The Syracuse University School of Education has announced the fall 2012 speakers in its annual Landscape of Urban Education lecture series. The series will kick off with Valerie Kinloch and her presentation “Crossing Boundaries in Literacy Research: Implications for Urban Education” on Thursday, Sept. 20, at 5:30 p.m. in Watson Theater. This event is free and open to the public, and CART will be provided.
Kinloch’s lecture will address how youth of color “refigure classroom and community spaces” in order to express lived experiences in an educational setting. According to Kinloch, some youths of color still resist being called writers or readers, even after minorities struggled for years to acquire the right to literacy. Instead of taking traditional approaches to school assignments, these youths use methods like hip-hop lyrics, poetry and community gardens to show others the world through their eyes. She will talk about these ideas and how they fit into urban education environments using youth writings, interviews, projects and more. Kinloch is an associate professor at The Ohio State University and the author of “Harlem on Our Minds: Place, Race, and Literature of Urban Youth” (Teachers College Press, 2009).
Since 2005, the Landscape of Urban Education lecture series has presented current strategies and ideas relevant to urban education. The fall series will continue with two more speakers: Deborah Appleman and her talk, “Liberal Learning Behind Bars: Literacy Education with the Incarcerated,” and Kevin Kumashiro and his talk, “Bad Teacher! How Blaming Teachers Distorts the Bigger Picture.” All events are free and open to the public. CART will be provided.
For more information about the Landscape of Urban Education lecture series, visit www.soe.syr.edu/LUE/.
