Celina K. Su
Professor
Political Science
Location: 3409 James Hall
Phone: 718.951.5000 x1749
Fax: 718.951.4833
Email:
Celina K. Su's Web site
Celina Su's research interests lie in non-electoral political participation, participatory and collaborative governance, civil society, civic engagement, and the cultural politics of education and health policy.
In addition to research on political participation, Su's writing includes a book of poetry, Landia, two poetry chapbooks, and pieces in creative writing pieces in journals such as Boston Review, Aufgabe, and elsewhere.
WEBSITE: celinasu.net
Education:
Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology - 2005 (Urban Studies)
B.A. (honors), Wesleyan University - 1999 (Economics and English)
Areas of Expertise:
Participatory democracy and civic engagement, especially in local politics; politics of health and education policy; civil society, especially grassroots and social movement organizations; and mixed participatory methods (both quantitative and qualitative, but with an emphasis on the latter) in public policy research.
Books and Publications
Martinson, Marty and Celina Su. "Contrasting organizing approaches: The 'Alinsky tradition' and Freirian organizing approaches." In Meredith Minkler (Ed.), Community Organizing and Community Building for Health, 4th Edition. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press. (Books and Publications: Book Chapter) 2021
Su, Celina. 2020. "A hand, a gesture, and a path of desire." Poetry Foundation Harriet Blog, 6 January. (Books and Publications: Article (Other)) 2020
Su, Celina. 2020. "Notes on inquiry and care." Matters of Feminist Practice, 1(1): 119-126.
* Also published as a pamphlet in Quaid, Andrea (Ed.), Urgent Possibilities: Writings on Feminist Poetics & Emergent Pedagogies. Los Angeles: Eohippus Labs.
(Books and Publications: Article (Peer-reviewed)) 2020
Research, action, activism: Critical solidarities & multi-scalar powers. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 27(57). This article is part of the special issue, Collaborative Research for Justice and Multi-Issue Movement Building, guest edited by Ronald D. Glass & Mark R. Warren. (Books and Publications: Article (Peer-reviewed)) 2019
Su, Celina. 2019. "Research, action, activism: Critical solidarities & multi-scalar powers." Educational Policy Analysis Archives, 27(57):1-11. (Books and Publications: Article (Peer-reviewed)) 2019
Su, Celina. 2018. Landia. New York: Belladonna* Series. (Books and Publications: Book (Authored)) 2018
Su, Celina. 2018. Managed Participation: City Agencies and Micropolitics in Participatory Budgeting. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly. (Books and Publications: Article (Peer-reviewed)) 2018
Warren, Mark, José Calderón, Luke Aubry Kupscznk, Gregory Squires, Celina Su. [Authors after first in alphabetical order.] "Is Collaborative, Community-Engaged Scholarship More Rigorous than Traditional Scholarship? On Advocacy, Bias and Social Science Research." Urban Education, 53(4):445-472. (Books and Publications: Article (Peer-reviewed)) 2018
Su, Celina. 2017. "Democracy How?" Harper's Magazine, February: 35. (Books and Publications: Article (Other)) 2017
Su, Celina. 2017. Beyond Inclusion: Critical Race Theory and Participatory Budgeting. New Political Science, 39(1): 126-142. (Books and Publications: Article (Peer-reviewed)) 2017
Su, Celina. 2017. From Porto Alegre to New York City: Participatory Budgeting and Democracy [Introduction to Special Symposium]. New Political Science, 39(1): 67-75. (Books and Publications: Article (Peer-reviewed)) 2017
Su, Celina. 2016. "Re-Engaging the Disenfranchised: Participatory Budgeting in the United States." Review of Democracy Reinvented: Participatory Budgeting and Civic Innovation in America. National Civic Review, 105(4): 23-28. (Books and Publications: Article (Other)) 2016
