Participants will hear Francesca López, Alan Singer, and Jeremy Young discuss Critical Race Theory and DEI as part of First Amendment Unscripted, an online speaker series sponsored by the First Amendment Museum in Augusta, Maine.

Following the video, participants discuss strategies for responding to attacks on Critical Race Theory and DEI. Discussion leaders are Alan Singer, Adeola Tella-Williams, and Pablo Muriel.

BIOS

Dr. Francesca López is the Waterbury Chair in Equity Pedagogy in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at Penn State University. She began her career in education as a bilingual (Spanish/English) elementary teacher, and later as a high school counselor, in El Paso, Texas. Her research has been funded by the American Educational Research Association Grants Program, the Division 15 American Psychological Association Early Career Award, the National Academy of Education/Spencer Postdoctoral Fellowship, the Institute of Education Sciences, the National Science Foundation, and the Spencer Foundation, and other foundations. López is a co-editor of the National Education Policy Center publications and co-editor of the Review of Educational Research, and is a Fellow of the American Educational Research Association, American Psychological Association, and the National Education Policy Center.

Alan Singer is a professor of Teaching, Literacy and Leadership and the director for social studies education programs. Dr. Singer is a former New York City high school social studies teacher and is editor of Social Science Docket, a joint publication of the New York and New Jersey Councils for the Social Studies. He is the author of Teaching Global History (Routledge, 2011), New York and Slavery: Time to Teach the Truth (SUNY Press, Excelsior Editions, 2008), Social Studies for Secondary Schools (Routledge, 3rd edition, 2008), and editor of a 268-page secondary school curriculum guide, New York and Slavery: Complicity and Resistance. In 2011, the Long Island Conference for the Social Studies awarded Dr. Singer the Mark Rothman Teacher Mentoring Award, for his commitment to students and continued excellence in education. He received his Masters and Doctoral degrees from Rutgers University and is a regular contributor to Daily Kos, New York Almanack, and History News Network.

Jeremy C. Young is the senior manager of free expression and education at PEN America. In this role, he advances PEN America’s advocacy for free expression in educational institutions, advocates against censorious legislation and politically-motivated efforts to ban books and curricular materials, and supports academic freedom in higher education and the freedom to read, learn, and teach in K-12 schools. Before coming to PEN America, Young served as the communications and marketing manager at the American Historical Association (AHA), the world’s largest professional association of historians, and directed the AHA’s Freedom to Learn Initiative combating legislative censorship in history classrooms. Previously, he was an assistant professor of history and director of the Institute of Politics and Public Affairs at Utah Tech University. Young holds a Ph.D. in U.S. history from Indiana University and is the author of The Age of Charisma: Leaders, Followers, and Emotions in American Society, 1870-1940 (Cambridge University Press, 2017). He was a 2021 New Leaders Council Fellow and a recipient of the Roger D. Bridges Distinguished Service Award from the Society for Historians of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era. He serves on the board of directors of the Coalition for Responsible Home Education, a nonprofit that advocates for increased oversight of homeschooling.

Adeola Tella-Williams teaches social studies at Uniondale High School in New York. She is a Hofstra University and a cooperating teacher in the teacher education program. She is the 2022-2023 Long Island Council for the Social Studies high school teacher of the year.

Pablo Muriel is a social studies teacher at Alfred E. Smith High School, Bronx, New York and an adjunct assistant professor at Hofstra University. He was a New York State Council for the Social Studies teacher of the year and is the co-author of Supporting Civics Education with Student Activism (Routledge 2021).

Responding to Attacks on Critical Race Theory and DEI