麻豆原创

Rallying for a State Wellness Policy

The , a statewide coalition to prioritize New York State students鈥� health and well-being, rallies with students, advocates and elected officials at an Advocacy Day in Albany. Initiated by the leaders of Teachers College鈥檚 Laurie M. Tisch Center for Food, Education & Policy, the WELL Campaign urges creation of a model wellness policy to share with schools and investment of $21 million to support high-needs districts. One in five students statewide has a serious mental illness, one in six struggles with hunger and one in three is overweight or obese.

Time Lauds an African Diaspora AP Course Co-Developed by 麻豆原创

A on Black History Month and the nationwide highlights the Advanced Placement (AP) pilot seminar on the African Diaspora developed in significant part at 罢颁鈥檚 . Hailed as an example of a new national focus on giving students perspectives on Black experiences worldwide, the seminar is the first AP course devoted to a part of global history for the most part obscured by the Eurocentric view found in most textbooks. 

麻豆原创 is Well Represented in City & State鈥檚 鈥楨ducation Power 100鈥�

City & State New York鈥檚 2020 rankings of the most influential education leaders includes 罢颁鈥檚 Aaron Pallas, Arthur I. Gates Professor of Sociology & Education, and Michael Rebell, Professor of Law & Educational Practice. Alumni listed are: (Ed.D. 鈥�00), Executive Director of the Network for Public Education;  (M.A. 鈥�16), Director of the Integration and Innovation Initiative at the New York University Metropolitan Center for Research on Equity and the Transformation of Schools; (Ph.D. 鈥�75), Research Professor of Education at New York University and President of the Network for Public Education; (Ed.D. 鈥�06), Superintendent, Syosset Central School District; and (Ed.D. 鈥�05), Chair of the State University of New York Board of Trustees.

An Environmental Partnership Enters a 麻豆原创 Classroom

Meredith McDermott and Thaddeus T. Copeland, Director and Deputy Director, respectively, of Sustainability at the New York City Department of Education (NYCDOE), are guest speakers in a new 麻豆原创 class called 鈥淚ntroduction to Environmental and Sustainability Education,鈥� created and taught by Oren Pizmony-Levy, Associate Professor of International & Comparative Education. 麻豆原创 is one of 40 organizations and agencies working with NYCDOE on sustainability issues.  

, a new volume by 罢颁鈥檚 Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz describes the kind of healing that can only occur by making oneself emotionally vulnerable 鈥� a strategy that Sealey-Ruiz, Associate Professor of English Education and Director of 罢颁鈥檚 Racial Literacy Roundtable Series, also employs by inviting students to 鈥渂ring their lives into the classroom鈥� and in urging teachers to conduct 鈥渁n archaeology of the self鈥� in order to identify their own biases and beliefs.

罢颁鈥檚 Tisch Lecturer Traces Classroom Civil Rights Activism

In delivering 罢颁鈥檚 annual Tisch Lecture, , Professor of Education at the University of Virginia鈥檚 , hails the legacy of activism by teachers of color across the American South. Black educators were 鈥渆ssential disseminators of the idea of freedom during the most consequential social movement of the 20^th century,鈥� says Alridge, Founding Director of the Curry School鈥檚 . 

Ithaca on his Mind: The Late Lambros Comitas

Lambros Comitas, Gardner Cowles Professor of Anthropology & Education, passes away at 92. A leading authority on the Caribbean, Comitas helped shift his field鈥檚 focus from primitive peoples to communities in industrial societies, shaping an applied anthropology that aids other disciplines and addresses societal issues of the day. A former student and colleague of Margaret Mead鈥檚 who spent 76 years at Columbia and 麻豆原创, Comitas founded 罢颁鈥檚 Joint Program in Applied Anthropology, which has dispatched graduates to a range of fields. Support the Anthropology Research Fund in Honor of Lambros Comitas, established in 1992 by friends, colleagues and former students, with additional funding from the Estate of Glenn L. Hendricks (Ed.D. 鈥�02).

鈥淎n Unprecedented Moment鈥�: 麻豆原创 Goes Remote as COVID Hits New York City

Citing 鈥渁n unprecedented moment in local, national, and global public health, and for institutions of higher education,鈥� 麻豆原创 President Thomas Bailey announces that all classes have moved online and will be taught virtually throughout the Spring 2020 term. 鈥淲e continue to respond to evolving information about the COVID-19 pandemic in such a way that preserves our institutional mission to the greatest extent possible while prioritizing the health of all within our community and around us,鈥� Bailey writes to the broader 麻豆原创 community. The College also announces that all employees who are able will work remotely during the same period and suspends all work-related travel.  