Su, Celina. 2016. "What makes young people more excited about politics?" Washington Post Monkey Cage Blog, 17 October. (Books and Publications: Article (Other)) 2016
Insider-Outsider Empowered Deliberative Action: Toward a Model of Youth Empowerment and Educational Justice. In Rich, Denise and Jim Ryan (Eds.), Working (With/out) the System: Educational Leadership, Micropolitics and Social Justice. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing. (Books and Publications: Book Chapter) 2015
"Accounting for Accountability." Review of Open Budgets: The Political Economy of Transparency, Participation, and Accountability. Eds. Sanjeev Khagram, Archon Fung and Paolo de Renzio]. Public Administration Review 74.3: 424-28. (Books and Publications: Book Review) 2014
"Between bottom-up and top-down governance: Participatory budgeting in New York City." Metropolitics 1, December. http://bit.ly/1ChgR5n (Books and Publications: Article (Peer-reviewed)) 2014
Foldy, Erica and Celina Su. "Identity." Encyclopedia of Action Research. Eds. David Coghlan and Mary Brydon-Miller. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage Publications. (Books and Publications: Forthcoming Publications) 2014
"Bildung als Farce." Die Tagezeitung, Feb. 15: 11. (Books and Publications: Article (Other)) 2013
Peter Muennig and Celina Su. "Social Policy Interventions and Public Health." Structural Approaches in Public Health. Eds. Richard Parker and Marni Sommer. New York: Routledge. (Books and Publications: Book Chapter) 2013
Su, Celina and Isabelle Jagninski. "From Toxic Tours to Growing the Grassroots: Tensions in Critical Pedagogy and Community Development." Journal of Urban Affairs 35.1: 103-21. (Books and Publications: Article (Peer-reviewed)) 2013
Su, Celina and Peter Muennig. Introducing Global Health. New York: Jossey-Bass, John Wiley & Sons. (Books and Publications: Book (Authored)) 2013
"Bürger entdecken Bürger." Die Tagezeitung, Oct. 26: 5. (Books and Publications: Article (Other)) 2012
"Whose Budget? Our Budget? Broadening Political Stakeholdership via Participatory Budgeting." Journal of Public Deliberation 8.2: 1-14. (Books and Publications: Article (Peer-reviewed)) 2012
Martinson, Marty and Celina Su. "Contrasting Organizing Approaches: The 'Alinsky
tradition' and Freirian Organizing Approaches." Community Organizing and Community Building for Health, 3rd ed. Ed. Meredith Minkler. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press. (Books and Publications: Book Chapter) 2012
Ospina, Sonia M., Erica Foldy, Amparo Hoffman, Jennifer Dodge, Waad El-Hadidy and Celina Su. "Social Change Leadership." Advancing Relational Leadership Theory: A Conversation Among Perspectives. Eds. Mary Uhl-Behn and Sonia Ospina. Charlotte, N.C.: Information Age Publishing. (Books and Publications: Book Chapter) 2012
Muennig, Peter and Celina Su. "The Politics of Global Aid." Routledge International Handbook on Global Public Health. Eds. Richard Parker and Marni Sommer. New York: Routledge. (Books and Publications: Book Chapter) 2011
Verma, Nishant, Coralie Chan, Celina Su and Peter Muennig. "Between 'Voluntary Migrants' and War Refugees: The Health of the Shan Burmese Migrant Workers in Northern Thailand." Journal of Immigrant and Refugee Studies 9.4: 452-59. (Books and Publications: Article (Peer-reviewed)) 2011
"Leaving Behind No Child Left Behind." (From Symposium: Obama Meets the World: Realities and Recommendations for a New Administration. Ed. David Schultz.) New Political Science 32.2: 265-72. (Books and Publications: Article (Peer-reviewed)) 2010
"Marginalized Stakeholders and Performative Politics: Dueling Discourses in Education Policy-making." Critical Policy Studies 4.4: 362-83. (Books and Publications: Article (Peer-reviewed)) 2010
"The Fountain of (Relatively) Eternal Youth Lies In... Shorter Totem Poles?!?" Review essay of The Healing of America: A Global Quest for Better, Cheaper, and Fairer Health Care, by T.R. Reid, and Toward the Healthy City: People, Places and the Politics of Urban Planning, by Jason Corburn. XCP: Cross-Cultural Poetics 23. (Books and Publications: Book Review) 2010
