The Mission
This conference is designed to bring together scholars, activists, educators, students and community members who use critical race theory as a tool to frame, examine, document, understand and transform racial inequalities in education and in the broader society. The conference organizers invite papers that document scholarship, teaching, activist work at the local level, and community organizing efforts aimed at transforming racist practices, policies and systems in schools and in the broader society.
Tucson High School University of Arizona College of Education May 21st - 23rd of 2009
400 N. Second Avenue Tucson, Arizona 85705
1430 E. Second Street Tucson, Arizona 85721
The Conference Theme
The phrase “it takes a village” recognizes the complex nature of social relations and the role that communities or villages play in the lives of school-aged youth. To that end, there has been an insistent focus on the role of "villages" in promoting healthy attitudes toward school and subsequently there has been little discussion about the role of race and racism in shaping what happens in these “villages” and their schools. We believe it’s time for critical race scholars in education to “reclaim the village” by moving us toward a dialogue about what leading critical race studies in education scholar Gloria Ladson-Billings refers to as the “education debt” that not only recognizes the “cultural wealth” that "villages" contain but pays close attention to how they have been historically shaped by racism and white supremacy as a globalized system of deeply-entrenched social, political and economic practices. We invite papers and workshop presentations that document scholarship, teaching, local activist work, and community organizing efforts aimed at transforming racist practices, policies and systems in schools and in the broader society.
For more information contact Prof. Marvin Lynn, the Conference Chair at 312-355-0568 or Sharon Earthely at 312-996-4508. Please send proposals, preferably as a pdf attachment, to marvin.lynn@gmail.com by March 1st of 2009.