Joint PhD Program in Urban Systems

Jamie Lew, PhD.
Associate Professor
Department of Sociology and Anthropology
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
jamielew@andromeda.rutgers.edu

Biography

Jamie Lew is Associate Professor of Sociology at Rutgers University, Newark, New Jersey. She received her Ph.D. in comparative education and sociology at Teachers College, Columbia University. Her research area includes sociology of education, immigration and education, race and ethnicity. She specializes in school achievement and racial identities of children of immigrants, with a particular focus on Asian American communities. She is the author of Asian Americans in Class: Charting the Achievement Gap Among Korean American Youths (Teachers College Press, 2006). This book examines intersection of class, race, and school, and its impact on academic achievement of 1.5- and second-generation Asian American youths in urban context. Comparing experiences of low- and high-achieving Asian American students, Lew’s research challenges model minority discourse and highlights the significance of structural resources necessary for academic achievement of all children. Her articles have appeared in Anthropology and Education Quarterly, Teachers College Record, and The Urban Review. Her current research examines how immigration and changing demographics impact urban and suburban schools as they relate to school achievement, race relations, and education reform policies.

Professor Lew is a faculty member of the Ph.D. American Studies, as well as the Ph.D. Urban Systems—a joint program with Rutgers, New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ). She is also a faculty affiliate of Division of Global Affairs, Urban Studies, Women Studies, Urban Education, Institute on Education Law and Policy, as well as the Institute of Ethnicity, Culture, and the Modern Experience. She is a former chair of the SIG Research on the Education of Asian and Pacific Americans of AERA. She served as a visiting scholar at NYU, and is a former recipient of National Endowment for the Humanities and Andrew Mellon Fellowship.

For more information

Selected Publications

Books

Lew, J. (2006). Asian Americans in Class: Charting the Achievement Gap Among Korean American Youth. Teachers College Press.

Journal Articles and Book Chapters

Lew, J. (in press). “Insider and Outsider: Reflexivity and Intersubjectivity in Ethnography,” In W. Blanchett and K. Scott, Research in Urban Educational Settings: Lessons Learned and Implications for Future Practice, Information Age Publishing.

Lew, J. (in press). “Keeping the American Dream Alive: Model Minority Discourse of Asian American Children,” In S. Tozer, S. Gallegos, & Henry A., Handbook of Research in the Social Foundations of Education, Routledge.

Lew, J. (2007). “A Structural Analysis of Success and Failure of Asian Americans: A Case of Korean Americans in Urban Schools,” Teachers College Record, Vol. 109 (2), pp. 369-390.

Lew, J. (2007). “Asian American Identities: Intersection of Class, Race, Schools,” In A.R. Sadovnik, Sociology of Education: A Critical Reader, Routledge, 2007. [reprint of The Urban Review article]

Lew, J. (2006). “Burden of Acting Neither White nor Black: Asian American Identities in Context” The Urban Review, Vol. 38 (5), pp. 335-352.

Lew, J. (2004). “The ‘Other’ Story of Model Minorities: Korean American High School Dropouts in an Urban Context,” Anthropology and Education Quarterly, Vol. 35 (3), pp. 297-311.

Lew, J. (2003). “Korean American High School Dropouts: A Case Study of Their Experiences and Negotiations of Schooling, Family, and Communities,” In Sue Books, (Ed.), Invisible Children in the Society and its Schools, Lawrence Erlbaum, pp. 53-66.

Lew, J. (2003). “(Re) Construction of Second-Generation Ethnic Networks: Structuring Academic Success of Korean American High School Students,” In C. C. Parks, S. J. Lee and A. L. Goodwin (Eds.), Research on the Education of Asian Pacific Americans, Vol. II. Information Age Publishing, pp. 157-176.

Johnson H. & Lew, J. (2005). “Learning to Talk: Reflections on the First-Year Faculty Seminar,” In M. F. Holzer and S. Noppe-Brandon (Eds.), Community in the Making: Lincoln Center Institute, the Arts, and Teacher Education, Teachers College Press, pp. 77-86.

Encyclopedia Entries and Other Publications

Lew, J. & Sadovnik, A.R. (2007).“Vouchers,” In K. Borman, The Encyclopedia of Secondary
Education, Greenwood Press.

Lew, J. (2002).“The Truth Behind the Model Minority,” May 2002, YWCA Newsletter of the City of New York Flushing Branch

Lew, J. (1995). “Asian American Heritage: A Resource Guide for Teachers,” 1995, New York City Board of Education.