"We Call Ourselves by Many Names: Storytelling and Inter-minority Coalition-building." Community Development Journal 45.4: 439-57. (Books and Publications: Article (Peer-reviewed)) 2010
Verma, Nishant, Coralie Chan, Celina Su, Rufina Lee and Peter Muennig. "The Psychosocial Health of Shan Children in Northern Thailand." Journal of Immigrant and Refugee Studies 8.4: 445-49. (Books and Publications: Article (Peer-reviewed)) 2010
"Democracy for What?" Review of Democratizing Democracy: Beyond the Liberal Democratic Canon. Ed. Boaventura de Sousa Santos. XCP: Cross-Cultural Poetics 21. (Books and Publications: Book Review) 2009
Streetwise for Book Smarts: Grassroots Organizing and Education Reform in the Bronx. Cornell University Press. (Books and Publications: Book (Authored)) 2009
Ospina, Sonia and Celina Su. "Weaving Color Lines: Race, Ethnicity and the Work of Leadership in Social Change Organizations." Leadership 5.2: 137-70. To be reprinted in Leadership. Eds. David Collinson, Keith Grint and Brad Jackson. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: SAGE Publications. In press; due March 2011. (Books and Publications: Article (Peer-reviewed)) 2009
Su, Celina, Gaston Alonso, Noel Anderson and Jeanne Theoharis. Our Schools Suck: Students Talk Back to a Segregated Nation on the Failure of Urban Education. New York University Press. (Books and Publications: Book (Authored)) 2009
"Cracking Silent Codes: Critical Race Theory and Education Organizing." Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education. (Books and Publications: Article (Peer-reviewed)) 2007
"Education Policy: Schools." International Encyclopedia of Public Policy, Volume 4: Social, Environmental and Corporate Governance. Ed. Phillip O'Hara. (Books and Publications: Forthcoming Publications) 2007
"Non-government Organizations." International Encyclopedia of Public Policy, Volume 1: Global Governance and Development. Ed. Phillip O'Hara. Perth, Australia: Global Political Economy Research Unit. 315-25. (Books and Publications: Book Chapter) 2007
"Institutions and Development." Encylopedia of International Devleopment. Ed. Tim Forsyth. New York: Routledge. (Books and Publications: Article (Other)) 2005
"Pedagogy of the Oppressed." Encylopedia of International Development. Ed. Tim Forsyth. New York: Routledge. (Books and Publications: Article (Other)) 2005
Su, Celina and Peter Muennig. "The Politics of Social Entrepreneurs in Access to Education: A Case Study of Shan Burmese Refugees in Northernwestern Thailand." Current issues in Comparative Education 8.1: 31-40. (Books and Publications: Article (Peer-reviewed)) 2005
Creative Work
"Chinatown Under Threat." Short essay with four poems, and photographs by Annie Ling. The Believer, commissioned by the journalism non-profit Economic Hardship Reporting Project. https://believermag.com/logger/chinatown-under-threat/ 2020
2020. "Notes on the shape of absence," in McEachern, Sarah, Rami Karim, Gabe Kruis, Matt Longabucco, Cam Scott, and Rachel Valinsky (Eds.), Ritual and Capital. New York: Bard Graduate Center and Wendy's Subway. 2020
Poem "JFK Airport" selected by Rita Dove for the New York Times Magazine, May 12. 2019
Awards, Honors and Fellowships
Brooklyn College Award for Excellence in Creative Achievement. (Awards and Honors) 2019
Advanced Research Collaborative Distinguished CUNY Fellowship, spring 2015. (Grants and Fellowships) 2014
American Academy in Berlin Prize, Bosch Public Policy Fellowship. (Awards and Honors) 2012
New York University / MasterCard Foundation Grant, to examine leadership development models via Women's World Banking. (Awards and Honors) 2010
PSC-CUNY Grant, to examine issues of governance in health policy. Renewed in 2009. (Awards and Honors) 2008
