Symposium

The Color of Policing Symposium (COPS): Youth, Education and Activism

The Department of Education, Department of Sociology, and the Office of the Vice Provost at Washington University in St. Louis is proud to announce the spring installment of the Edward and Ilene Katz Lowenthal Symposium, entitled “The Color of Policing Symposium (COPS): Youth, Education and Activism,” scheduled to take place April 19 – 20, 2018.

The Lowenthal Symposium Series is dedicated to understanding and improving the lives and educational experiences of urban youth. This year, the series is focusing on two institutions that are reshaping the life-chances of young people of color, namely schools and policing. A growing body of research is suggesting that a sizable share of individuals that have had experiences with criminal justice were first introduced to the system through schools. Related to this fact is a new Missouri statute that took effect on January 1, 2017 and reclassified physical altercations between youth of all ages from a misdemeanor to a Class E felony. In addition, the recent Stockley verdict (and others like it around the nation) has prompted St. Louis residents to raise, again, the questions that have gone unanswered in the wake of Ferguson. This symposium will therefore consider how forces within and beyond schoolhouse walls have increased the odds that youth of color will have encounters with police, including law and justice; political economic factors; urban space; and social movements, among others. 

Thursday, April 19

FORUM I: ACTIVISM, STUDENTS, AND THE LAW

Women’s Building Formal Lounge, 10am

  • Kayla Reed (Founder, The Electoral Justice Network)
  • David Cunningham (Professor of Sociology, WashU)
  • Jeffrey McCune (Associate Professor of Sociology, WashU)
  • Moderated by Vernon Mitchell (Curator & Co-Principal Investigator of Doc Now, WashU)

FORUM II: LOOKING FOR ANSWERS IN CHARTER SCHOOLS

Emerson Auditorium, Bauer Hall 2:30 pm

  • Christine Huck (Executive Director, City Garden Montessori)
  • Kelly Garnett (Executive Director, KIPP STL)
  • Candice Oliver Carter (CEO, Confluence Academy)
  • Moderated by Odis Johnson, Jr. (Associate Professor of Education, WashU)

FORUM III: YOUTH, OPPORTUNITY, AND AUTHORITY IN ST. LOUIS

Emerson Auditorium, Bauer Hall 5:30pm

  • Laurie Punch (Assistant Professor of Surgery, WashU/BJC/St. Louis Gun Violence Initiative)
  • Wardell Banks (Commissioner, St. Louis City Citizens Officer Review Board)
  • Heather Taylor (Present, The Ethical Society of Police Officers)
  • Redditt Hudson (Vice President of Civil Rights and Advocacy, Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis)
  • Moderated by Kira Hudson-Banks (Associate Professor of Psychology, St. Louis University/Forward Through Ferguson)

Friday, April 20

PANEL I: REDIRECTING THE SCHOOL-TO-PRISON PIPELINE FOR LATINX & AFRICAN AMERICANS

Danforth University Center 234, 10 am

  • Anthony Peguero (Professor of Criminology, Virginia Tech University)
  • Karishma Furtado (PhD Candidate, Brown School of Social Work, WashU)
  • Sheretta Butler Barnes (Associate Professor of Social Work, WashU)
  • Moderated by Cindy Brantmeier (Professor of Education and Applied Linguistics, WashU)

PANEL II: RACE, HEALTH, AND LAW ENFORCEMENT

Danforth University Center 234, 1:30 pm

  • Abigail Sewell (Assistant Professor of Sociology, Emory University)
  • Rashawn Ray (Associate Professor of Sociology, University of Maryland)
  • Keon Gilbert (Associate Professor of Public Health, St. Louis University)
  • Christopher St. Vil (Assistant Professor of Social Work, SUNY Buffalo)
  • Commentator: Perri Johnson (Bureau of Community Outreach, St. Louis Police)
  • Moderated by Darrell Hudson (Associate Professor of Social Work, WashU)

PANEL III: GENDER, RACE, CLASS, AND CARCERAL APPARATUSES

Danforth University Center 234, 3:30 pm

  • Hedy Lee (Professor of Sociology, WashU)
  • Geoff Ward (Associate Professor of Sociology, University of California, Irvine)
  • Robert Motley, Jr. (PhD Candidate, Brown School of Social Work, WashU)
  • Jerry Flores (Assistant Professor of Sociology, University of Toronto)
  • Commentator: Alexis Templeton (Co-founder, Millennial Activists United)
  • Moderated by Odis Johnson, Jr. (Associate Professor of Education, WashU)

Symposium convener: 

Odis Johnson Jr., Symposium Chair
Associate Professor, Departments of Sociology and Education
Washington University in St. Louis 

Email: o.johnson@wustl.edu
Phone: 314.935.6791

Funding support from the Office of the Vice Provost for Faculty Advancement and Institutional Diversity.