Creating the Beloved Community

About this symposium

Join the University of Buffalo's Center for Diversity Innovation (CDI) Distinguished Visiting Scholar, and our Seminar Faculty Leader of the The Schools We Need: Lessons Learned from Harlem project, Terri N. Watson, PhD, who will be sharing her scholarship with students, faculty, and staff at UB and the surrounding Buffalo community. This symposium reflects her current research agenda as she has found that in order for schools to become safe, loving spaces wherein all children may grow, they must be transformed into “Beloved Communities.” Her scholarship is rooted, in part, in the work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The civil rights leader envisioned a society founded in justice, equal opportunity and unconditional love: a “Beloved Community.” Let's come together to think deeply about the need to transform schools into “Beloved Communities” grounded in the 5 Cs:

CARE | COURAGE | CRITICAL REFLECTION | COMMITMENT | COMMUNITY

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Symposium Schedule

Featured Keynote Speakers

Christopher Emdin, PhD

Associate Professor of Science Education at Teachers College and Director of Science Education at the Center for Health Equity and Urban Science Education at Columbia University

"CARE"

Title of presentation to be announced.

Dr. Christopher Emdin is an award-winning author of “Urban Science Education for the Hip-hop Generation” and the New York Times Bestseller, “For White Folks Who Teach In The Hood and the Rest of ya’ll Too.” Dr. Emdin is currently a faculty member in the Department of Mathematics, Science and Technology at Teachers College, Columbia University, where he also serves as associate director of the Institute for Urban and Minority Education.

Follow Christopher Emdin on Social Media
@ChrisEmdin on Instagram and Twitter

Hashtags to Follow
#HipHopEd

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Noliwe Rooks, PhD

The W.E.B. Du Bois Professor, Director of the American Studies Program and Professor of Africana Studies at Cornell University

"COURAGE"

When Warriors Cry: Education, Integration and the Color of Love

Noliwe Rooks, PhD, is an interdisciplinary scholar whose research on race, racism, inequality, education and gender in the United States engages scholarship from legal studies, media studies, sociology, political science and history. She is the author of four books, editor of four collections, and a writer whose research and writing has appeared in popular media such as the New York Times, the Washington Post, TIME magazine, and media outlets such as Democracy Now and various NPR programs.

Follow Noliwe Rooks on Social Media
@noliwerooks on Instagram | @nrookie on Twitter | Noliwe Rookson Facebook

Website
noliwerooks.com

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Wendy Luttrell, PhD

Professor of Urban Education, Critical Psychology and Sociology, and Executive Officer of the Urban Education PhD Program at The City University of New York Graduate Center

"COMMUNITY"

Children Framing Childhoods: Working-Class Kids' Vision of Care

Wendy Luttrell is a professor of Urban Education, Critical Psychology and Sociology. She is the current executive officer of the Urban Education PhD Program at the Graduate Center. Her research examines how urban American schooling shapes and reinforces beliefs about gender, race, class, identity, knowledge and power, with a focus in how systems of inequality get internalized, especially by learners who have been marginalized, excluded or stigmatized.

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Shannon R. Waite, EdD

Clinical Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership at Fordham University and Member of the Panel for Educational Policy for New York City's Department of Education

"CRITICAL REFLECTION"

Disrupting Dysconciousness: Confronting Anti-Blackness in Education

Shannon Waite, EdD, researches topics on diversity recruitment and pipeline programs, culturally responsive school leadership, developing critical consciousness in educational leaders and examining hyper-segregation and its connection to the school-to-prison pipeline. She served as co-principal investigator and briefly as principal investigator on the NYC Men Teach Research Team. Currently, she is the co-principal investigator on the Promoting Relevance, Access, Culture and Equity (R.A.C.E.) Professional Learning Community with Interim Dean Dr. Akane Zusho in the Graduate School of Education at Fordham University.

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David E. Kirkland, PhD/JD

Distinguished Professor of Urban Education at New York University, Vice Dean for The Office of Equity, Belonging, and Community Action and Executive Director of The Metropolitan Center for Research on Equity and The Transformation of Schools

"COMMITMENT"

Committing to Justice: Advancing Culturally Responsive - Sustaining Education in the Midst of Pandemics

David E. Kirkland, PhD/JD, is an activist and educator, cultural critic and author, and a leading national scholar and advocate for educational justice. While Kirkland’s work has always centered equity and culturally responsive-sustaining education, his most recent work with the NYU Metro Center has focused on supporting instruction responsive to the social, cultural, and emotional needs of students during the unique challenge of remote learning.

Follow David E. Kirkland on Social Media
@davidekirkland on Twitter

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Terri N. Watson, PhD

2020-2021 Center for Diversity Innovation Distinguished Visiting Scholar at the University at Buffalo and Associate Professor of Educational Leadership at The City University of New York, and a Faculty Leader of the Mellon Seminar on Public Engagement and Collaborative Research from the Center for the Humanities at The Graduate Center, CUNY.

"COMMUNITY"

Panel Discussion

Terri N. Watson's research examines effective school leadership and is aimed to improve the educational outcomes and life chances of historically excluded and underserved children and families. Watson’s scholarship can be found in the following journals and books: the Journal of the Center for Policy Analysis & Research (Inaugural Edition), Urban Education, The Journal of Negro Education, the Journal of Cases in Educational Leadership, The School Community Journal, Leadership and Policy in Schools, and in the books, Whiteucation: Privilege, Power, and Prejudice in School and Society (Routledge), Racially and Ethnically Diverse Women Leading Education: A World View (Emerald Publishing), and Educational Leadership and Music: Lessons for Tomorrow’s School Leaders (Information Age Publishing).

Click here for a full bio and additional resources.

This symposium is organized by University of Buffalo's Center for Diversity Innovation (CDI) and Distinguished Visiting Scholar Terri N. Watson, and is co-sponsored by University of Buffalo's Graduate School of Education and Center for Diversity Innovation (CDI), and The Schools We Need: Lessons Learned from Harlem project as part of the Mellon Seminar on Public Engagement and Collaborative Research from the Center for the Humanities at The Graduate Center, CUNY.