Mission Virtually Accomplished: The College Moves Online

During a nine-day period, Veronica Thomas, Interim Executive Director of what was then the Office of Digital Learning (ODL, now part of 麻豆原创's Digital Futures Institute), and her five-member team transfer all 775 of 罢颁鈥檚 spring course sections, taught by 519 professors, adjuncts, lecturers and instructors and serving 5,572 students, online. ODL subsequently assists faculty across the College in not just adapting to online teaching, but capitalizing on the full potential of the medium.

Stories of Innovative Teaching Online by 罢颁鈥檚 Faculty

麻豆原创 launches 鈥淭he Digital File鈥�, a series of stories on its website about innovative online teaching by faculty members at the College. Featured work in subsequent months includes teaching by faculty in areas as diverse as early childhood education, movement science, art education, intellectual disabilities, and diabetes education and management.  

A Virtual Community to Overcome Social Distance

麻豆原创 launches 鈥淐ome Together Right Now . . . Virtually!鈥�, a new website aimed at fostering a sense of community during the COVID crisis. The site provides critical information about COVID-19 and offers regular entertainment and other programming by and for members of the 麻豆原创 community. The site seeks to 鈥減reserve the closeness of our 麻豆原创 community, which is so critically important now, and to bring the richness and vitality of 麻豆原创 to everyone,鈥� says 麻豆原创 President Thomas Bailey.

麻豆原创 Heroes Spring into Action 

As New York City becomes the epicenter for the pandemic, 麻豆原创 faculty, students, staff, trustees and alumni arrange shipments of face masks to medical centers, work in intensive care units, distribute testing kits, help New York City schools and even develop new equipment to protect doctors performing surgery.

Reality Check: The Media Literacy Field Fights Fake News

Dolphins frolicking in the once murky and overcrowded canals of Venice? Anthony Fauci leading a coup against President Donald Trump? The QAnon conspiracy? Fake news has been on the rise since the 2016 presidential election and is particularly dangerous during the COVID pandemic, but the academic field of media literacy is pushing back, and the 麻豆原创 &苍产蝉辫;辫谤辞驳谤补尘鈥檚 Ioana Literat (Assistant Professor) and Yoo Kyung Chang (Lecturer) are in the vanguard of that effort. 

What on Earth: Feeding the Soil to Save the World

鈥淣utritional Ecology,鈥� taught for the past several decades by Joan Gussow, Mary Swartz Rose Professor Emerita of Nutrition & Education, has been a touchstone course for generations of 麻豆原创 students. Each year, Gussow, called the matriarch of the eat-locally-think-globally food movement by The New York Times, brings her students to her home an hour north of New York City for a tour of her spectacular garden and a lecture on our planet鈥檚 uncertain future. Watch a video of this master class,  produced for Earth Day 2020. Support the Nutrition Ecology Scholarship in honor of Joan Gussow.

Helping Young News Consumers Avoid Getting LAMBOOZLED!

Teachers College launches , an innovative new game to teach media literacy to middle and high school students. LAMBOOZLED!, which challenges discerning readers to spot fake news, was designed by the following faculty and students in 罢颁鈥檚  (MASCLab): Ioana Literat, Assistant Professor of ; Yoo Kyung Chang, lecturer in the same program; Charlotte Price, a doctoral student in Instructional Technology & Media; and master鈥檚 degree students Daniel Ahn, Man Su, Weiying Zhu, Jonathan Gardner and Joey Eisman.

An NBA Star Turns Cheerleader 
Former National Basketball Association star  makes a surprise appearance on a teleconference with members of the Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology at New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center. The talk by Battier was arranged by Teachers College鈥檚  (EPIC). 鈥淵ou guys are an inspiration to all of us,鈥� Battier tells physicians, nurses and support staff after being introduced by EPIC Director Xiaodong Lin-Siegler, Professor of Cognitive Studies. 鈥淔rom the bottom of my heart, thank you for keeping our communities safe.鈥�

Convocation 2020: Crisis, Opportunity and Inspiration

At 罢颁鈥檚 first-ever virtual Convocation, 麻豆原创 President Thomas Bailey ponders whether post-COVID America will be more equitable or simply perpetuate 鈥渢he inequities, disparities and divisions that put everyone鈥檚 future at risk.鈥� The answer, he tells graduates, 鈥渋s up to you. We need you to illuminate the truth that we are all better off when we are all better off.鈥�

Noting that 鈥渕illions of children, college students and educators have found themselves, overnight, banished to a landscape of remote learning,鈥� Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones, recipient of 罢颁鈥檚 Medal for Distinguished Service, nevertheless calls the COVID crisis 鈥渁 tremendous opportunity to reinvent public education in a way that lives up to its most democratic ideals.鈥�

And former U.S. Second Lady and long-time community college educator Jill Biden declares that, as parents wrestle with home schooling, the 鈥渃reativity and grit鈥� of teachers has 鈥渘ever been more needed, and, in that way, our voices have never been more powerful.鈥�

Convocation 2020 includes remarks by former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, New York Senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, award-winning author Jacqueline Woodson, Columbia Journalism School professor Jelani Cobb and others. The graduates are also addressed by Amann Syed Ahmad, receiving her master鈥檚 degree in Curriculum & Teaching, Rachel Norman, receiving her master鈥檚 degree from the Department of Education Policy & Social Analysis (EPSA), and Woo Jung Amber Kim, receiving her master鈥檚 degree from the Department of International & Transcultural Studies (I&TS).

And a video collage revisits 鈥渢he Teachers College in our hearts and minds.鈥� 鈥淚t鈥檚 the epicenter of education, health and psychology . . . but it鈥檚 also a coffee cart on West 120^th Street,鈥� says narrator Cally Waite, Associate Professor of History & Education. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a speeding number 1 train. It鈥檚 the early morning sunlight over Morningside Park 鈥� and, at this uncertain moment, it鈥檚 a way of being in a complicated world. Teachers College is the stuff dreams are made of.鈥�

Grief and Outrage, Tempered by Hope: 麻豆原创 Talks Racism

Prompted by the police killings of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and other unarmed Black Americans, more than 400 麻豆原创 students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends convene for 鈥淎 Virtual 麻豆原创 Gathering: Rallying Against Police Brutality and Systemic Racism.鈥�

Associate Professor of English Education notes that 鈥渢hese tragedies, these murders, have taken place when we are collectively sitting still, and that has forced many to pay attention to things that ail their fellow humans.鈥� But, she adds, 鈥淚f swift and adequate justice is not served, we will know America is not serious.鈥�  

Calling the killings 鈥渁nother tipping point in our history鈥� that reflects 鈥渁 broken America where dreams can be extinguished before they can be born,鈥� 麻豆原创 Public Safety Officer Dennis Chambers (Ed.D. 鈥�10, M.A. 鈥�02, M.A. 鈥�99) calls for repair of the nation鈥檚 鈥渇ractured public educational system鈥� in order to foster greater understanding and knowledge.

Associate Professor of Education Leadership Sonya Douglass Horsford calls attention to 鈥渨hat James Baldwin conceptualized as the 鈥榳hite gaze,鈥欌�� which, she says, 鈥渞emains detached from the racial realities of growing up Black in America, where innocent Black children and youth are murdered at the hands of law enforcement without consequence, and controversial is the declaration that 鈥楤lack lives matter.鈥欌��  

Janice Robinson, 罢颁鈥檚 Vice President for Diversity and Community Affairs, concludes the event by recalling the death of Emmett Till, the 14-year-old African American boy lynched in Mississippi in 1955.

鈥淲e keep calling the names over and over of our murdered Black men and women,鈥� Robinson says. She calls on community members to take, each day, a minimum of eight minutes and 46 seconds 鈥� the length of time that Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on George Floyd鈥檚 neck 鈥� 鈥渢o reflect on where we are and what actions we are taking with others.鈥�     

Now More Than Ever: The 2020 Reimagining Education Institute 

At 罢颁鈥檚 fifth annual (and first virtual) Reimagining Education: Teaching, Learning and Leading for a Racially Just Society Summer Institute, more than 1,000 attendees tune in, from New York City to Cairo, Egypt.

Providing educators with professional development to better engage a public-school student population that is predominantly of color, this year鈥檚 Institute reflects the context of COVID and the recent police killings of George Floyd and other Black Americans.

Educators must 鈥済ive ourselves and our students new stories that uncover the brilliance they exhibited as babies,鈥� says Lisa Delpit, MacArthur 鈥済enius grant鈥� recipient, author of the landmark 1995 book , and the Felton G. Clark Distinguished Professor of Education at Southern University and A&M College, in a keynote address titled 鈥淭he Stories We Tell and the Fire This Time.鈥�

And in pondering remedies for a school system in which the odds are stacked against students of color, 麻豆原创 alumna Jamila Lyiscott, author of  (Routledge 2019), takes a page from Floyd鈥檚 family, who conducted their own autopsy to counter official efforts to obscure how and why he died.

