Poet, Award Winning Author, Scholar and Practitioner of Racial Literacy, Culturally Responsive Education,
Diversity, Equity, and Antiracism in Business and Education
Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz
ABOUT
This is Me
EDUCATOR. POET. ACTIVIST. INTERRUPTER
Welcome! My name is Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz. I am a Professor of English Education at Teachers College, Columbia University (TC). At TC, I am founder and faculty sponsor of the Racial Literacy Roundtables Series and the Racial Literacy Project.
Throughout my website, I share my own work, which mainly focuses on racial literacy and The Archeology of the Self™. I have explored racial literacy as a lens in business, teacher education, community colleges, and K-12 contexts, as well as in the development of racial literacy for high school students.
I define racial literacy in education as a practice and skill in which students probe the existence of racism, and examine the effects of race and other social constructs and institutionalized systems which affect their lived experiences and representation in U.S. society. Furthermore, in my research with teachers and English Education students, I found that moves toward deeper racial literacy development can be achieved first through what I am currently theorizing as an "Archeology of the Self" - the self exploration, examination, and understanding of where issues of race and racism live within.
More information on my research and work on racial literacy and The Archeology of the Self™ can be found in the webpages above.
NYU Doctoral Class of 2024:
Dorothy Height Distinguished Alumni Award Honoree:
Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz (PhD ’05, BA ’90) Video
Events
2024 Dorothy Height Distinguished Alumni Award Honoree: Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz (PhD ’05, BA ’90)
Get to know the poet, writer, educator, and Dorothy Height Distinguished Alumni Award winner.
Born and raised in the South Bronx, poet, writer, and educator Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz (PhD ’05, English Education, BA ’90, English Literature) was asked by her family to choose a college within New York City – "a restriction that turned into a big blessing” when she discovered NYU’s then-called Washington Square College.
“I was in love with the language and stories of 19th century English literature, so that’s where I focused my degree,” says Sealey-Ruiz. “But I also noticed the lack of culturally responsive models in the literature, and I had not learned about writers of color during my high school experience. When I took my first African American literature class as a sophomore at NYU, I almost lost my mind at this new world being opened to me.” Based around this new passion, Sealey-Ruiz created a minor in Black literature.
While working in marketing and promotions for The New York Times and then Business Week, Sealey-Ruiz began taking classes from Teachers College, Columbia University. She then became the first-ever Black female marketing manager for NYU’s School of Continuing Education Studies. When she decided it was time to pursue her PhD, attending NYU again “was a no-brainer”; Sealey-Ruiz enrolled in Steinhardt’s PhD in English Education.
“I had been student-teaching at Manhattan Comprehensive Night and Day High School in the evenings while earning my master’s degree at Teachers College. While in the classroom, I was seeing some things that were disturbing to me,” says Sealey-Ruiz. “I eventually left the corporate world to pursue my doctoral studies. I completed my doctorate within three years and accepted my diploma with my 5-month-old daughter, Olivia, in my arms.”
We Want to Do More Than Survive