Tractenberg, P. et al. (2004).“Tough Choices: Setting the Stage for Informed, Objective Deliberation on School Choice,” Institute on Education Law and Policy (Contributed Research to this Report, http:ielp.rutgers.edu).

Under Review and Works in Progress

 “Immigration and Education” edited book manuscript, in progress

 “Becoming American in Suburban Landscape: Children of Immigrants in Changing Schools”
            in progress

 “Race Relations in Urban and Suburban Contexts: Implications for Education Policy” in progress

INVITED PRESENTATIONS

“Who are Asian American Students Today?: Critical Examination of Culture and Structure,” guest speaker, Leadership for Social Equity Doctoral Seminar, Southern Connecticut State University, April 2009.

“Constructing and Deconstructing Model Minority Stereotype: Portrayal of Asian Americans and Jewish Americans in U.S. Cultural History,” guest speaker, Asian Pacific American Studies Program and Institute, New York University, New York, NY, April 2008.

“Celebrating Our Past, Looking to a Future,” moderator, Alumni Panel, 52nd Annual Meetings of the Comparative and International Education Society Conference, New York, NY, March 2008.

“Education Reform for Asian Americans: Moving Beyond Model Minority,” guest speaker, Presidential Panel, Chinese American Educational Research and Development Association International Conference, Chicago, Illinois, April 2007.

“Sustaining Individual Meritocracy: Model Minority Discourse and Asian American Education,” guest speaker, Asian Educators Alliance National Conference, New York, NY, April, 2007.

“Asian Americans in Class: Charting the Achievement Gap Among Korean American Youth,” guest speaker of the Book Launch at New York University, New York, NY, May 2006.

“Pipeline to Higher Education: Asian American Student Populations and Communities,” guest speaker, College Board Conference on The Impact of Demographic Changes on Higher Education. Philadelphia, PA, July 2005.

“Demystifying Asian American Achievement: Structural and Institutional Perspective,” guest speaker, Asian American Youth Conference, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY, June 2005.

“Schooling Success and Failure of Korean American Youth in Urban Schools: Significance of Class, Race, and School Context ,” guest speaker, Asian Pacific American Studies Program and Institute, New York University, New York, NY, February 2004.

“Globalizing Discourses: Hybrid Identities in the Making,” keynote speaker at the Jersey City Museum Exhibit of Invented Homelands: The Jersey (new) Culture Brokers. Jersey City, NJ, October 2004.

“Immigration Policy and Asian American Communities,” paper presented at the Immigrant and Expectations Exhibit at Robeson Gallery, Rutgers University—Newark, January 2004.

“Pre-service Teacher Education Reform” developed and presented teacher education workshop at the Mongolian Foundation for Open Society of Soros Foundation, Ulaan Baatar, Mongolia, January 2004.

“Demystifying Asian Americans as Model Minorities: A Case of Korean Americans,” guest speaker at Caucus: New Jersey with Steve Adubato, Caucus Educational Corporation, PBS, NJN,WNET New York, January 2003.

“Children of Asian Immigrants and Ethnic Enclaves: Impact on New York City Schools,” paper presented at Urban Systems Speaker Series, New Jersey Institute of Technology, February 2002.

“Second-Generation Asian Americans in Urban Schools: Matters of Race, Class, Gender,” paper presented at the Institute on Ethnicity, Culture, and the Modern Experience, Rutgers University—Newark, March 2002.

“Asian American Educational Experiences: Why Should We Care?” paper presented at Hofstra University, New York, April 2001.

REFEREED CONFERENCE PAPERS

“Nondominant Immigrant Students’ Educational Experience” chair at the annual meeting of American Educational Research Association, San Diego, CA, April, 2009.

“Disciplined Inquiry: Asian American Educational Researchers in the Circle of Knowledge” discussant at the annual meeting of American Educational Research Association, San Diego, CA, April, 2009.

“Crossing Borders of Race and Ethnicity: Building Coalition For Social Justice and Education,” chair and discussant at the annual meeting of American Educational Research Association, New York, NY, April, 2008.

“Immigrant Students and Newark Public Schools: Successful School Models and Pockets of Excellence,” presenter at the Joseph, C. Cornwall Center for Metropolitan Studies Conference, Newark, NJ, April, 2008.

“Education Equity and Becoming American in (Sub)Urban Context: Globalization, Immigration, Politics of Identity,” presenter at the 52nd annual meeting of the Comparative and International Education Society, New York, NY, March 2008.