鈥淪o what would happen,鈥� asks Lyiscott, Assistant Professor of Social Justice Education at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Senior Research Fellow at 罢颁鈥檚 , 鈥渋f we conducted an independent autopsy of our schools? On the disparate attendance and achievement rates? What would we find and who would be responsible?鈥�  

Teachers and Students Adapt Jhumpa Lahiri for the Screen 

At 罢颁鈥檚 , which normally brings high school teachers and students to campus to create multimedia stage adaptations of great literary works, participants work virtually to produce short films inspired by , the Pulitzer Prize-winning short story collection by Jhumpa Lahiri. 鈥淭he whole point of fiction is to transport us into a world that transcends both digital space and physical space,鈥� says Adele Bruni Ashley, Faculty Adviser at the College鈥檚 (CPET) and Lecturer in 罢颁鈥檚 Teaching of English program. 鈥淥ur goal is that students, 10 or 15 years after they attended the Institute, will have an instantaneous reaction when they see the book they read because they know the text so deeply.鈥�  

Giving the Gift of Intentional Parenthood 

A three-year, $610,000 gift from Dr. Mary Edlow (M.A. 鈥�67) establishes 罢颁鈥檚 Edlow Reproductive Literacy Project, reflecting Edlow鈥檚 vision of 鈥渆very child a wanted child.鈥� Edlow has previously funded 罢颁鈥檚 Edlow Sex Education Initiative (SEI) to train New York City K鈥�12 teachers who also serve as sex educators in schools. Led by psychology faculty members  and Riddhi Sandil, the program aims to help youth explore their 鈥渞eproductive identity formation鈥� 鈥� a new paradigm introduced by Athan to frame questions of if, when and how people want to become parents, and how those goals are influenced by their families, their beliefs and their environmental contexts. The Edlow Reproductive Literacy Project aims to establish reproductive identity formation as a central focus in psychology and public health.  

Advocating for Graduate Students 

罢颁鈥檚 Advocacy Academy, led by Matthew J. Camp, 罢颁鈥檚 Director of Government Relations and a doctoral student in the Department of Education Policy & Social Analysis, holds an online 鈥渓etter-writing party鈥� to help 麻豆原创 students, faculty, staff and alumni express to Congress the ways that graduate institutions contribute to the public good. The effort responds to new rules proposed by the Trump administration that would deny visas to international students if the U.S. institutions they attended were providing instruction entirely online.  

Serving the Community, 罢颁鈥檚 Mental Health Center Moves Online 

As COVID shutters counseling and therapy clinics nationwide, 罢颁鈥檚 Dean Hope Center for Educational & Psychological Services has moved operations online to continue serving low-income, minority patients in neighboring areas 鈥� often at reduced rates 鈥� and provide critical training for students in the College鈥檚 Department of Counseling & Clinical Psychology. 鈥淯niversities are often perceived by communities as changing the landscape of their neighborhoods without giving anything in return,鈥� says Dean Hope Director Dinelia Rosa. 鈥淏ut our center shows how 麻豆原创 is giving back to our surrounding communities.鈥�

Hands-On Science, at Home 

罢颁鈥檚 Hollingworth Summer Science Camp 鈥� the other half of The Hollingworth Center, and a Morningside Heights fixture since 1981 鈥� operates online. 鈥淭he need for early science opportunities has never been more urgent,鈥� Hollingworth Center Director Lisa Wright emails parents midway through the four-week July camp, which serves rising first graders through rising fifth graders. 鈥淭he pandemic has illuminated the essential work of scientists on a daily basis, and science is what will get us to the other side of this.鈥�   

Critiquing America鈥檚 Response to COVID 

The American people have met COVID with resourcefulness and courage, say members of a panel discussion livestreamed by the student-facilitated 麻豆原创 Adult Learning & Leadership Network. But they agree with Victoria Marsick, Professor of Education and Co-Director of 罢颁鈥檚 J.M. Huber Institute, that the pandemic has 鈥渟hed light on the weakening of our democratic institutions, our democratic practices and the hypocrisy of some of our lofty goals.鈥� Co-sponsored by 罢颁鈥檚 Adult Learning & Leadership program (ALL) and the Office of Graduate Student Life & Development, the event is organized and moderated by ALL doctoral student Brian Ahn.

Some School Choice Venues May Be Waning in Popularity 

Parents鈥� demand for education vouchers and Education Saving Accounts (ESAs), through which government funds may pay for private school tuition, may be flagging, report 罢颁鈥檚 Luis Huerta, Associate Professor of Education & Public Policy, and Kevin Welner of the University of Colorado Boulder School of Education, in a sponsored by and the . One reason, speculate Huerta and Welner: Private schools are not publicly regulated, and thus exempt from government standards on testing performance, teacher accreditation, instruction for special education students and other measures.  

