ERNEST MORRELL is the Macy Professor of Education and Director of the Institute for Urban and Minority Education (IUME) at Teachers College, Columbia University. He is also a Class of 2014 Fellow of the American Educational Research Association and a Past-President of the National Council of Teachers of English. Dr. Morrell’s research focuses on drawing upon youth’s interest in popular culture and participatory media technologies to promote academic and critical literacy development, civic engagement and college access. He is also recognized nationally for developing powerful models of teaching and learning in classrooms and non-school environments and for engaging districts, schools, and communities in the project of educational reform. Professor Morrell has written more than 70 articles that have appeared in journals such as Teachers College Record, the Journal of Teacher Education, Reading Research Quarterly, English Education, the English Journal, the Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, Action in Teacher Education, and the Annual Yearbook of the National Reading Conference. He has written numerous book chapters and eight published books including: New Directions in Teaching English, Doing Youth Participatory Action Research, Critical Media Pedagogy: Teaching for Achievement in City Schools (Teachers College Press), The Art of Critical Pedagogy: Possibilities for Moving from Theory to Practice in Urban Schools and Critical Literacy and Urban Youth: Pedagogies of Access, Dissent, and Liberation. He is a sought after speaker by universities, school districts, professional organizations, and private foundations. Morrell has also received several commendations for his teaching including being recognized five times by Who’s Who Among America’s High School teachers and receiving UCLA’s Department of Education’s Distinguished Teaching Award. Morrell received his Ph.D. in Language, Literacy, and Culture from the University of California, Berkeley and was the recipient of the Outstanding Dissertation award.