“Demystifying Model Minority’s Academic Achievement: An interdisciplinary Approach to Studying Asian American’s Educational Experiences” discussant at the annual meeting of American Educational Research Association, Chicago, Illinois, April 2007.

“Neither White nor Black: Asian American Identities in School Context” paper presented at the annual meeting of American Educational Research Association, Chicago, Illinois, April 2007.

“Decolonizing Methodologies?: Re-Searching With/in Indigenous, African-American, and Asian-American Communities,” co-authored paper presented at the annual meeting of American Educational Research Association, San Francisco, California, April 2006.

“Framing Asian American Students’ Educational Achievement and Limitations: Re-examination of Class, Structural Resources, Race and Ethnicity,” paper presented at the annual meeting of American Educational Research Association, Montreal, Canada, April 2005.

“Class, Ethnicity and Identity Among Korean-American Students: The Myth of the Model Minority,” paper presented at the annual meeting of American Educational Research Association, Montreal, Canada, April 2005.

“International Migration and Immigration Policy: Children of Immigrants in U.S. Context,” paper presented at the XII International Congress of Comparative Education, Havana, Cuba, October 2004.

“Globalization and Education,” discussant at the International Conference Yari Yari Pamberi: Black Women Writers Dissecting Globalization organized by the Organization of Women Writers of Africa (OWWA), New York University, New York, NY, October 2004.

“Achievement Gap Among Asian American Youths in Urban Context: Significance of Social Class, Social Capital, and Race Relations,” paper presented at the annual meeting of American Sociological Association, San Francisco, August 2004.

“No Child Left Behind Conference,” facilitator at the annual meeting of American Sociological Association, San Francisco, August 2004. Funded by the American Institutes for Research.

“Asian Pacific American High School Dropouts: Looking at some of the Causes and Consequences Faced by this Invisible Population,” paper presented at the annual meeting of American Educational Research Association, Santa Monica, CA, April 2004.

“Overlooked and Underserved: Korean American High School Dropouts,” paper presented at the annual meeting of American Sociological Association. Atlanta, GA., August 2003.

“Asian American High School Dropouts in Urban Schools,” paper presented at the annual meeting of American Educational Research Association. Chicago, IL., April 2003.

“Framing Academic Achievement and Aspirations: 1.5 and Second-Generation Korean Youths in New York Urban Schools,” paper presented at the New York Ethnography Conference, Graduate Center, CUNY. New York, NY., March 2003.   

“Forty Minutes and Counting: Ethnographic Research in a State Operated Urban School District,” discussant at the 24th annual meeting of Ethnography Forum. University of Pennsylvania, PA., February 2003
           
“Teaching Diverse Students: Race Relations Revisited,” paper presented at the annual meeting of American Educational Studies Association. Pittsburgh, PA., October 2002.
           
“Reconstructing Second-Generation Korean Youth Networks,” paper presented at the annual meeting of American Sociological Association. Chicago, IL., August 2002.

“Post-1965 Korean American Students: Social Capital and Institutional Agents,” paper presented at the annual meeting of American Educational Research Association. New Orleans, LA., April, 2002.

“Second-Generation Children and Social Capital: A Case Study of Korean Americans in New York City,” paper presented at the annual meeting of American Educational Studies Association. Miami, FL., October 2001.

“US-Asia Relations and Immigration Policies: Its Impact on the Development of Asian American Communities,” paper presented at the annual meeting of Comparative and International Education Society. Buffalo, NY, April 1999.

“Current Issues in Comparative Education: Launching an ‘Electronic’ Journal,” paper presented at the annual meeting of Comparative and International Education Society. Buffalo, NY, April 1999.

“Ethnic communities in New York City,” Documentary photography exhibit at the National Unity Photojournalist Exhibition. Atlanta, GA, June1994.

COURSES DEVELOPED AND TAUGHT

Graduate Level

• Globalization, International Migration, & Contemporary Cities
• Immigration Then and Now: Culture, Race, Politics of Identity
• Research Methods: Doctoral Seminar
• Sociology of Urban Education

Undergraduate Level

• Honors College Seminar: Asian American Studies
• Issues in Urban Education
• Philosophy of Education
• School and Society
• Social Foundations of Education
• Social Issues in Classroom
• Sociology of Education
• Teaching in Urban Schools
• Topics in Education
• Topics in Sociology: Asian American Communities and Populations