News

Martin Luther King, Jr. addresses a crowd
January 13, 2023

Honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

The Center for Urban Education honors freedom-fighter, intellectual, and minister Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
January 3, 2023

Fresh Faces at CUE Making an Impact

Get to know Richard D. Benson II, Rachel Hopkins, and Matthew Speamer, three new members of the CUE team.
Richard Benson
September 29, 2022

Richard Benson releases journal on Black student and Black youth activism

Richard D. Benson II, associate director of the University of Pittsburgh Center for Urban Education, is the guest editor of a special issue of Zanj: The Journal of Critical Global South Studies.

The issue, which focuses on Black student and Black youth activism, can be read online.

Headshots of Christopher Wright and Chetachukwi Agwoeme
June 27, 2022

Emerging Scholars Present AntiBlackness Research at AERA Conference

Two doctoral students from the Center for Urban Education at the University of Pittsburgh School of Education were recently invited to present their research on antiBlackness in higher education at the American Educational Research Association (AERA) 2022 annual conference. The event was held from April 22-25 in San Diego, California.

Juwan Bennett
February 11, 2022

Juwan Z. Bennett: Disrupting the School-to-Prison Pipeline

Temple University doctoral candidate Juwan Z. Bennett is a post-doctoral research associate at the Center for Urban Education (CUE) at the University of Pittsburgh School of Education.

He studies the relationship between K-12 education and carcerality—a relationship that several communities associate with school-to-prison pipelines or the school-prison nexus.

Young girl smiling while writing with a pencil
February 8, 2022

Freedom-Dreaming Initiatives Underway at CUE

Faculty at the Center for Urban Education (CUE) at the University of Pittsburgh School of Education are working on new freedom-dreaming initiatives in 2022 through projects funded by the Spencer Foundation. 

Close-up of a sharpened pencil with math equations on graph paper in the background
June 8, 2021

Ready to Learn Program Teaches Social Justice Mathematics to Middle Schoolers

Lucia Mogilyansky aims to make math fun for her students in the Ready to Learn (RTL) program of the Center for Urban Education (CUE) at the University of Pittsburgh School of Education.

“I love working with middle schoolers, and I have a secret love of algebra that I usually don’t express, so the program seemed like a good fit,” says Mogilyansky (BA’ 21, History and Creative Writing).

March 19, 2021

School of Education's Response to Recent Femicidal Violence Against Asian Womxn in the U.S.

From the Desk of the Dean - March 18, 2021

In Witness, Solidarity, and Invitation

Dear Members of our School of Education Community,

Empty CUE office hallway
January 21, 2021

Center for Urban Education to House Negro Educational Review Journal

The Center for Urban Education at the University of Pittsburgh School of Education has been selected as the new home institution of the prestigious research education journal Negro Educational Review (NER).

Screenshot of a Zoom screen with nine participants
August 26, 2020

CUESEF 2020 Examines Pandemics Through New Perspectives

The University of Pittsburgh School of Education’s Center for Urban Education’s highly anticipated annual Summer Educator Forum (CUESEF) went virtual in July 2020.

The conference theme “Crisis Pedagogies: Communities, Education and the Public Good” explored how various communities – youth, parents/families, community members, teachers, and administrators – have been impacted by  the COVID-19 and racial pandemics.

Elon Dancy
August 14, 2020

T. Elon Dancy II Named Associate Dean for Equity and Justice

T. Elon Dancy, II has been named the new Associate Dean for Equity and Justice in the University of Pittsburgh School of Education. He will oversee the school-wide strategy for centering equity, justice, and antiracism across the entire Pitt School of Education. 

Juan Carrillo and Jason Méndez sitting at a table, smiling
February 5, 2020

Cultural, Academic Partnership Explores Latinx Experience in Block Chronicles

Originally published on Arizona State University.edu.

Juan Carrillo and Jason Méndez came from opposite sides of the country, taught at rival colleges, cheered for clashing NBA teams and even listened to different hip-hop.

They were the epitome of East Coast and West Coast. 

Two students testing water samples
September 5, 2019

Environmental Social Justice Summer Program Connects Math Education to Real-World

While their friends were enjoying summer days at the pool, a small group of local middle school students were testing samples of the pool water—and other water sources from the environment, like tap water and bottled water—for bacteria and lead.

The cohort of 12 students who attend Pittsburgh Public Schools University Prep Middle School and/or reside in the Hill District participated in an environmental social justice math project-based unit that explored water quality in Pittsburgh.