Thinking Even Younger: Online Pre-K at 罢颁鈥檚 Rita Gold Center

罢颁鈥檚 Rita Gold Early Childhood Center, which serves the children of faculty and staff, also moves online. Serving children as young as three months old, Onsite Associate Director Patrice Nichols and her staff prioritize family support and making the Center a continuing connection point for its community. In addition to whole-group activities, teachers schedule individual or small-group engagements with children or meet individually with parents to assist with questions about children鈥檚 development. 

A Call for Nutrition Educators to Embrace Controversy 

In her inaugural address as President of the (SNEB), Pamela Koch, Executive Director of Teachers College鈥檚 Laurie M. Tisch Center for Food, Education & Policy and Associate Professor in the College鈥檚 Program in Nutrition, envisions 鈥渁 future for our field that takes on controversies鈥� 鈥� for example, how the COVID pandemic and police violence against people of color are exacerbating racial inequities in food access and health, the fragility of food systems and the prevalence of ultra-processed foods. 鈥淣utrition education gives people the power to demand healthy, just and sustainable food by disrupting the status quo,鈥� Koch says.

Schools vs. COVID: A New Series on 麻豆原创 Alumni in the Trenches

罢颁鈥檚 Office of External Affairs launches 鈥淪chools vs. COVID,鈥� a series of stories on education during the pandemic featuring 麻豆原创 faculty and staff experts, students and alumni who serve as superintendents, principals, teachers and school support staff on a range of issues, including reopening, remote teaching and learning, students鈥� emotional and psychological well-being, educational equity, assessment and emerging research.

Black Lives Matter Movement Inspires Community Art 

Prompted by artist Kamille Way, a master鈥檚 degree student in 罢颁鈥檚 program in Design & Development of Digital Games, the 麻豆原创 Student Senate creates the Black Lives Matter Digital Art Display, a virtual showcase of more than 30 pieces by poets, painters, musicians, digital filmmakers and others from the 麻豆原创 community that 鈥渃enter on the Black Lives Matter social justice movement and racial injustices鈥� experienced by Black communities.

鈥楥areer Services鈥� Gets a Makeover 

Prompted by 麻豆原创 President Thomas Bailey鈥檚 call to create 鈥減athways for all to flourish,鈥� the College formally launches its revamped career development center, 麻豆原创 NEXT (鈥淣EXT鈥� stands for 鈥淣avigating and Exploring for Tomorrow鈥�), under the leadership of Ashley Pinakiewicz, a former career consultant and teacher dedicated to realizing the College鈥檚 vision of student-centered, holistic career and professional support. 鈥淪tudents are looking for a lifetime relationship,鈥� says Thomas Rock, Vice Provost for Student Affairs, 鈥渟o we need to build lifetime capabilities to not only help them land that first job, but also take action at different career phases so that their careers are sustainable.鈥�

麻豆原创 Adds New Faculty to Its Intellectual Mix 

Three new faculty members add diverse, cutting-edge perspectives to 罢颁鈥檚 intellectual mix.

Davinia Gregory, Assistant Professor of Arts Administration, is an interdisciplinary writer, researcher, educator and artist who publishes across edited volumes and journals in sociology, material culture, design history and urban studies. Her Ph.D. work (now in development as a book) was the first piece of research to fully document the closure, aftermath and legacy creation of a Black-led arts organization. Her global perspective and interactive, workshop-style teaching and assessment challenge the hierarchies and inequalities that the arts can either serve to sustain or disrupt.

Amy E. Jones Haug, Minority Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Education Policy and Social Analysis, is a sociologist who draws on ethnographic and survey methodologies to understand 鈥渞acial incorporation,鈥� or how African Americans have gained access to the majority society over time. She is also collecting biometric data on the health consequences to individuals who do diversity-work.

Matthew Zajic, Assistant Professor of Intellectual Disabilities/Autism, focuses on understanding and supporting the writing development of individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), with specific interests in theory, measurement and instruction. His interdisciplinary research considers intersections between the linguistic, cognitive and social demands of writing and the diverse linguistic, cognitive and social profiles of individuals with ASD.  

