The School of Education’s renowned Douglas Biklen Landscape of Urban Education lecture series will return for the 2020-21 academic year with a slate of virtual events, beginning this week. This year’s theme, Leading in Precarious Times kicks off with a panel discussion titled What Makes a Leader, Taking a Stand, and Leadership Needed Now: A Conversation with Black SOE Alumni, featuring seven distinguished leaders and educators.
Moderated by Cerri Banks ’00, G’04, G’05, G’06, dean of students and vice president for student affairs at Skidmore College and chair of the SOE Board of Visitors, the panel includes:
- Paul M. Buckley G’12, Vice President & Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
- Reba Hodge ’02 G’16, school administrator in the Syracuse City School District
- Gala Hughley G’20, a middle grades mathematics teacher at Brighton Academy in the Syracuse City School District
- Don C. Sawyer III G’03, G’08, G’13, Vice President for Equity and Inclusion and Chief Diversity Officer at Quinnipiac University
- Tyrone Shaw ’10 G’12, history teacher at McKinley Technology High School in Washington, D.C.
- Kimberly Williams Brown G’11 G’16 G’17, assistant professor of Education and steering committee member for Africana Studies at Vassar College
The panel discussion will center around the changes and challenges that Black teachers, leaders, and learners have faced in recent years due to the political climate, policy changes and social movements, and the COVID virus.
Marcelle Haddix, Dean’s Professor and Chair or the Reading and Language Arts department in the School of Education has chaired the Landscape of Urban Education Series for the last ten of the series’ fifteen years and is embracing the new virtual format.
“The Landscape on Urban Education lecture series has long been a forum to bring together leading voices on pressing issues impacting urban schools and communities,” she says. “This year, we have a unique opportunity to engage with our broader School of Education community, inviting students, faculty, local educators, and alumni to a virtual conversation on these topics.”
What Makes a Leader, Taking a Stand, and Leadership Needed Now is on Thursday, November 12, 4-5:30 p.m. on Zoom. The event is free, open to the public, and CART open captioning will be provided. Registration is required.