New York University will host “Brown: 60 and Beyond,” a two-day conference commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education ruling, on Fri., May 16 and Sat. May 17 at various locations at NYU.
The conference, sponsored by NYU’s Metropolitan Center for Research on Equity and the Transformation of Schools (Metro Center), will include: NYU Professor Anna Deavere Smith, an actress and playwright; former New York City Schools Chancellor Rudy Crew; author and journalist Farai Chideya; Richard Rothstein, senior fellow at the Chief Justice Earl Warren Institute on Law and Social Policy at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law; and others.
The event is free and open to the public. Complete schedule of events and speakers. To register, please visit http://brown60.org. For more information, please call 212.998.5137. Subways: A, C, D, E, F, M (W. 4th St.).
Through dialog and debate, the conference seeks to illuminate the impact of Brown on the course of civil rights in the United States and prime new perspectives on educational equality. The two-day event features scholars, practitioners, activists, educators, and students as they tackle this question: Has progress been made in eliminating racial barriers and expanding racial equality through education since this historic ruling?
Rothstein (May 16, 12:30 p.m.) and Gary Orfield (May 16, 9:30 a.m.), professor of education, law, political science, and urban planning and co-director of UCLA’s Civil Rights Project/Proyecto Derechos Civiles, will deliver keynote addresses. The Civil Rights Project recently released a report showing New York State’s public schools to be the most segregated in the nation.
“Brown: 60 and Beyond” will also include: A book launch for Schooling for Resilience: Improving the Life Trajectory of Black and Latino Boys, co-authored by NYU’s Pedro Noguera and Edward Fergus and Brown University’s Margary Martin; a screening of “Unequal Education: Failing Our Children,” a film depicting the stark contrast of resources and opportunities at two Bronx schools; a student teach-in aimed at elucidating the history of “Brown” for participating high school students; and a debate, moderated by Anna Deavere Smith, on the issue that will include: Ted Shaw, retired executive director of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund; Russylnn Ali, former assistant secretary of education in the Office of Civil Rights; Columbia Teachers College Professor Amy Stuart Wells; David Banks, president and CEO of the Eagle Academy Foundation; and Jeff Duncan-Andrade, a professor at San Francisco State University.
The Metro Center is part of NYU’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development.
EDITOR’S NOTE:
The Metropolitan Center for Research on Equity and the Transformation of Schools (Metro Center) is a comprehensive, university-based center that focuses on educational research, policy, and practice. It is a partner and resource at the local and national levels in strengthening and improving access, opportunity, and the quality of education in our schools. Its mission is to target issues related to educational equity by providing leadership and support to students, parents, teachers, administrators, and policy makers. For more, please visit:
http://steinhardt.nyu.edu/metrocenter/.