The Race, Empire and Education Collective is supported by a diverse membership of individuals in a range of settings, such as higher education and not-for-profit organisations. It is organised and facilitated by a small team shown below (in reverse alphabetical order!).
Sharon Walker is a lecturer at the University of Bristol. Her research examines the discursive and material processes that reproduce racist practices and outcomes in education systems. She also works on various anti-racist educational initiatives e.g., with UK primary school teachers, and with ActionAid International and a consortium of activists in Brazil to advocate for a global framework for anti-racism in education.
I am Shuling Wang, a PhD candidate at the Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge. Before my PhD study, I undertook an MA in the Sociology of Education at University College London. I am particularly interested in how racism/whiteness operates in China and how racism impacts educational inequality. My PhD research focuses on Chinese teachers' encounters with whiteness.
Arathi is a Professor of Education at the University of Bristol. She is a sociologist of education with an interest in the relationship between epistemic justice and racial justice.
I am a lecturer in the sociology of education at the University of Cambridge. My work focuses on issues of gender and identity in education, particularly in situations of conflict, displacement and transition. I have worked particularly with civil society and women's-led organisations, exploring activist-led education responses challenging social inequalities and addressing legacies of violence.
Dr. Daphne Martschenko is an Assistant Professor at the Stanford Center for Biomedical Ethics. Her work centers on efforts that promote socially and ethically responsible research, research communication, and public and community engagement with human genetics/genomics.
My Twitter handle is @daphmarts and my personal website is www.daphnemartschenko.com.
Breanna J. McDaniel is the author of the picture book Hands Up!, a book reviewer, education consultant and researcher. She holds an MA in Children’s Literature from Simmons University and is currently pursuing her PhD in Education at the University of Cambridge with research focused on representations of black children in contemporary picture books. She's the co-founder of Researchers Exploring Inclusive Youth Literature (REIYL) and though she's originally from Atlanta,GA she now splits her time between the US and UK.
Aliya Khalid is an Affiliated Lecturer at the Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge. Her research focuses on gender, education and epistemic justice. More recently she is developing a focus on the politics of knowledge production in the field of education and international development
Rebecca Gordon (She/Her) is a Lecturer in social sciences at the University of the West of Scotland. Her research focuses on political leadership for inclusive change and the role of grassroots organisations in inclusive change processes and representation and political leadership. She is also interested in feminist epistemologies and methodologies in ethics and research and has written on these topics.
Simina (she/her) is an ESRC funded PhD Candidate at the University of Cambridge. Her doctoral research explores aspects of historical culture in post-1989 Romania: historiography, school history materials, film and public remembrance spaces. Her work is transdisciplinary and her research interests range from sociology of racism and studies of nationalism to cultural and critical discourse studies. She enjoys teaching and collaborative work, and is a member of the Race, Empire and Education and the Politics of Representation collectives. She tweets @siminadragos26.
The individuals below have at one point been part of the organising team. We include them here to honour their contributions.
Amina Shareef is a PhD student. She looks at the impact of the War on Terror on young British Muslim girls' belonging.
Elissavet's work focuses on access to quality and equitable education for displaced youth. She has studied World Politics in the Netherlands and Argentina and holds an MPhil in Education from Cambridge University. She has previously worked in peace education in Cyprus and refugee education in Greece and the UK. She is currently the Education Coordinator and Greece Programme Coordinator at Amala, a UK-based organisation which has created and launched the first international high school diploma programme for displaced learners.
Tyler Denmead teaches in the Faculty of Education and Queens' College at the University of Cambridge. He is the author of The Creative Underclass: Youth, Race, and the Gentrifying City (Duke University Press, 2019).
Meghna Nag Chowdhuri is a Research Fellow at University College London Institute of Education. Her research explores ways of incorporating social justice ideas into primary science and mathematics teaching. Her other interests include primary teacher education, international education and curriculum development.