Dr. Charlotte F. Cole ’82 oversees Sesame Workshop’s global strategies and leads the development of all curriculum and research for its international projects, including recent projects in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Colombia, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Israel, Jordan, Mexico, Nigeria, Northern Ireland, Pakistan, South Africa and West Bank/Gaza.
Cole was the featured speaker at Tuesday’s Bowdoin Breakfast, delivering the talk “Muppet Diplomacy: How Sesame Street is Working to Change Our World” in which she talked about the mission and the reach of the Sesame Workshop, whose name, Cole said, originated from “the concept of ‘open sesame’ and the idea that you can open the world of learning through opening Sesame.”
Cole received her doctorate in human development and psychology from the Harvard University Graduate School of Education, previously worked as a Senior Researcher at the Joslin Diabetes Center and a college course instructor, and is a member of the editorial board of theJournal of Children and Media and served as the publication’s first Review and Commentary Editor.
