Discipline Nodes

URBAN Gathers for Second National Meeting at University of Massachusetts, Boston

On Friday, November 13th and Saturday, November 14th, over fifty scholars and activists from the Urban Research-Based Action Network (URBAN) gathered for their second national conference at the University of Massachusetts, Boston. This gathering was sponsored by the Spencer and W.T. Grant Foundations.

Mark R. Warren, associate professor in thGroup shot 2e Department of Public Policy and Public Affairs at the McCormack Graduate School and national co-chair for URBAN, organized the conference along with Lindsay Morgia, a PhD student in the Public Policy department, and members of the URBAN conference planning team. Planning team members include John Diamond at University of Wisconsin, Tim Eatman of Syracuse University, Ron Glass of UC Santa Cruz, Michelle Fine of the CUNY Graduate Center, and Celina Su of the CUNY Graduate Center. (more…)

By Celina Su, ago

URBAN Member Open Letter in Solidarity with the Students at the University of Missouri

This past weekend, scholars and activists from around the country gathered for the second national URBAN convening, at the University of Massachusetts, Boston. (We will be reporting more on this meeting as soon as possible, in an upcoming newsletter.) One of the outcomes of this meeting is an urgent open letter, as members of URBAN, in solidarity with the student protestors at the University of Missouri.

Faculty voices are important in informing popular media coverage of the student protests– especially as the mainstream storyline quickly shifts from the students’ important demands for racial and social justice to individualizing debates around free speech and political correctness. Shifting the blame to protesters rather than the institution ignores the generations of exclusion of African Americans, Latinxs and other marginalized groups from the University of Missouri. (more…)

By Celina Su, ago

Professor Dana Wright’s New Book: “Active Learning: Social Justice Education and Participatory Action Research”

Active Learning: Social Justice Education and Participatory Action Research

Dana Wright (Routledge)

This new book was published in Routledge’s Teaching/Learning Social Justice series. It is endorsed on the back cover by Mark Warren and Pedro Noguera and includes a forward by Lee Anne Bell.

Here is the table of contents and link to purchase the book: http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9781138821712[routledge.com]

Active Learning examines a participatory action research (PAR) project led by young people as a teaching and learning approach with implications for pedagogy, schools, educational policy and education reform and transformation. (more…)

By Celina Su, ago

Professor Ben Kirshner’s New Book: “Youth Activism in an Era of Education Inequality”

Youth Activism in an Era of Education Inequality


BEN KIRSHNER (NYU Press) ($27, paper).

The book is part of NYU’s Qualitative Studies in Psychology series. See below for a blurb. It is available for order from NYU Press[nyupress.org] or other fine stores.

This is what democracy looks like: Youth organizers in Colorado negotiate new school discipline policies to end the school to jail track. Latino and African American students march to district headquarters to protest high school closure. Young immigration rights activists persuade state legislators to pass a bill to make in-state tuition available to undocumented state residents. Students in an ESL class collect survey data revealing the prevalence of racism and xenophobia. (more…)

By Celina Su, ago

Assistant/Associate Professor, Leadership in Education

The College of Education and Human Development (CEHD) at the University of Massachusetts Boston invites applications for a tenure-track assistant or associate professor of Urban Education, Leadership, and Policy Studies in the Leadership in Education Department to begin September 1, 2016. The successful candidate’s research and teaching expertise will be in pre-K to 12 urban education in leadership or policy studies, with a specialization in the ways race, class, gender, ability, and language intersect with leadership and/or policy related to urban schools. (more…)

By Celina Su, ago

URBAN website survey

As announced in the last newsletter, National URBAN is in the process of moving to CUNY this fall. As part of this transition, we are reaching out to local and disciplinary nodes and members in a number of ways.
One of our first goals is to find out more about how you currently use (or don’t use) the URBAN website, how to make the website more responsive to members’ goals and needs, and how to best facilitate digital space for collaboration across the URBAN network.
We would greatly appreciate your input, which will help us to stay connected to similarly minded scholars and activists through URBAN. We ask that you respond by Monday, November 30th, 2015.

(more…)

By Celina Su, ago