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Priya Parmar
Associate Professor
Secondary Education
Location: 2403c James Hall
Phone: 718.951.4377
Fax: 718.951.4816
Email:
Priya Parmar's research interests are framed by a deep commitment to social change and social justice through constructivism, social activism and liberatory teaching practices. She is particularly interested in the development of language and literacy skills in urban youth who have been disenfranchised by either schooling or environment. Parmar has worked closely with several Brooklyn high schools through the College Now Program in a program she co-created (with Dr. Bryonn Bain) called "Lyrical Minded: Enhancing Literacy Through Popular Culture and Spoken Word Poetry." Parmar has also devoted her time to teaching an English class in various Brooklyn high schools through the CUNY College Now Program. The class centered on critical literacies (including media literacy), spoken word poetry and Hip Hop culture.
Education:
Ph.D., Pennsylvania State University - 2002 (Curriculum and Instruction, Literacy and Language Education)
M.Ed., Pennsylvania State University - 1999 (Curriculum and Instruction, Curriculum and Supervision)
PA Certification, Pennsylvania State University - 1999 (Elementary Education)
Areas of Expertise:
Priya Parmar's scholarly interests include critical and multiple literacies, multicultural education, youth and Hip Hop culture, politics of education and other contemporary issues in the field of Cultural Studies and Critical Pedagogy in which economic, political and social justice issues are addressed. Other areas of expertise: curriculum and instruction, curriculum and supervision, language and literacy education.
Books and Publications
"Lyrical Minded: Unveiling the Hidden Literacies of Youth through Performance Pedagogy" in Steinberg, S., and Down, B (Eds). The SAGE Handbook of Critical Pedagogies. Thousand Oakes, CA: Sage Publications. [Refereed] (Books and Publications: Article (Peer-reviewed)) 2020
Nocella, A., Parmar, P, Sawyer, D., & Cermak, M. "Hip Hop, Food Justice, and Environmental Justice" in Hodge, D.W., Sawyer, D., Nocella, A., and Washington, A. (Eds.). Hip Hop and Dismantling the School-To-Prison-Pipeline. New York: Peter Lang Publishing, Inc. [Reprinted from 2017 with permission]. (Books and Publications: Book Chapter) 2020
"Abolition Strategies for Teachers Fighting Academic Repression in the Corporate-Academic Industrial Complex" in Nocella, A., Parmar, P., & Stovall, D. (Eds.) From Education to Incarceration: Dismantling the School to Prison Pipeline, 2nd Edition. New York: Peter Lang Publishing (Books and Publications: Book Chapter) 2018
Nocella, A., Parmar, P., & Stovall, D. (Eds.) From Education to Incarceration: Dismantling the School to Prison Pipeline, 2nd Edition. New York: Peter Lang Publishing (Books and Publications: Book (Edited)) 2018
"Who am I?: Cultural Identity in Rural School" in Reynolds, W. Forgotten Places: Critical Studies in Rural Education (Ed). New York: Peter Lang (Books and Publications: Book Chapter) 2017
Nocella, A., Parmar, P, Sawyer, D., & Cermak, M. "Hip Hop, Food Justice, and Environmental Justice" in Nocella, A, Animashaun D., & Lupinacci. J. (Eds). Addressing Environmental and Food Justice Toward Dismantling the School-to-Prison Pipeline. New York: Palgrave-Macmillan [Peer Reviewed Process] (Books and Publications: Article (Peer-reviewed)) 2017
Parmar, P., Anthony Nocella, Scott Robertson and Martha Diaz. Rebel Music: Resistance through Hip Hop and Punk. Charlotte, N.C.: Information Age Publishing. (Books and Publications: Book (Edited)) 2015
Nocella, Anthony, Priya Parmar and David Stovall. From Education to Incarceration: Dismantling the School to Prison Pipeline. New York: Peter Lang Publishing. (Books and Publications: Book (Edited)) 2014
Parmar, P. and Eloise Tan. "Hip Hop as Cultural and Critical Pedagogy." Special guest editor for The International Journal of Critical Pedagogy 4.3, Fall. https://libjournal.uncg.edu/index.php/ijcp/issue/current; https://libjournal.uncg.edu/ojs/index.php/ijcp/index (Books and Publications: Book (Edited)) 2013
