Nicholas Mitchell

Nicholas Mitchell
  • Assistant Professor

Contact Info

Biography —

Nicholas Ensley Mitchell joined the KU faculty in the fall of 2020. He earned a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction from Louisiana State University in 2016. He is a curriculum theorist whose scholarship focuses on the intersection of education theory, policy, and practice. His public scholarship focuses on anti-bigotry and issues of diversity.

Education —

Curriculum and Instruction, Louisiana State University, 2016, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Education, Louisiana State University, 2015, Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Specialization

  • Curriculum Theory
  • Critical and Public Pedagogy
  • Professional Ethics
  • Sexuality Education

Research —

His research interests include curriculum theory, critical pedagogy, post-structural public policy analysis, critical race studies, creolization and borderland studies, multicultural education, and sexuality education. He has published in the Journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Curriculum Studies.

Research interests:

  • Curriculum Theory
  • Critical Pedagogy
  • Post-Structural Public Policy Analysis
  • Critical Race Studies
  • Creolization and Borderland Studies
  • Multicultural Education
  • Sexuality Education
  • African American Philosophy
  • Social Justice Studies
  • Intellectual History

Teaching —

  • C&T 800 Foundations of Curriculum Development
  • C&T 324 Curriculum & The Learner in the Middle and High School
  • C&T 907 Critical Pedagogy
  • C&T 994 Advanced Topics: Exploring Genders and Sexualities in Curriculum

Selected Publications —

Peer review

  • Mitchell, N. (2018). The Ontological Memes, Social Curriculum, and Performance of Black Masculinity [Journal Articles]. Journal of The American Association for the Advancement of Curriculum Studies, 12(2), 1–21. 2018
  • Mitchell, R. W., Mitchell, N. E., & Mitchell, C. A. (2017). Spirituality and Education in the United States [Encyclopedia/Dictionary Entries]. In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Education. Oxford University Press. 2017

Grant Funded Research

  • Mitchell, N. Eib, M. “Rich School, Poor School: Education Inequality in Louisiana.” Jesuit Social Research Institute (Funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.) 2019
  • Mitchell, N. Eib, M “The Privilege of Plenty: Educational Inequity in Mississippi”

Public Scholarship

  • “The first battle in the culture wars: The quality of diversity” The Conversation. July 13, 2021.
  • “The Ghost of James Baldwin: Racial Conservatism, Critical Race Theory, and the Fear of a Black Idea” The North Star with Shaun King. September 2, 2021.
  • “Black Childhood's End: Reflections on the Anniversary of the Lynching of George Floyd, the Conviction of Derek Chauvin, and the Source of Black Rage at Police Killings” The North Star with Shaun King. July 19, 2021.
  • “Bans on Critical Race Theory Could Have a Chilling Effect on How Educators Teach About Racism” The Conversation. July 13, 2021.
  • “Why We Should Be Aware of Anti-Black Choices That Are Often Presented To Us” Blavity. September 25, 2020.
  • “Young, Black and Southern: How Being Born In The US After Jim Crow Expands My Perspective On Race” Blavity. March 06, 2020.
  • “Combustible conversations: Racism” Jesuit Social Research Institute - Just South Monthly, August 2018.
  • “Remembering the Past: Truth and White Privilege” Jesuit Social Research Institute - Just South Quarterly, Summer 2018.
  • “Fear of a Black Ballot: The Reality of Voter Suppression” Jesuit Social Research Institute - Just South Quarterly, Spring 2018.
  • “Markers of Plenty: Race, Ethnicity, Gender, and Wages in Louisiana” Jesuit Social Research Institute - Just South Quarterly, Winter 2018.
  • “Arming Teachers” Jesuit Social Research Institute - Just South Monthly, March 2018.
  • “On Being Born into the Integrated South: A Personal Story” Jesuit Social Research Institute - Just South Quarterly, Fall 2017.
  • “The Real Threat of White Supremacy” Jesuit Social Research Institute - Just South Monthly, August 2017.
  • “Confederate Ghosts: The Clash of Civilizations” Jesuit Social Research Institute - Just South Quarterly, Summer 2017. 2017
  • “End Capital Punishment Now: In support of SB 142 and HB 141” Jesuit Social Research Institute - Just South Monthly, April 2017.
  • “White Dominionism: The Taxonomy of White Radicalism” Jesuit Social Research Institute - Just South Quarterly, Spring 2017.
  • “The Public Space: Confrontations and Controls” Jesuit Social Research Institute - Just South Quarterly, Winter 2016.
  • “In Defiance of Hidden Deaths: Black Lives Matter as a Living Philosophy” Jesuit Social Research Institute - Just South Quarterly, Fall 2016.
  • “Blood, Floods, and the Future,” Jesuit Social Research Institute - Just South Monthly, September 2016.

Selected Presentations —

“Dialectic on discourse around racism.” UCS Reconciliation Conference, Regis University, Denver, CO.2018
“Populorum Progressio, Truly Human Conditions, and the Case for Reparations to African Americans.” Catholic Social Teaching Conference, Notre Dame, IN.2017
“An Archaeology of Black Masculinity.” American Association for the Advancement of Curriculum Studies Conference, Washington, D.C.2016
“Fanon, DuBois and Woodson: Conversations in Afro-Atlantic Positionality.” American Association for the Advancement of Curriculum Studies Conference, Washington, D.C.2016
“Content Analysis.” Louisiana State University Undergraduate Distinguished Scholars Program, Baton Rouge, LA.2016
“The Taboo, The Necessary, and Curriculum: Discourses of Sex Education.” Curriculum Camp 2016, Baton Rouge, LA.2016
“Birds, Bees, and Bias: The Strange History of Sex Education in America.” Curriculum Camp, Baton Rouge, LA.2015
“The Great Gamble: A Critical Analysis of Louisiana’s Act 2 Voucher Program,” Curriculum Camp, Baton Rouge, LA.2013
“The Children of Capital: The Origin of the ‘Ghetto Fabulous’ mentality and the economic history of African Americans,” Curriculum Camp, Baton Rouge, LA.2012
With Roland Mitchell, “The Children of Capital: The Origin of the ‘Ghetto Fabulous’ mentality and the economic history of African Americans.” Bergamo Conference on Curriculum Theory and Classroom Practice, Dayton, OH.2011
With Roland Mitchell, “Social decline, the crisis of imagination, and education.” Bergamo Conference on Curriculum Theory and Classroom Practice Dayton, OH.2011

Awards & Honors —

Bissinger-Timm Fellow

Glass Leadership Institute, Anti-Defamation League

2018

Grants & Other Funded Activity —

Research and Policy Fellow for Race and Racism and Lecturer of Social Research, Jesuit Social Research Institute, College of Arts and Sciences, Loyola University New Orleans2016-2020
Fellow of the Loyola University New Orleans Institute of Politics2019
Bissinger-Timm Fellow- Glass Leadership Institute, Anti-Defamation League2018

Memberships —

  • The American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education
  • Bergamo Conference on Curriculum Theory and Classroom Practice Association
  • American Association for the Advancement of Curriculum Studies
  • International Association for the Advancement of Curriculum Studies