I am a sociologist committed to social justice research, especially in the field of education. I am a Professor at the CUNY-Graduate Center in the Urban Education, Sociology, Critical Social Psychology and Women and Gender Studies programs.

My research focuses on how educational inequality works at the school level, taking root in students' self-evaluations and actions, including their sense of exclusion, entitlement, constraint, possibility, success and failure. I believe understanding these dynamics is crucial for re-envisioning just and care-ful schools.

My Research is dedicated to “Public Sociology”

Teaching is the heartbeat of my work

CHILDREN FRAMING CHILDHOODS:
Working-Class Kids’ Visions of Care

Wendy Luttrell; Policy Press 2020

Urban educational research, practice, and policy is preoccupied with problems, brokenness, stigma, and blame. As a result, too many people are unable to recognize the capacities and desires of children and youth growing up in working-class communities.

This book offers an alternative angle of vision—animated by young people’s own photographs, videos, and perspectives over time. It shows how a racially, ethnically, and linguistically diverse community of young people in Worcester, MA used cameras at different ages (10, 12, 16 and 18) to capture and value the centrality of care in their lives, homes, and classrooms.

Video Recording of Zoom Book Launch in London May 2021

Video Recording of October 2020 Book Salon with Wendy Luttrell