Parmar, P. and Hindi Krinsky. Critical Literacy in English Literature: Primer. New York: Peter Lang Publishing. (Books and Publications: Book (Authored)) 2013
"Special Issue: Tribute to Manning Marable." SOULS : A Critical Journal of Black Politics, Culture, and Society 13.4: 416-31. Columbia University, New York: Taylor & Francis Group. (Books and Publications: Article (Other)) 2011
"Towards New Epistemological Possibilities: The Critical Complex Epistemology of Hip Hop Culture." Teaching Joe Kincheloe. Eds. Brock, Mallot and Villaverde. New York: Peter Lang. (Books and Publications: Book Chapter) 2011
Parmar, P., Anthony Nocella and Shykeem. "Poetry Behind the Walls." Peace Review: A Journal of Social Justice 23.3, September: 287-95. New York: Taylor & Francis Group. (Books and Publications: Article (Peer-reviewed)) 2011
Wasserman, B. and P. Parmar. "The P.E.A.C.E. Project: Philosophy, Ethics, and Communal Education." Peace Studies Journal 4.2, July: 32-44. (Books and Publications: Article (Peer-reviewed)) 2011
"Cultural Studies and Rap: The Poetry of an Urban Lyricist." Taboo: Turn to Face the Strange: Essays on Culture. Eds. S. Steinberg and L. Cornish. New York: Peter Lang. (Books and Publications: Article (Other)) 2010
"Does Hip Hop Have a Home in Urban Education?" 19 Urban Questions: Teaching in the City 2nd ed. Ed. S. Steinberg. New York: Peter Lang. (Books and Publications: Book Chapter) 2010
"Life, Liberty and ... a Cup of Joe." Cultural Studies - Critical Methodologies 10.5: 409-12. Available online at http://csc.sagepub.com. DOI: 10.1177/1532708610379832. (Books and Publications: Article (Peer-reviewed)) 2010
"Real Men." Boy Culture: An Encyclopedia. Eds. S. Steinberg, M. Kehler and L. Cornish. Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO. (Books and Publications: Book Chapter) 2010
"The Politics of Public Education." Special guest editor for SOULS: A Critical Journal of Black Politics, Culture, and Society. Columbia University. Editor. New York: Taylor & Francis Group. July-September. (Books and Publications: Article (Peer-reviewed)) 2010
"Rap Music and Oral Literacy." The Encyclopedia of the Social and Cultural Foundations of Education. Ed. E. Provenzo Jr. California: SAGE Publications. (Books and Publications: Book Chapter) 2009
Knowledge Reigns Supreme: The Critical Pedagogy of Hip Hop Activist KRS-ONE. Rotterdam, the Netherlands: Sense Publishers. (Books and Publications: Book (Authored)) 2009
"The Dangers of Teaching a Critical Pedagogy." Rocking Your World: The Emotional Journey Into the Critical Discourses. Ed. A. Churchill. Rotterdam, the Netherlands: Sense Publishing. (Books and Publications: Book Chapter) 2008
"The Power of Rap as a Form of Literacy." Encyclopedia of Contemporary Youth Culture. Eds. S. Steinberg, P. Parmar and B. Richard. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Publishing Group. (Books and Publications: Book Chapter) 2006
Parmar, P. and B. Bain. "Spoken Word and Hip Hop: The Power of Urban Art and Culture" (three-part series). City Kids: Understanding, Appreciating and Teaching Them. Eds. J.L. Kincheloe and K. Hayes. New York: Peter Lang Publishing. (Books and Publications: Book Chapter) 2006
Parmar, P. and S. Broussard. "Exploring Urban Landscapes: A Postmodern Approach to Learning." Urban Education: A Handbook. Eds. J. Kincheloe, P. Anderson, K. Rose and K. Hayes. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Publishing Group. (Books and Publications: Book Chapter) 2006
"Cultural Studies and Rap: The Poetry of an Urban Lyricist." Taboo: The Journal of Culture and Education Spring. (Books and Publications: Article (Peer-reviewed)) 2005
Steinberg, S., P. Parmar and B. Richard. Contemporary Youth Culture: An International Encyclopedia, Volumes I and II. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Publishing. (Books and Publications: Book (Edited)) 2005
