This spring, YMEJ will host a working conference on youth and wellbeing with the goal of exploring the intersections of these concepts from multiple disciplinary and interdisciplinary perspectives. We are excited to be working with a group researchers and practitioners who represent diverse perspectives and professional backgrounds (including education, social work, psychology) and who are currently engaged in work with youth who can be identified as “institutionally vulnerable” (this is a term we are using to talk about young people who experience multiple forms of institutional surveillance and supervision in their daily lives.) Out of this convening will come a Working Paper about youth and wellbeing that will be posted to this site.
Collaborators
Lesley Bartlett, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor in Educational Policy Studies and a faculty affiliate in Anthropology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Antonio Garcis is an Assistant Professor of Social Policy and Practice and Co-Director of Child Well-Being & Child Welfare Specialization at the University of Pennsylvania.
Marcelle Haddix is a Dean’s Associate Professor and Director of English Education Programs at Syracuse University. Dr. Haddix is a core faculty member in the Renée Crown University Honors Program, an affiliated faculty member in Women’s and Gender Studies, a member of the Democratizing Knowledge Core Team, and she holds a courtesy faculty appointment in Cultural Foundations of Education.
John L. Jackson, Jr., Ph.D. is Dean of the School of Social Policy & Practice and the Richard Perry University Professor of Communication, Anthropology, and Africana Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Jackson also has appointments in the Annenberg School for Communication and the School of Arts & Sciences, and the School of Social Policy & Practice.
Stephanie Jones, Ed.D. is an Associate Professor of Educational Theory and Practice at the University of Georgia.
Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor of English Education at Teachers College, Columbia University.
Ann Burns Thomas is an Associate Professor of Foundations and Social Advocacy at State University of New York, Cortland.
Lalitha Vasudevan, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor of Technology and Education and Director of the Center for Multiple Languages and Literacies at Teachers College, Columbia University.
Melissa Wade is the Liaison to New York and Richmond Counties with the New York State Child Welfare Court Improvement Project, a federally-funded initiative that supports the Family Court’s mandate to promote the safety, permanency and well-being of abused and neglected children.
Cheryl Wilkins is Senior Program Manager at Columbia University’s Center for Justice where her work is consistent with overcoming the damage that mass incarceration has left on families and communities. At the School of Social Work she presents on topics such as reentry, and families and communities affected by mass incarceration.
Institutions
Columbia University, Social Work
Columbia University, Teachers College
Manhattan/New York City Family Court
Youth, Media, and Educational Justice 