Biography

Dr. Carl James was appointed as the Jean Augustine Chair in Education, Community and Diaspora for a five-year term effective July 1, 2016. Dr. James brings a strong record of scholarship and community engagement to this key position; and as Chair he will focus on addressing issues and concerns related to marginalized people within a framework of equity, inclusivity, and social justice.

Dr. James is the Founding Director of the York Centre for Education and Community and has been a member of the Faculty of Education since 1993. He is cross-appointed to the graduate programs in the Department of Sociology, and supervises graduate students in Environmental Studies, Interdisciplinary Studies, Social Work, and Social and Political Thought.

A former youth leader and community worker, he has extensive experience with critical ethnography, action research, and government and institutional policy analysis. Dr. James is widely recognized for his work in ethnically and racially diverse communities and for his role, nationally and internationally, in research around equity and identity as related to race, class, gender, racialization, immigration and citizenship. He is known for his mentorship and is engaged in professional development with social service workers, community agencies and educators.

On an international level, he has worked with teacher educators, teachers and teacher-candidates at Uppsala University and Sodertorn University College in Stockholm (1997 to 2013). In January 2006, he was awarded an honorary doctorate from Uppsala University in Sweden for his contribution to social equity and anti-racism education. In 2012, Dr. James was elected Fellow in the Royal Society of Canada.

His community recognition includes: New Pioneers Award (2006) from Skills for Change; William P. Hubbard Award for Race Relations (2008), City of Toronto; African Canadian Achievement Award 2009), Pride News Magazine; Harry Jerome Award, (2013) Black Business & Professional Association.

His publications include Making It: Black Youth, Racism and Career Explorations in the Big City (1991); Experiencing Difference (2000); the co-edited volume, Talking About Identity: Encounters in Race, Ethnicity, and Language (2001); Seeing Ourselves: Exploring Race, Ethnicity and Identity (1991, 2003 and 2010); Race in Play: The Socio-Cultural Worlds of Student Athletes (2005); Possibilities and Limitations: Multicultural Policies and Programs in Canada (2005); Race and Well-being: The Lives, Hopes and Activism of African Canadians (2010); Life at the Intersection: Community, Class and Schooling (2012).

Scholarly Interests

Educational and occupational access and equity for marginalized youth; the implications of suburban “urbanization” for young people; the complementary and contradictory nature of sports in the schooling and educational attainments of racialized students; community-centered approaches to learning, identification/identity pertaining to race, ethnicity, gender, class, and immigrant status. 

Research Areas

• Community Education
• Equity
• Inclusive Education
• Race/Racism
• Social Justice
• Urban Education

Faculty & School/Dept

• -

• Faculty of Graduate Studies, Education - Post-secondary education

Courses Taught

• Education in Urban Contexts (GS/EDUC 5440)

Selected Publications

• James, C.E. (2012). Students "at risk": Stereotyping and the Schooling of Black Boys.. Urban Education, 47 (2), 464-494.
• James, C.E. & Davis, Andrea (2012). Jamaica in the Canadian Experience: A Multiculturalizing Presence. Halifax, , Nova Scotia: Fernwwod Educational Publishing
• James, C.E. (2012). Troubling Role Models: Seeing Racialization in the Discourse Relating to 'Corrective Agents' for Black Males Troubled Masculinities: Re-Imagining Urban Men (pp. 77-93). Toronto,, Ontario: University of Toronto Press
• James, C.E. (2011). Why is the School Basketball Team Predominantly Black? And What That Says About Educators' Role in 'Leveling the Playing Field.' Handbook of Research in Social Foundations of Education (pp. 450-459). New York,, NY State: Routledge
• James, C.E. (2011). Multicultural Education in a Color-Blind Society. In Carl A. Grant & Agostino Portera Intercultural and Multicultural Education: Enhancing Global Connectedness (pp. 191-210). New York,, NY State: Routledge
• James, C.E. (2010). Seeing Ourselves: Exploring Race, Ethnicity and Culture (4 ed.). Toronto,, ON, Canada: Toronto Educational Publishing, Inc
• James, C.E. (2009). Media Accounts of the Integration and Settlement of 'Island' Immigrants in Anglophone Caribbean States. Journal of Eastern Caribbean Studies, 34 (1), 41-69.
• James, C.E. & Taylor, Leanne (2008). "Education Will Get You to the Station": Marginalized Students' Experiences and Perceptions of Merit in Accessing University. Canadian Journal of Education, 31 (3), 567-590.
• James, C.E. (2007). Les Canadiens d'origine caribeeane a Toronto: Analyse des freins au reve migratoire. (Caribben-Canadians in Toronto: An Examination of the Obstacles to their Migration Dreams). Dynamiques migratories de la Caraibe, Geode Caraibe - publication of L'Universite de la Guyane et des Antilles, Martinique, 158-168.
• James, C.E. (2005). "I Feel like a Trini": Narrative of a Generation-and-a-Half Canadian. In Vijay Agnew Diaspora, Memory and Identity: A Search for Home (pp. 230-253). Toronto,, Ontario: University of Toronto Press
• James, C.E. (2005). Race in Play: Understanding the Socio-Cultural Worlds of Student Athletes. Toronto,, Ontario: Canadian Scholars' Press
• James, C.E. Life at the intersection: Community, Class and Schooling. Halifax,, Nova Scotia: Fernwood Educational Publishing

Research Projects

Assessment of the effectiveness of TPSB youth progam initiatives

Building and Mobilizing Knowledge on Race and Colonialism in Canada

Jamaica-Canada Connections (an Anthology)

Literature for all: Promoting inclusive education

Proactive: Supporting Children & Youth Mental Health and Wellbeing in Schools & Community

Promoting the academic literacy development of generation 1.5 English Language Learners: A proactive agenda

Racialization, Reacism and the University

Sharing Experiences: Conversations in Urban/Suburban Education and Community

Supporting Learners, Enhancing Success through Communities of Learning

The Africentric Alternative School Experience

Youth and Community Development: a Transitional Approach to Youth Violence

Youth, mental health and the justice system: An educational concern

Awards

• Fellow, Royal Society of Canada - 2012
• African Canadian Achievement Award, Pride News Magazine - 2009
• Honorary Doctor of Laws, Uppsala University - 2006
• New Pioneer Award, Skills for Change - 2006
• William P. Hubbard Award for Race Relations, City of Toronto - 2008

Professional Affiliations

• Race, Ethnicity and Education
• Journal of Contemporary Issues in Education
• Journal of Critical Race Inquiry

Partnerships/Initiatives/Centres

• York Centre for Education and Community (YCEC): Director