"Critical Thinking and Rap Music: The Pedagogy of KRS-One." Encyclopedia of Critical Thinking. Eds. J.L. Kincheloe and D. Weil. New York: Greenwood Publishing. (Books and Publications: Book Chapter) 2004
Creative Work
Parmar, P. and Bryonn Bain. "Lyrical minded: Enhancing literacy through popular culture and spoken word poetry" DVD. New York City Department of Education -- MS 80. The Bronx, N.Y., 2010-12. 2012
"Lyrical Minded: Enhancing Literacy Through Popular Culture and Spoken Word Poetry." 2006-07 DVD / CD / poetry journal. College Now Program, Brooklyn College. 2007
"Lyrical Minded: Enhancing Literacy Through Popular Culture and Spoken Word Poetry." 2005-06 DVD / CD / poetry journal. College Now Program, Brooklyn College. 2006
"Lyrical Minded: Enhancing Literacy Through Popular Culture and Spoken Word Poetry." 2004-05 DVD / CD / poetry journal. College Now Program, Brooklyn College. 2005
Awards, Honors and Fellowships
Awarded Grant from 201-2013: 21st Century Community Learning Center Program in collaboration with JHS 80 Mosholu (Bronx), The Leadership Program, Inc., Lyrical Minded, and Lehman College Adult Learning Center $96,000.00 (Grants and Fellowships) 2010
Awarded Grant for 2006-2007 Academic Year: Brooklyn College Now Program, "Lyrical Minded: Enhancing Literacy through Popular Culture and Spoken Word Poetry" $35,000.00 (Grants and Fellowships) 2006
Grant: 20- New Faculty Fund at Brooklyn College, $1,400.00 (Grants and Fellowships) 2006
Awarded Grant for 2005-06 Academic Year- Brooklyn College Now Program, "Lyrical Minded: Enhancing Literacy through Popular Culture and Spoken Word Poetry" $35,000.00 (Grants and Fellowships) 2005
Awarded Grant for 2004-05 Academic Year - Brooklyn College Now Program, "Lyrical Minded: Enhancing Literacy through Popular Culture and Spoken Word Poetry" $25,000.00 (Grants and Fellowships) 2004
Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums
"The Curriculum of Forgotten Rural Places: Identity, Indigeneity, Education, Urbanism, and Cartographies," [Symposium] with Reynolds, W., Agosto, V., Whitlock, R., Price, T, John, K., Ford, D., and Porfilio, B. at the 2018 Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA), New York, NY. (accepted) (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2018
"Hip Hop, Food, and Environmental Justice" at the 2nd Annual International Hip Hop Activism Conference, September 24-25 at Fort Lewis College, Durango, Colorado (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2016
Rural Places: A Cartography of the Forgotten at the Curriculum Studies Summer Collaborative Conference, June 8-11 at Georgia Southern University, Savannah, GA. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2016
"Rebel Music: Resistance through Hip Hop and Punk." 1st Annual International Hip Hop Activism Conference. Augsburg College. Minneapolis, Feb. 21. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2015
"The Future of Hip Hop Studies." School of Education and the Center for Excellence in Urban Teaching, Hamline University. St. Paul, Minn., Oct. 20. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2011
"Hip Hop, The Spoken Word, and Youth." McGill University. Montreal, March 3-5. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2010
"Lyrical Minded: Enhancing Literacy though Media and Hip Hop." Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association. San Diego. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2009
"The International Journal of Critical Pedagogy" roundtable. Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association. San Diego. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Contributed Talk) 2009
"Matters of the Tongue: The Multiple Literacies of Youth Culture." Social Justice Education Series. Western Michigan University. Kalamazoo, Mich., March 18-19. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2008
"Segregated Schools/Multicultural Educators: Teacher Educators' Curricular Response to Urban Education in the Twenty-First Century." Annual Conference of the American Educational Studies Association. Cleveland, Oct. 24-28. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2007