Former Education Secretary John King Speaks at Orientation

Keynoting 罢颁鈥檚 first-ever virtual new student orientation, former U.S. Secretary of Education , (Ed.D. 鈥�08, M.A. 鈥�97) calls the absence of a consistent federal response to the coronavirus pandemic 鈥渄evastating for children of color.鈥� Speaking with Provost Stephanie Rowley, King, who served under President Obama and is now President and CEO of , charges that Black and Latinx youth have been disproportionately affected by COVID鈥檚 social-emotional toll and severely penalized by a national technology gap: 鈥淲e literally had the schoolhouse door barred for kids because they didn鈥檛 have internet access.鈥�  

A Podcast on Segregation in Nashville Features 罢颁鈥檚 Ansley Erickson

Ansley T. Erickson, Associate Professor of History & Education Policy and Co-Director of 罢颁鈥檚 Center on History & Education, is a prominently featured guest in a segment of the WPLN Nashville Public Radio podcast series . Like the series, Erickson鈥檚 award-winning 2016 book, , published by University of Chicago Press, reveals Nashville鈥檚 decades-long resistance to integration even as the city assembled impressive desegregation statistics on paper.

A Memoir of Surviving Ethnic Cleansing in Bosnia

, Associate Professor of Practice in 罢颁鈥檚 Department of Education Policy & Social Analysis, publishes , her memoir of being a Muslim teenager in Bosnia during the ethnic cleansing and genocide of Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslims) instituted by the Serbian regime of Slobodan Milo拧evi膰. The book, which has been available on pre-order through Amazon and many bookstores for several weeks, is already the number one best seller in new releases among young adult biographies, a category that includes authors Kamala Harris and Michelle Obama.  

At a Global Summit, Educators Share Lessons from the Pandemic

At the biennial Global Learning Alliance Summit led by 罢颁鈥檚 , online teaching during the pandemic is Topic A among school leaders from around the world. 鈥淭he pedagogy and practice had been so much about in-person instruction that teachers felt stuck, scared and as if they couldn鈥檛 do anything right,鈥� says Christina Compton, CPET鈥檚 Director of Program Development. The participants explore technology鈥檚 virtues, but many echo CPET鈥檚 Faith Little鈥檚 preference for 鈥渕eeting in person to share what we are doing with kids in different places and under different circumstances.鈥�   

罢颁鈥檚 Constitution Day Message: This Year, More than Ever, Vote

At 罢颁鈥檚 2020 Constitution Day program, honoring the late Congressman John Lewis, Julie Ebenstein, Senior Staff Attorney for  (ACLU), says Americans 鈥渃an be confident that if we cast ballots, they will be counted.鈥� Janice Robinson, 罢颁鈥檚 Vice President for Diversity and Community Affairs, whose office sponsors the annual event, urges continued vigilance because the COVID pandemic 鈥渉as further highlighted existing inequalities that plague our institutions and disproportionately affect historically marginalized communities.鈥� And moderator Sonya Douglass Horsford, Associate Professor of Education Leadership and Founding Director of 罢颁鈥檚 Black Education Research Collective, sounds a one-word Election Day imperative: 鈥淰ote.鈥�

Introducing SURGE, a Columbia-wide Response to Gun Violence

The new co-sponsors , a series of virtual workshops, panel discussions and town halls on gun politics, intimate partner violence, suicide prevention and other relevant topics. SURGE was co-founded by 罢颁鈥檚 Sonali Rajan, Associate Professor of Health Education, and Louis Klarevas, Research Professor and author of , together with faculty members at Columbia鈥檚 Mailman School of Public Health, to combat a national epidemic that, thus far in 2020, has already killed nearly 32,000 Americans.

Aided by 麻豆原创, the Army Applies Spirituality to Mental Health

, U.S. Army Chief of Chaplains, keynotes the second installment of The Spirituality and Mental Health Webinar Series, a collaboration between 罢颁鈥檚 Spirituality Mind Body Institute, led by , Professor of Psychology & Education, and the Center for Faith and Opportunity Initiatives of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The series explores spirituality鈥檚 application to severe mental illness, personal relationships, the life course and other issues. Miller鈥檚 own findings 鈥渧alidate what we, as people of faith, instinctively know to be true and puts it in the vein of science,鈥� Solhjem says, adding that 鈥渨e鈥檙e bringing the science of spirituality to the Army through the lens of Dr. Miller.鈥�

An Award-Winning Book Re-envisions American Education  

(Harvard Education Press 2018), co-authored by 罢颁鈥檚 Sonya Douglass Horsford, Associate Professor of Education Leadership, receives the American Educational Studies Association鈥檚 2020 . Horsford, Founding Director of 罢颁鈥檚 Black Education Research Collective (BERC), Janelle T. Scott of the University of California at Berkeley, and Gary L. Anderson of New York University apply critical policy analysis to how 鈥渄ismantling the government鈥檚 role in education limits the democratic possibilities of schooling.鈥� They argue that principals and district leaders are key to creating and sustaining an education system that does not treat students differently based on their race, culture, or zip code.

