Teachers College, Columbia University
Post-Doc, Department of Curriculum and Teaching
Thesis Title: The Platform: Liberatory Teaching, Community Organizing, and Sustainability in the Inner-City Community of Los Angeles Chinatown
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Kris Gutierrez
Tyrone Howard Allan Luke Ernest Morrell |
About
Benji Chang is the son of immigrants from the Chinese diaspora of Northern and Southern China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Vietnam. Growing up in Los Angeles, he immersed himself in the hip-hop culture as a b-boy and DJ. During his career in the music industry, he was involved in record and event promotions, radio, TV, and concerts with artists like Jurassic 5, Far East Movement, and OutKast. While putting himself through college, he helped start UCSD’s first hip-hop music programs, and became involved in student organizing as Chair of the Asian & Pacific Islander Student Alliance (APSA), along with the Student Affirmative Action Committee (SAAC) and various Asian Pacific coalitions across California. After earning his Master’s degree and CLAD teaching credential, he focused his efforts on being a transformative classroom teacher in the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD). For the past 12 years he has been involved in education and organizing efforts in urban LA, most recently with the Mentee + Mentor Project, Migrant Student Leadership Institute (MSLI), Chinatown Kung Fu & Lion Dance Troupe, JUiCE Hip-Hop Center, and Southeast Asian Community Alliance (SEACA).
A graduate of UCLA’s School of Education & Information Studies, Dr. Chang’s research interests focus on Asian American youth and families, Chinese and Southeast Asian diaspora, curriculum and instruction, literacy, race and ethnicity, social movements, teacher preparation, urban public policy, and youth and popular cultural Studies. His research methodology is largely informed by the sociology of education, cultural anthropology, and applied sociolinguistics, and often takes the form of action research studies with marginalized youth, parents, community organizers, and working-class neighborhoods.
Dr. Chang has traveled around the US conducting trainings and talks about education, community engagement, Asian Americans, hip-hop, and activism. He has also been a Visiting Scholar to universities in Beijing, Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia (Brisbane, Gold Coast, Sydney). His work has been published in several journals and books, and he has been honored with awards and fellowships in Ethnic Studies and Education, including the Cultivating New Scholars of Color Fellowship through the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE).
Dr. Chang was most recently the Director of Youth & Parent Leadership at the Asian Pacific American Legal Center (APALC), the nation’s largest Asian American civil rights organization. In 2010-2011 he directed the development of leadership and activism efforts with over 800 youth and parents, and helped raise over $750,000 in grants to support these efforts in immigrant and low-income communities.
Dr. Chang currently has a journal article in press with Juhyung Harold Lee on Chinatowns in New York and Los Angeles (AAPI Nexus). He also has a few articles in process, including a piece on critical approaches to race and ethnicity in literacy development, and sustaining sociocultural and critical pedagogies with elementary students through community engagement. He is also writing a book about the 10-year journey of teaching and activism he underwent with a cohort of multiethnic students and their families in inner-city Los Angeles.
Dr. Chang is currently a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Teachers College (Columbia University). He is affiliated with the Institute of Urban & Minority Education (IUME) and the Department of Curriculum & Teaching. In Spring Semester 2012, he will teach the course entitled "Liberatory Pedagogies & Asian American Communities."
