Mariana Souto-Manning, Ph.D.

Dr. Mariana Souto-Manning will speak at Illinois State University regarding racism and the pursuit of justice during two talks on February 27 and 28. Part of the Children’s Studies Minor Speaker Series, the events are free and open to the public.

Souto-Manning is a professor in the Department of Curriculum and Teaching at Teacher’s College, Columbia University.

Her first talk, titled “Race, racism, and the education of young children” will be at 7 p.m. February 27, in Schroeder Hall, room 244. Souto-Manning will address the role of race and racism in the education of young children. In doing so, she will describe how children of color, their families and communities, have been positioned historically and invite attendees to consider such discourses. She will show how dominant paradigms have marginalized and continue to justify the marginalization and exclusion of people of color in and through education. Unveiling how common assumptions and seemingly neutral terms employed in the education of young children often veil racist ideas, she will invite attendees to peek into classrooms where the voices, values, stories, and linguistic repertoires of communities of color are centered in curriculum and teaching.

The second talk, titled “Teaching young children in the pursuit of justice,”  will be at 10 a.m. February 28, in the State Farm Hall of Business, room 357. Souto-Manning will discuss what it means to teach in the pursuit of justice. Acknowledging the harms inflicted on young children, families, and communities of color, she will provide windows into pedagogical practices in the pursuit of justice.

Souto-Manning earned a Ph.D. in Language Education from the University of Georgia.

The talks are funded by an Interdisciplinary Initiative Grant from Illinois State’s College of Arts and Sciences and sponsored by the Department of Psychology. Those who need special accommodations to attend can contact the Department of Psychology at (309) 438-8651.