New to 2025: The Brown Lecture will provide an expanded opportunity for livestream attendees to share views and questions, and to register as an individual or as a watch-party group! We encourage you to take photos of your watch party and post to social media using #AERABrownLecture or tagging AERA on Bluesky, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, X, or Threads.

Complimentary registration for the livestream will open in August.

ABOUT THE LECTURE

In the 2025 Brown Lecture, James A. Banks reflects on the impact of the Brown v. Board of Education decision through the lens of his own experience growing up in a racially segregated community in the Arkansas Delta. He traces how Brown and events following over the past 70 years created–albeit unevenly–greater equity and justice for racially marginalized Americans. Banks then turns to the present, examining the resurgence of White racism and nationalism that threatens efforts to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), including multicultural education. These attacks, he argues, imperil the nation’s fragile democracy and American Creed values such as justice and equality. He calls on educators to resist the organized and well-funded movement to erase diversity and equity from schools, colleges, and universities by implementing a transformative civic education curriculum—an approach that equips students with the knowledge, attitudes, and skills to become cosmopolitan and engaged citizens. Such citizens, with reflective cultural, national, and global identifications, can help sustain and advance diversity, equity, and democracy in their communities, the nation, and the world.

ASL and captioning provided. Free event.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

James A. Banks is the Kerry and Linda Killinger Endowed Chair in Diversity Studies Emeritus and founding director of the Center for Multicultural Education (now the Banks Center for Educational Justice) at the University of Washington. Often called the “father of multicultural education,” Banks is also known for his work in social studies and global citizenship education, and he has written widely in those fields. His research has focused on how educational institutions can improve race and ethnic relations and the academic achievement of diverse groups.

 Professor Banks is a past president of AERA and of the National Council for the Social Studies. He is a Fellow of AERA and a member of the National Academy of Education and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Learn more about James A. Banks here.

ABOUT THE ANNUAL BROWN LECTURE IN EDUCATION RESEARCH

The Annual Brown Lecture in Education Research illuminates the important role of research in advancing understanding of equality and equity in education. The Lectureship was inaugurated in 2004 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision, in which the U.S. Supreme Court took scientific research into account. Each year a distinguished scholar notable for producing significant research related to equality in education is invited to give this public lecture in Washington, D.C.

ABOUT AERA

The American Educational Research Association (AERA) is the largest national interdisciplinary research association devoted to the scientific study of education and learning. Founded in 1916, AERA advances knowledge about education, encourages scholarly inquiry related to education, and promotes the use of research to improve education and serve the public good. With members from 96 countries, AERA is committed to expanding its connections to the global research community, and is actively involved in advancing the field of education research worldwide.

2025 BROWN LECTURE SELECTION COMMITTEE

Maisha T. Winn • Janelle T. Scott • Felice J. Levine • James Anderson • Denise M. Taliaferro Baszile • Nicole Johnson • George L. Wimberly

PREVIOUS LECTURERS

Learn more about past lectures

2024 - Elise Boddie, University of Michigan
2023 - Leslie T. Fenwick, Howard University and AACTE
2022 - John Diamond, Brown University
2021 - Lori Patton Davis, The Ohio State University
2020 - William F. Tate IV, University of South Carolina
2019 - Prudence L. Carter, University of California, Berkley
2018 - H. Richard Milner IV, Vanderbilt University
2017 - Alfredo J. Artiles, Arizona State University
2016 - Marta Tienda, Princeton University
2015 - Teresa L. McCarty, University of California, Los Angeles
2014 - James D. Anderson, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
2013 - Gary Orfield, University of California, Los Angeles
2012 - Vanessa Siddle Walker, Emory University
2011 - Gloria J. Ladson-Billings, University of Wisconsin, Madison
2010 - Kenji Hakuta, Stanford University
2009 - Luis C. Moll, University of Arizona
2008 - Stephen W. Raudenbush, University of Chicago
2007 - Margaret Beale Spencer, University of Chicago
2006 - Linda Darling-Hammond, Stanford University
2005 - Claude M. Steele, Stanford University
2004 - Edmund W. Gordon, Teachers College, Columbia University