Amplifying New Voices in 罢颁鈥檚 Century-old Scholarly Journal

鈥淲e call ourselves 鈥榯he voice of scholarship in education,鈥欌�� says Professor of Education Michelle Knight-Manuel, Executive Editor of the 130-year-old  since October 2019. 鈥淏ut what voices are we actually representing?鈥� Knight-Manuel, whose own research has focused on the experiences and needs of immigrant students, has undertaken a 鈥渓andscape review鈥� of the journal鈥檚 content for the previous five years and launched a daily tweet highlighting past Record articles with relevance to the COVID pandemic and violence against people of color. She鈥檚 also supplemented the Record鈥檚 editorial board with new expertise in areas such as bilingual mathematics education and rural education and added students to her staff, which she sees as 鈥渁n equity/access鈥� issue.

It Still Has Appeal: A Constitutional Right to a Civic Education

Judge William Smith of the U.S. District Court for Rhode Island dismisses Cook v. Raimondo, a case in which plaintiffs sought to establish that all public school students have a Constitutional right to an education that prepares them to participate in the nation鈥檚 democratic activities. Yet Smith writes that, 鈥渋n denying that relief, I hope I can at least call out the need for it.鈥� The plaintiffs鈥� lead attorney, Michael Rebell, Professor of Law and Educational Practice and Executive Director of 罢颁鈥檚 , says the decision 鈥減rovides a road map to the First Circuit Court of Appeals.鈥�

The Maker Movement as a Means of 鈥楻esilience and Resistance鈥�

This year鈥檚 , co-chaired by 麻豆原创 faculty members Paulo Blikstein and Nathan Holbert and University of New Mexico computer scientist , frames maker education (project-based pedagogies and technology-rich environments that help children create and invent) as an antidote to pandemic-induced feelings of powerlessness. 鈥淎s science evolves, education needs to catch up,鈥� Blikstein, Associate Professor of Communication, Media & Learning Technologies Design, tells a virtual audience from 31 countries. 鈥淲e need to develop ways for children to access new content, such as artificial intelligence, genomics, and climate science. Maker education is an important part of that.鈥�

Access, Equity and Justice are the Focus at 罢颁鈥檚 Academic Festival

罢颁鈥檚 12^th annual Academic Festival is also the unique homecoming event鈥檚 first online iteration 鈥� a four-day lineup of panels and presentations headlined 鈥淭he Right Moves: Access, Equity & Justice for All.鈥�

The program kicks off with a discussion of the award-winning film, Welcome to Chechnya, in which the film鈥檚 director, David France, and its executive producer, Lambda Legal CEO  (M.A. 鈥�94), discuss their documentation of efforts by activists to fight that country鈥檚 brutal assault on its LGBTQ community.

In accepting 罢颁鈥檚 Morton Deutsch Award for Social Justice, , Founding Director of the Kings Against Violence Initiative and Clinical Assistant Professor at Kings County Hospital Center, discusses reasons for the high rate of violent traumatic injury that kills so many young men of color. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not just because of gun violence and gun access,鈥� Gore says. 鈥淲e have to understand the conditions and situations that give rise to that violence.鈥�

And in a panel on the future of higher education, four leaders in the field, moderated by 麻豆原创 President Thomas Bailey, ponder the steep inequities and challenges faced by BIPOC and low-income students at public colleges and universities. Decrying the growing practice of giving the most accomplished students merit aid at the expense of others in greater need,  (Ed.D. 鈥�87, M.A. 鈥�85), President of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, declares that 鈥渨e need to be a little bit stronger, a little bit bolder, in fighting for the new majority 鈥� the first-generation, the low-income, the students of color.鈥� 

Other programming includes: a talk by  (M.A. 鈥�96), Chief Innovation Officer at Citi, on a new technology paradigm she calls 鈥渁rtificial enlightenment;鈥� presentation of 罢颁鈥檚 Distinguished Achievement, Early Career and Distinguished Service Awards; and this year鈥檚 student research poster contest, won by Neuroscience & Education master鈥檚 degree student Gabriel Reyes, for 鈥淪carcity & the Brain: Does Financial Deprivation Affect Learning & Memory in Adolescents?鈥�

A $2.5 Million Bequest For Postdocs in Mental Health and Well-being

A $2.5 million bequest by the late alumnus and Brooklyn public school teacher Bruce Goldberg (Ed.D. 鈥�76, M.A. 鈥�75) establishes 麻豆原创 as a leader in one of the hottest research areas in both health and education: child and adolescent trauma. The Dr. Bruce Goldberg Postdoctoral Fellowships are 鈥渁 real game-changer,鈥� says 麻豆原创 Provost Stephanie J. Rowley. They amplify 鈥渁 really cool interdisciplinary focus at 麻豆原创 that includes not only people working in psychology, but also in our departments of Mathematics, Science & Technology, Biobehavioral Sciences and Arts & Humanities.鈥� The Fellowships also 鈥渉elp people understand our value as a research institution.鈥�

罢颁鈥檚 Gordon Lecturer: Higher Ed Must Lead Improvement of Urban Schools

When  became President of Atlanta鈥檚 Spelman College 鈥� a leading historically Black institution 鈥� she asked neighborhood principals how Spelman could help their schools. 鈥淭hey all said 鈥榯each our students to read,鈥欌�� Campbell recalls in delivering 罢颁鈥檚 annual Edmund W. Gordon Lecture. Spelman鈥檚 students have since helped boost the schools鈥� reading scores. And citing the projected elimination of 80 million unskilled jobs, Campbell has argued that colleges and universities have 鈥渘o choice鈥� but to lead in 鈥渢he involvement and improvement of urban education.鈥� Honoring the legendary psychologist, IUME founder and 麻豆原创 Professor Emeritus Edmund W. Gordon, this year鈥檚 Gordon lecture is presented in conjunction with 罢颁鈥檚 commemoration of the 100^th anniversary of the Harlem Renaissance.   

A Teaching Model for Trying Times: 罢颁鈥檚 Peace Corps Fellows

Teaching has gotten even tougher during the COVID pandemic, but Teachers College鈥檚 Peace Corps Fellows Program provides insights into how best to support teachers during a crisis. The program鈥檚 780 graduates since 1985 have partnered with learning communities throughout New York City 鈥� and during the past five years, amid a 50 percent national turnover rate among new teachers, the Peace Corps Fellows Program has prepared 52 New York City teachers, all of whom are still teaching. The program 鈥渁ttracts teachers with a dedication to serving students鈥� needs, a devotion to social justice, a commitment to the pursuit of peace, and a passion for education,鈥� says Director Elaine Perlman (M.A. 鈥�92).

Two 麻豆原创 Alumnae Help Shape the Biden Disabilities Policy

Citation by others is a gold standard of academic research. Citation by the nation鈥檚 incoming presidential administration isn鈥檛 on most researchers鈥� radar. So Amanda Howerton-Fox and Jodi Falk, doctoral graduates of 罢颁鈥檚 Deaf & Hard of Hearing Program, were happily stunned that their 2019 study,  published in Education Sciences, has become a cornerstone of President-Elect Joe Biden鈥檚 federal disability policy. Howerton-Fox, Assistant Professor of Education at Iona College, and Falk, Executive Director of the St. Francis de Sales School for the Deaf in Brooklyn, advocate for deaf children and their families to receive early access to sign language and bilingual programs. Quoting them nearly verbatim, the Biden platform pledges to 鈥減rovide parents, health care providers, and early childhood professionals the resources needed to support these children.鈥�

A Town Applies a 麻豆原创 鈥淧rotocol for Listening鈥� to Its Racial History

Last May, following the death of George Floyd, the Human Rights Commission of El Cerrito, California, led a communitywide discussion on race and social justice. It used a Transformative Listening Protocol (TLP) developed by a team led by Victoria Marsick, Professor of Education and Director of 罢颁鈥檚 Adult Learning & Leadership program, that included Commission member Mina Wilson. Inspired by the theories of the late 麻豆原创 adult learning theorist Jack Mezirow, the TLP is 鈥渁bout opening your mind to different perspectives by hearing from other people and thinking from their point of view as well as your own,鈥� says Marsick. El Cerrito residents say they have done just that. The method also has been introduced in colleges and universities in the United States, Thailand, Canada, Brazil and Italy, and Marsick plans to test it more widely. 

Revamping 罢颁鈥檚 Arts Administration Program for a Diverse Society

This winter, 麻豆原创 is launching a revamped edition of its Program in Arts Administration (ARAD), the result, of a multiyear effort led by Associate Professor and Program Director Jennifer Lena. More affordable and accessible to a more diverse range of students, the new program seeks to elevate a field long undervalued and highlight its special relevance in a time when diversity increasingly characterizes and divides the nation. 鈥淎rts administrators are responsible for identifying what is most beautiful and significant in our culture,鈥� says Lena. 鈥淎nd while right now the professional staff of arts organizations are predominantly White and upper middle-class, increasingly, the art that鈥檚 in demand is made by people who are very different than that. So we need a new generation of changemakers and leaders who are as diverse as this country.鈥