Samantha Matalone Cook, MAT is a folklorist, historian, educator, author, and artist with almost three decades of experience in history, humanities, art education, program development and leadership. She has taught in classrooms and in private workshops, mentored other educators, founded and directed makerspaces, and worked for and with many museums. 

Samantha consistently writes about history and the humanities, as well as human development and learning, for various publications. In addition to numerous articles, Samantha is the author of History Compass: A Guide to Historical Thinking, Research, and Writing, a secondary school textbook designed to build college level knowledge and skills. She also co-authored the book Project-Based Learning: Creating a Modern Education of Curiosity, Innovation, and Impact, and What is Magic? An Unofficial Exploration of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, a project-based learning centered book study. She is an active speaker and advocate, featured at many events including Mastermind Talks, Maker Faire Bay Area, Maker Faire New York, East Bay Maker Faire, The Global Education Conference, AERO, SEA, many education conferences, professional development seminars for various school districts, and more. Samantha was a founder and advisor of Mothership Hackermoms, an organization in Berkeley designed to support the creative and entrepreneurial work of mothers. She was founder and former executive director for Curiosity Hacked, a non-profit hackerspace for kids and families, where she built international learning communities and pushed the boundaries of what learner-centered, alternative STEAM education could look like.

Samantha has a BA in Humanities with an emphasis in Medieval History and Archaeology, and an MAT from the George Washington Graduate School of Education and Human Development, specializing in Museum Education. Currently, Samantha is continuing and expanding a more focused specialization in Folklore and Public Culture at the University Of Oregon. Her research interests include mythic art, medieval material culture, social memory, migration, activism, and feminist and ecocritical theory.

She currently lives in Portland, Oregon with her family, dogs, and books.