Expert on critical race theory to deliver Clark’s Gurel lecture

Clark University will host Professor Tara J. Yosso from the University of California, Riverside, for “Recovering Our Histories, Reclaiming Community Cultural Wealth,” at 4 p.m. Wednesday, March 20, in Tilton Hall, second floor of the Higgins University Center, 950 Main St. The event is free and open to the public.

Yosso’s research and teaching apply the frameworks of critical race theory and media literacy to examine educational access and opportunity. She has authored numerous chapters and articles in publications including the Harvard Educational Review, the International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, and The Blackwell Companion to Social Inequalities.

Yosso is the recipient of the Ford Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship for Diversity and Excellence in University Teaching. Her article, “Whose Culture Has Capital? A Critical Race Theory Discussion of Community Cultural Wealth,” has become a top-cited article in Race Ethnicity and Education since its publication in 2005. Her book, “Critical Race Counterstories along the Chicana/Chicano Educational Pipeline,” was recognized by the American Educational Studies Association with a 2008 Critic’s Choice Book Award.

Yosso earned a Ph.D. in urban schooling from the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles.

The lecture is made possible by the Gurel Endowment, established by a gift from distinguished Clark alumnus Dr. Lee Gurel ’48. The Gurel Endowment supports research on issues in public education as well as the annual Gurel Lecture. This event is sponsored by Clark’s Mosakowski Institute for Public Enterprise, in conjunction with the Adam Institute for Urban Teaching and the Hiatt Center for Urban Education.