Mrs. Giles Whiting Foundation Fellowship for Excellence in Teaching. (Awards and Honors) 2007
New York University/Ford Foundation Grant, to work with the Leadership for a Changing World program, researching issues of race in grassroots organizations in the United States. (Grants and Fellowships) 2006
PSC-CUNY Research Grant, to continue work on grassroots organizations in the South Bronx, and their political strategies. Renewed in 2007. (Grants and Fellowships) 2006
Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums
2020. Destabilizing Scholarly Authority. University of Minnesota: 3 May. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2020
2020. New York City Civic Engagement Commission Advisory Board: 30 January. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2020
2019. An Ecology of Care. Poetry Studies Now. CUNY Graduate Center Center for the Humanities & Poets' House: 27 April. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2019
Selected poetry readings: Why There are Words/ Bowery Poetry Club, Wesleyan University, Second Saturdays Reading Series, Brooklyn College Inter-Genre MFA Reading Series (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2019
Power, Collective Struggle, and the Poetic Imagination. CUNY Graduate Center, Center for the Humanities: 1 October. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2018
Keynote Lecture: Lines of Desire. Feminist Poetics and Emerging Pedagogies, Los Angeles: 11 May. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2018
Selected poetry readings: Association of Writing Programs (AWP) Conference, Poetry Project, Asian American Writers' Workshop, Poets' House, Codex, James Gallery, Poets' House, Poetic Research Bureau, Mother Foucault's Bookshop, Center for Book Arts, Boog City Festival, Unnameable Books (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2018
Collaborating Across Sectors. Collaborative Research for Action and Equity in Education, URBAN Research Network, UMass-Boston: 13-14 November.
(Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Contributed Talk) 2015
CUNY Graduate Center Advanced Research Collaborative: 19 March.
(Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2015
Graduate Center Political Science Colloquium: 11 December.
(Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2015
Key Triumphs, Tensions, and Questions of Scale. Forum on Participatory Budgeting in New York City, Murphy Institute for Worker Education and Labor Studies: 18 November.
(Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2015
Participatory Action Research. Urban Studies and Planning, MIT: 9 March. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2015
Redemocratizing democracy, or affirmative governmentality? New York?s recent experiences with participatory budgeting. Interpretive Policy Analysis, Lille, France: 8 July.
(Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2015
University of Colorado Boulder Inaugural Keynote Lecture for campus-wide programming on civic engagement: 24 September.
(Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2015
Urban Justice Center Press Conference on New York Participatory Budgeting Cycle 4: 20 October.
(Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2015
With Mark Warren, Greg Squires, Luke Kupcznk. Advocacy in Collaborative Research for Action and Equity in Education. URBAN Research Network, Boston: 30 April.
(Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2015
"Bottom-up 'Good Government'? City Agencies as Gatekeepers and Facilitators in PB." Third International Participatory Budgeting Conference. Vallejo, Calif., Sept. 26. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2014
Invited participant, White House Convening on Participatory Budgeting, May. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Contributed Talk) 2014
"Authorship, Voice, and Political Stakeholdership." Critical Pedagogy and Creative Writing.