"Collective, Perspective, and Privilege: Examining Diverse Student Cultures." NCTE's (National Council of Teachers of English) 57th Annual Conference on College Composition and Communication. Chicago, March 22-25. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2006
"Contextualizing Teaching through the Multiple Literacies of Hip Hop Culture." Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA) Writing and Literacies SIG. San Francisco, April 10. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2006
"Criminalization of Youth in Popular Culture." Criminally Unjust: Young People and the Crisis of Mass Incarceration, sponsored by the Institute for Research in African American Studies & The Africana Criminal Justice Project. Columbia University. New York. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2005
"Sign Systems, Knowledge Systems, Critical Literacy & Aesthetic Education: Knowing Beauty in the Classroom and in the Between." 95th National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Annual Convention. Pittsburgh, November. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2005
Professional Leadership
Chair - PSC Education Committee - PSC-CUNY Union, 2013- 2016: Responsible for leading PSC movement that led to New York State Board of Regents making changes to Teacher Certification Exam requirements (i.e., exam edTPA "safety net" instituted in 2017; elimination of exam "ALST -Academic Skills Literacy Test" in 2017). Coordinated meetings with education faculty from several CUNY campuses that led to the PSC leadership and CUNY faculty partnering with New York State United Teachers (NYSUT) and other New York State public and private Schools of Education to lobby the NYS legislature against teacher certification exams. (Professional Leadership: Organizational Leadership Position) 2013
Program Head - English Education Program - Secondary Education Department (SEED), 2011 - present
(Professional Leadership: Organizational Leadership Position) 2011
PSC - SEED Department Representative, 2011 - present (Professional Leadership: Organizational Leadership Position) 2011
Chair - Committee on Campus Planning - BC Faculty Council Committee, 2009-2010 (Professional Leadership: Committee Service) 2009
"Hip Hop in the Classroom (Act 48 Continuing Education)" invited presentation. Workshop Series by Art Sanctuary. Philadelphia, October. (Professional Leadership: Public Service) 2005
Pedagogical Achievements
English teacher, 11th grade (one college-ready class), School for Democracy and Leadership at Wingate High School Campus (through CUNY College Now Program), 2009-10. 2009
English high school teacher, After School Program, 10th-12th grades, East New York Family Academy High School (through CUNY College Now Program/College Ready), 2007-08. 2008
English high school teacher, 10th-11th grades, Brooklyn College Academy High School (through CUNY College Now Program/College Ready), 2006-07. 2006
Other Professional Activities
Bishop, Elizabeth. Becoming Activist: Critical Literacy and Youth Organizing. Volume 6. New York: Peter Lang Publishing.
--Priya Parmar and Shirley Steinberg, Series Co-Editors
2015
Carr, Joi. Encountering Texts: The Multicultural Theatre Project and <
-- Priya Parmar and Shirley Steinberg, Series Co-Editors 2015
Jasinski Schneider, Jenifer (2014). Casework in K-6 Writing Instruction Connecting Composing Strategies, Digital Literacies, and Disciplinary Content to the Common Core, vol. 7. New York: Peter Lang Publishing.
--- Priya Parmar and Shirley Steinberg, Series Co-Editors. 2014
Roth, Wolff-Michael. Curriculum-in-the-Making: A Post-Constructivist Perspective, volume 5. New York: Peter Lang Publishing.
--- Priya Parmar and Shirley Steinberg, Series Co-Editors. 2014
Four Arrows (Don Trent Jacobs) (2013). Teaching Truly: A Curriculum to Indigenize Mainstream Education. New York: Peter Lang Publishing.
--Priya Parmar and Shirley Steinberg, Series Co-Editors. 2013
Interview with WABC-7 "Reading: Your ABCs to Success" with Nancy Geraghty Kennedy, executive producer, September. 2005
