Georgia State lecture to feature school desegregation scholar
ATLANTA – Recent metro migrations and increasing diversity are influencing educational opportunities but just how is this phenomenon playing out in public schools – and its policies – is the topic of discussion at the upcoming Dan E. Sweat Lecture Series at the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies (AYSPS) featuring Amy Stuart Wells of Columbia University on Sept. 24 at 3 p.m., 14 Marietta Street, N.W. in the seventh floor seminar room.
Wells is the Columbia University director of the Center for Understanding Race and Education (CURE) and a professor of sociology and education. She will discuss: “Metro migration, racial segregation and school boundaries: Education policy in changing suburban and urban America.”
“This is the Obama era,” Wells said. “We need to reframe desegregation and move forward. We need to use what we’ve learned from the past and translate that for today and future generations.”
Wells is the principal investigator of the Study of Urban-Suburban School Change, which examines the role of public education and the demographic shifts occurring across and within urban and suburban boundaries in Atlanta, New York, Detroit, San Francisco, Detroit and Louisville, Ky. Her research and writing has focused on issues of race, education and policy such as school desegregation, choice, charter schools, and tracking how they shape and constrain opportunities for African Americans.
"The lecture will provide an understanding of what the changing diversity means for educational opportunities and what the effect school boundaries and policies have on racial housing patterns," said David Sjoquist, the Dan E. Sweat Distinguished Chair in Educational and Community Policy at AYSPS. "This is a particularly important topic given recent court rulings on school desegregation efforts."
The lecture will be the fifth in the series by The Fiscal Research Center of the Andrew Young School. It is co-hosted by the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education, the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, Civic League for Regional Atlanta and the Georgia State University Department of Educational Policy Studies. The event is free and open to the public. For more information: http://aysps.gsu.edu/frc/3244.html.
What: Dan E. Sweat Lecture featuring Amy Stuart Wells of Columbia University
When: Thursday, Sept. 24 at 3 p.m.
Where: AYSPS Seminar Room, 7th floor, 14 Marietta Street, N.W.