Manhattanville College. Purchase, N.Y.: June 21. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2013
"Whose Budget? Our Budget? Attempts at Re-enfranchising the Marginalized." International Participatory Budgeting Conference. Chicago, May 4. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2013
"From Toxic Tours to Growing the Grassroots." International Sociological Association Forum. Buenos Aires, Argentina, Aug. 2. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2012
"Marginalized Stakeholders and Performative Politics." Bosch Public Policy Lecture. American
Academy in Berlin. Oct. 18. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2012
"General Social Survey / National Death Index Dataset." Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. New York, May 28. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2010
"Obama's Healthcare Reform: What Went Right; What Went Wrong?" Faculty Day. Brooklyn College. May 25. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Contributed Talk) 2010
"Youth and Political Participation." CUNY Graduate Center. New York, March 25. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2010
"Leaving Behind No Child Left Behind: Towards Student-centered Education Reform." Left Forum. New York, April 17-19. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2009
"Social Change and Public Leadership." Wagner School of Public Service, New York University. New York, Feb. 18-20. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2009
"Social Change Organizations as Intermediary Institutions in Participatory Versus Representative Democracy" panel presentation. New York State Political Science Association (NYSPSA) Annual Conference. New York, April 24-25. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2009
"Speaking Truth to Deaf Power: Teenagers as Empowered Stakeholders, Community Organizing, and the Seeds of a Social Movement." Urban Affairs Association (UAA) Annual Conference. Chicago, March 7. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2009
"Students as Stakeholders in Education Policy." American Political Science Association (APSA) Annual Conference. Toronto, Sept. 5. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2009
Ospina, Sonia and Celina Su. "Race and the Work of Leadership in Social Change Organizations." Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM) Annual Conference. Los Angeles, Nov. 7. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2008
"Choosing to Join 'em, or Fight 'em: Social Change Organizations and Political Strategies." Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action (ARNOVA) Annual Conference. Chicago, Nov. 16. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2007
"Social Change Organizations and a Rising Social Justice Movement" panel presentation. Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action (ARNOVA) Annual Conference. Chicago, Nov. 16. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Contributed Talk) 2007
"Towards Meaningful Participation for Stateless People: Two Case Studies of Shan Burmese Refugee NGOs in Thailand." Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action (ARNOVA) Annual Conference. Chicago, Nov. 17. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2007
"Culture, School Reform and Contesting Colorblindness in Community Organizations." World Planning Schools Congress. Universidad Autonoma de Mexico. Mexico City, July 13. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2006
"Tackling Race in Social Change Organizations." Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action (ARNOVA) Annual Conference. Chicago, Nov. 16. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2006
"Empowering (and Disempowering) Citizen Engagement: Lessons From Cycles in Decentralization in School Governance." City Legacies Symposium. Pratt Institute. Brooklyn, N.Y., Oct. 14. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2005
"Streetwise for Book Smarts." Wagner Education and Policy Studies Association. New York University. April 28. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2005
Professional Leadership
Lead National Co-chair, URBAN Research Network. http://urbanresearchnetwork.org/ 2015-present. (Professional Leadership: Organizational Leadership Position) 2017
Member, North American Participatory Budgeting Research Board, 2014-present. (Professional Leadership: Committee Service) 2017
Community Activities
Member, Participatory Budgeting Project Advisory Board, 2013-present. 2017
Research board member, New York City Participatory Budgeting Steering Committee, official City Council position. 2011-present. 2017
Co-founder and board member, Kwah Dao / Burmese Refugee Project (executive director, 2001-12), 2000-2016. 2016
Executive director, Burmese Refugee Project, 2000-12. 2012
Other Professional Activities
Interviews with Slate Magazine podcast Employee of the Month, PoetryNow (Poetry Foundation/ PRX podcast PoetryNow, syndicated on NPR nationally), Literary Hub. 2018
Selected media:
2015. ?En el Bronx, la desigualdad se aprende en la escuela,? Álvaro Guzmán Bastida.
Univision. http://ow.ly/Tm6OO
2015. ?Gender Equity for a Resilient Coffee Supply Chain,? Jenny Neill.
Stir, Business Insight on Tea and Coffee. http://bit.ly/1MCcWWo
2015. Radio interview on Global Movements, Local Struggles, WBAI Pacifica Radio. http://bit.ly/wbai-pb
2015. ?Why Don?t We Care About People Who Don?t Look Like Us?,?
Anjali Enjeti. AlterNet. http://bit.ly/1LKq3Wi
2015
