Race, Education, and Democracy: A Simmons College / Beacon Press Lecture and Book Series

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Dr. Ernest Morrell is associate professor in the Urban Schooling Division of the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies at the University of California at Los Angeles. He was recently appointed Professor of Arts and Humanities and Director of the Institute for Urban and Minority Education at Teachers College/Columbia University, positions he will assume July 2011.

Drawing on the everyday lives and experiences of urban adolescents, for almost two decades, Dr. Morrell has worked to develop curricula that promote the development of academic literacy and civic engagement. For the past 12 years, working with high school students in Los Angeles, he has served as Director of the Council of Youth Research, a project that involves youth in researching issues in their communities and schools. He has also worked with teachers throughout the country on the infusion of youth media production into standards-based curricula across discipline areas. In an assessment-driven educational climate, Morrell's innovative approach to teaching transforms how teachers reach students as they navigate what it means to be a reader, writer, and engaged citizen in the 21st century.

Formerly a high school teacher and coach, Morrell is as effective in a high school classroom as he is in a research university. He is one of the leading voices in the country for expanding our definition of literacy and developing pedagogical practices that enhance the development of academic literacies in urban youth. In April, he will keynote the annual meeting of the Urban Writing Project, which will be held in Boston.

Dr. Morrell is the author of several books including Becoming Critical Researchers: Literacy and Empowerment for Urban Youth; Critical Literacy and Urban Youth: Pedagogies of Access, Dissent, and Liberation; Linking Literacy and Popular Culture: Finding Connections for Lifelong Learning; and The Art of Critical Pedagogy: Possibilities for Moving from Theory to Practice in Urban Schools.

Dr. Morrell has published numerous journal articles, book chapters, encyclopedia entries; presented at national and international academic conferences and delivered keynote addresses to private foundations, school districts, colleges and universities and community groups.

Morrell received the outstanding dissertation award from University of California at Berkeley’s Graduate School of Education. He was awarded a postdoctoral research grant from the American Educational Research Association (AERA). He is currently involved in a research project, which is examining the effect of the application of critical pedagogy in several classrooms across Los Angeles.

One of America's most distinguished scholars of race shows us how public education needs to be seen in the light of the influence of "color-blind racism as a system of power." Drawing examples from schools, media, and the workplace, Collins gives us a book of social analysis that is also an energizing handbook for change.

"In Another Kind of Public Education, Patricia Hill Collins skillfully melds high theory with everyday practice. . . . This book is both a treat and a treasure."
—Gloria Ladson-Billings, author of The Dreamkeepers: Successful Teachers of African American Children (More)

Beverly Daniel Tatum emerged as a major commentator on race in America in 1997 with "Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?," a book that changed the way many people think about racial identity and about the conversation about race in schools. Can We Talk About Race? is an accessible and engaging analysis of some of the most resonant issues in American education and race relations.

"Another thoughtful, personal and provocative book that will encourage discussion about many of the difficult issues still surrounding race in America-in and out of the classroom." —Marian Wright Edelman, president, Children's Defense Fund (More)