: Interacting with Students and Shaping the Classroom Dynamic (Rowman & Littlefied 2021).