Gregory V. Larnell, PhD
Associate Professor
Curriculum and Instruction
Pronouns: He/Him/His
Contact
Address:
1040 W. Harrison St. (M/C 147), Chicago, IL 60607
Email:
Related Sites:
About
Dr. Gregory Larnell specializes in the study of mathematics education as a curricular field, as an institutional-policy enterprise, and as a site for experiencing learning and teaching. He has drawn on theoretical ideas from multiple fields toward critically examining the role of standards in school mathematics; Black learners' experiences in non-credit remedial mathematics courses; teaching and learning mathematics for social justice; identities, stereotypes, and mathematics-learning experiences; urban mathematics education; and the use of critical race theory in mathematics education research. He is currently developing projects on Black family mathematics socialization, critical perspectives on equity, the history of U.S. algebra education, and mathematics tutoring experiences. His scholarship has been published in several journals and edited volumes; find and download his work here.
Dr. Larnell develops and teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in the College of Education across curricular and degree programs: Introduction to Urban Education (ED 100); STEM, Education, and Society (ED 217); Teaching and Learning Elementary Mathematics in the Urban Classroom (CI 404); Research on the Learning of Mathematics (CI 519); Research on the Mathematics Teachers and Teaching (CI 516); The K-12 Mathematics Curriculum: Theory, Politics, and Reform (CI 520); and Curriculum and Teaching (ED 430); and research practica and independent studies. He also serves in multiple service capacities locally, institutionally, nationally, and internationally.
Selected Publications
Jett, C. C. & Larnell, G. V. (2025). More than just a course: A critical race analysis of developmental mathematics in the community college. New Directions for Community College, 2025(209-210), 109-116.
Larnell, G. V. (2023). Building an evolving framework: A clarion call/manifesto. Notices of the American Mathematical Society, 70(2), 244-245.
Larnell, G. V. & Martin, D. B. (2021). Urban Mathematics Education as a Political and Personal Project. In H. R. Milner & K. Lomotey (Eds.), Handbook of Urban Education (2nd Ed; pp. 355-368). New York, NY: Routledge.
Rezvi, S., Han, A., & Larnell, G.V. (2020). Mathematical mirrors, windows, and sliding-glass doors: Looking to adolescent and young adult texts as sites for identifying with mathematics. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 63(5), 589-592.
Barajas-López, F. & Larnell, G.V. (2019). Unpacking the link between equitable teaching practices and Standards for Mathematical Practice: Equity for whom and under what conditions? Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 50(4), 349-361.
Larnell, G.V. (2019). To view mathematics through a lens darkly: A critical race analysis of mathematical proficiency. In C. C. Jett & J. Davis (Eds.), Critical Race Theory in Mathematics Education (pp). New York, NY: Routledge.
Larnell, G. V. & Bullock, E. C. (2018). A socio-spatial framework for urban mathematics education: Considering equity, social justice, and the spatial turn. In T. Bartell (Ed.), Toward equity and social justice in mathematics education(pp. 43-57). Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer.
Larnell, G.V.(2017). On the entanglement of mathematics remediation, gatekeeping, and the cooling-out phenomenon in education. In A. Chronaki (Ed.), Mathematics education and life in times of crisis: Proceedings of the 9thInternational Mathematics Education and Society Conference (pp. 654-664). Volos/Agria, Greece.
Larnell, G.V. (2016). More than just skill: Examining mathematics identities, racialized narratives, and remediation among Black undergraduates. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 47(3), 233-269.
Larnell, G.V., Bullock, E.C., Jett, C.C. (2016). Rethinking teaching and learning mathematics for social justice from a critical-race perspective. Journal of Education, 196(1), 19-29.
Larnell, G.V., Boston, D., & Bragelman, J. (2014). The stuff of stereotypes: Toward unpacking identity threats amid African American students’ learning experiences. Journal of Education, 194(1), 49-57.
Martin, D.B. & Larnell, G.V. (2013). Urban mathematics education. In H.R. Milner & K. Lomotey (Eds.), Handbook of Urban Education(pp. 373-393). New York: Routledge.
Professional Leadership
Member, UIC Senate
Member, College of Education Executive Committee
Past Member (2017-2020), Mathematics Education and Society International Organizing Committee
Past Member (2018-19), UIC Senate Executive Committee
Past Member (2018-2021), National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Research Committee
Past Member (2020-2022), American Educational Research Journal Editorial Board
Notable Honors
2024, Op-Ed Project - Public Voices Fellowship, University of Illinois
2021, Benjamin Banneker Association Award for Exemplary Teaching, Benjamin Banneker Association
2017, Early Career Publication Award, Special Interest Group on Research in Mathematics Education of the American Educational Research Association
2017, Teaching Fellow, UIC Center for Teaching and Learning Communities
2013, Faculty Scholar, Institute for Research on Race and Public Policy, University of Illinois at Chicago
2012, Project STaR Fellowship (Service, Teaching, and Research for Early Career Mathematics Education), National Science Foundation
Education
PhD, Michigan State University, Mathematics Education
BA, Lake Forest College (IL), Mathematics (with minor concentration, African American Studies)
Selected Presentations
Larnell, G. V. (2023, February). On the life and times of equity: The case of mathematics education. A critical epistemic perspective on equity and social justice discourses in mathematics education scholarship [Invited presentation] Purdue University Department of Curriculum and Instruction. West Lafayette, IN, United States.
Larnell, G. V. (2022, October). Should equity as an answer be a problem and not the solution? Toward a critical epistemic perspective regarding justice for mathematics education. [Invited presentation]Second-annual Justice in Mathematics Lecture in the University of Michigan Department of Mathematics (co-sponsored by the University of Michigan School of Education). Ann Arbor, MI. United States.
Larnell, G.V. (2020, October). Unpacking the equity era: A critical re-reading of mathematics education scholarship, part one. [Invited virtual presentation] Middle Tennessee State University Mathematics Education Doctoral Program Colloquium Series.