Africana Studies / Rites and Reason Theatre

Derron O. Wallace is an Associate Professor of Africana Studies and Education Policy at Brown Univeristy. He is a sociologist of race, ethnicity, and education who specializes in comparative analyses of structural and cultural inequalities as experienced by Black youth, nationally and internationally. He is the author of The Culture Trap: Ethnic Expectations and Unequal Schooling for Black Youth (Oxford University Press, 2023), recipient of the 2024 Pierre Bourdieu Award for the Best Book in Sociology of Education and the 2024 Oliver Cromwell Cox Book Award (for Anti-Racist Scholarship) from the American Sociological Association, among other prizes. Wallace has also received early career awards from the American Educational Research Association, the American Sociological Association, and the Comparative and International Education Society.

At Radcliffe, Wallace is working on a new comparative ethnography, “The Policing Paradox.” Drawing on in-depth interviews, archival analysis, and ethnographic observations, the book explores Black youths’ sense-making of policing and restorative justice as solutions to students’ safety concerns.

Wallace holds a PhD from the University of Cambridge, where he was a Marshall Scholar and a Gates Cambridge Scholar. His research has been supported by several grants from the Fulbright Commission, the Institute for Citizens & Scholars, the National Academy of Education, the Spencer Foundation, and the Stuart Hall Foundation. Wallace is a former community organizer, and his work on youth safety, immigrant rights, fair housing, and public education has been featured by BBC News, BBC Radio, the Guardian, ITV, and NBC News.