Dear Members of the TC Community,
I am delighted to announce the appointment of Dr. Bettina Love as the new William F. Russell Professor in the Foundations of Education at Teachers College, Columbia University, effective September 1, 2022. She will be joining the Department of Curriculum and Teaching.
As the new William F. Russell Professor of Education, Professor Love will be continuing a legacy of remarkable scholars who have held the position. The endowed professorship was established by the Board of Trustees, with contributions from notable university presidents, for influential scholars whose research focuses on new and upcoming pathways to address the great issues in education and freedom. Former holders of the professorship have included Dr. George C. Bond, Dr. Maxine Greene and Dr. Linda Darling-Hammond.
Professor Love joins us from the University of Georgia, where she is the Georgia Athletic Association Endowed Professor in Education in the Department of Education Theory and Practice. She has Bachelor’s of Science and Master’s of Education degrees from the University of Pittsburgh in Liberal Studies with a minor in Sociology and in Elementary Education, respectively. She received her Ph.D. in Educational Policy Studies from Georgia State University.
Professor Love is the author of two books, We Want to Do More Than Survive: Abolitionist Teaching and the Pursuit of Educational Freedom and Hip Hop’s Li’l Sistas Speak: Negotiating Hip Hop Identities and Politics in the New South, and her work has appeared in numerous books and journals, including Educational Researcher, Urban Education, The Urban Review and the Journal of LGBT Youth.
A proponent of non-traditional curricula drawing from hip hop-based education, critical media literacy, hip hop feminism and popular culture, Professor Love is the creator of the hip hop civics curriculum GET FREE and is the co-founder of the Abolitionist Teaching Network (ATN), which seeks to develop and support teachers and parents in fighting injustice within their schools and communities. She has provided commentary for various news outlets including NPR, Ed Week, The Guardian, and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and is a sought-after public speaker on topics that include anti-racism, hip hop education, Black girlhood, queer youth, hip hop feminism and art-based education to foster youth civic engagement.
Among her numerous awards and honors, Professor Love was named the Nasir Jones Hiphop Fellow at the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research at Harvard University in 2016; in 2018, Georgia’s House of Representatives presented her with a resolution for her impact on the field of education; and she was an invited participant at the White House Research Conference on Girls in 2014.
Professor Love was our visiting Tisch Lecturer this year and some of you were able to participate in her workshops or attend the Tisch Lecture to get a taste of the expertise and passion for educational justice that she brings with her to TC. Her vision of abolitionist pedagogy, which asks educators to center love and joy, challenge racist systems, and foster revolutionary change in our schools and communities, provides a blueprint for an antiracist pedagogy that cultivates the strengths of each student and the vital role of educators as liberators.
I know our entire community will benefit from Professor Love’s scholarship, teaching and activism. We look forward to partnering with her in building equitable, communal, civically-engaged schools and preparing educators who can bring to life culturally responsive-sustaining practices that empower kids and change communities.
Please join me in welcoming Professor Love to the TC community.
Warmly,
Stephanie J. Rowley
Provost, Dean and Vice President for Academic Affairs