Morton Deutsch Awards for Social Justice

Morton Deutsch Awards for Social Justice

About The Awards In 2005 we established these annual awards in the name of Morton Deutsch, the eminent social psychologist and founder of the MD-ICCCR, to honor a distinguished scholar-practitioner in the field of social justice and an exemplary student paper on social justice. The ceremony is held in the beginning of April and awardees are expected to deliver a presentation and receive an award to honor their contributions to the field. One purpose of these awards is to draw more attention to and elevate the need for scholarly and practical work in the area of social justice.

Click here to get our form to make a tax-deductible contribution to the Deutsch scholarship fund (pdf)


2020 Recipient for the Morton Deutsch Award for Social Justice

The sixteenth Annual Morton Deutsch Awards Ceremony celebrated the distinguished contributions of an exemplary scholar-practitioner. The event was held as part of the 2020 Teachers College Academic Festival. Dr. Rob Gore, emergency physician at Kings County Hospital in Brooklyn and founder of the Kings Against Violence Initiative (KAVI), was this years awardee. As part of the virtual award ceremony, Dr. Gore was in conversation with TC Professor Dr. Chris Emdin in a wide ranging discussion engaging the work of preventing violence and enabling youth of color to "be at their best."

Watch the award ceremony and their conversation here

Dr. Rob Gore is an attending physician and clinical assistant professor at Kings County Hospital – SUNY Downstate Department of Emergency Medicine in Brooklyn, NY. After finishing his undergraduate studies at Morehouse College in Atlanta, GA, he then went on to the State University of New York at Buffalo for medical school. He then completed his emergency medicine residency training at Cook County Hospital in Chicago, where he was chief resident.

Dr. Gore was the assistant program director for the Kings County-SUNY Downstate Emergency Medicine Residency Program for four years. He is the founder and currently the executive director of the KAVI (Kings Against Violence Initiative), a hospital and school based youth violence intervention prevention and empowerment program targeting teens that have been injured as a result of violence or at risk for violent and recurrent violent injury.

He is the founder and director of the Minority Medical Student Emergency Medicine (MMSEM) Summer Fellowship, which is a mentoring and enrichment program for underrepresented minorities interested in Emergency Medicine with a focus on project development.

Dr. Gore has lectured around the U.S, the Caribbean, and Asia and has worked in East Africa, Haiti and South America. Since 2008 he has been working as a consultant for Clinique Espérance et Vie in Terrier Rouge (Northern Haiti) and working towards establishing a regional health care system in the northern part of Haiti. He is on the board of directors for EMEDEX International, a non-profit organization dedicated to the global promotion and advancement of emergency medicine, disaster management and public health.

When he’s not working he is an avid wanderer/traveler, photographer, snowboarder and student of capoeira (Afro-Brazilian martial art).

 


2019 Recipients of the Morton Deutsch Awards for Social Justice

The fifteenth Annual Morton Deutsch Awards Ceremony celebrated the distinguished contributions of an exemplary scholar-practitioner and graduate student. The event was held on April 13th, 2019 as part of the Teachers College Academic Festival. This year, we honored Mariame Kaba as the outstanding scholar-practitioner and Ahram Park's outstanding graduate student paper, "Nurturing Sites of Inclusion:Care Practices at an Alternative-to-Detention Afterschool Program."

Mariame Kaba is a community organizer, educator, curator, and prison abolitionist based in New York City. Spanning over 30 years, her work has focused on transformative justice, dismantling the prison industrial complex, ending the criminalization and incarceration of survivors of sexual and domestic violence, and youth development. She’s worked with and co-founded countless campaigns and projects, cementing her status as one of the leading prison abolitionists and organizers in the U.S. Mariame is the founder and director of Project NIA, a grassroots organization with a vision to end youth incarceration. She has co-founded multiple organizations and projects over the years including We Charge Genocide, the Chicago Freedom School, the Chicago Taskforce on Violence against Girls and Young Women, Love & Protect and most recently Survived & Punished. Mariame is also a co-organizer of the Just Practice Collaborative, a training and mentoring group focused on sustaining a community of practitioners that provide community-based accountability and support structures for all parties involved with incidents and patterns of sexual, domestic, relationship, and intimate community violence.

Ahram Park is a doctoral candidate in the Communication, Media and Learning Technologies Design Program at Teachers College, Columbia University. Her interest in examining the relationship between youth, citizenship, media, and social equality has also been fostered through her six-year collaboration at an alternative-to-detention afterschool program for youth ages 7-to-15 years old. Her dissertation was a participatory ethnographic study that highlighted the multi-consciousness of young people as they strive to live through their demographic identities, their involvement in digital and physical spaces, and their status in the justice system. She holds an M.A. degree in International Educational Development. Read Ahram's paper here.

If you missed the awards, you can see the recording below. As per Mariame Kaba's wishes, the recorded portion of her talk will not be shared publicly. 


2018 Recipients of the Morton Deutsch Awards for Social Justice The fourteenth Annual Morton Deutsch Awards Ceremony celebrated the distinguished contributions of an exemplary scholar-practitioner and graduate student. The event was held on April 7th, 2018 as part of the Teachers College Academic Festival.

This year, we honored Dr. James M. Jones as the outstanding scholar-practitioner and Daniela Romero-Amaya's outstanding graduate student paper, “Empty Schools and Silencios- Pedagogical Openings for Memory-Making in Colombia.”

Dr. James M. Jones is regarded as a champion for social justice and minority education and an expert in the field for his decades of research on racism and prejudice. He is Trustees’ Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Psychological and Brain Sciences and Black American Studies and Director of the Center for the Study of Diversity at the University of Delaware. He is also the former Executive Director for Public Interest and Director of the Minority Fellowship Program at the American Psychological Association.

Daniela Romero-Amaya is a Doctoral Fellow in the Social Studies Education program at Teachers College, Columbia University. She holds a B.A. degree in History and a M.A. degree in International Educational Development. Her research interests are related to History Education, Citizenship Education, and youth’s civic participation in conflict-affected contexts. She is currently researching on young citizens’ meanings and understandings of the armed conflict in Colombia, as well as their engagement in the current peace process. Read Daniela's paper here. If you missed the awards, you can see the recording here and photos here.


2017 Recipients of the Morton Deutsch Awards for Social Justice

The thirteenth Annual Morton Deutsch Awards Ceremony celebrating distinguished contributions to social justice, April 8th, 2017, was a resounding success. We were saddened that our Founding Director, Morton Deutsch, passed. This was the first Deutsch Awards without him.

This year, we honored Hadia Ali Sherazi's outstanding graduate student paper, and Dr. Derald Wing Sue as the outstanding scholar-practitioner.

Hadia is pursuing a dual MSc. in Sustainability Management and Conflict Resolution at Columbia University. She serves as an Ambassador for Girl Rising, ONE Campaign, and Half the Sky, is a Climate Reality Leader, youth expert in the Commonwealth Youth Climate Change Network, and was a delegate in UN ECOSOC Youth Forums, World Bank Youth Summits, and the UN Youth Assembly. She was named a “Global Champion for Women’s Economic” Empowerment” by UN Women’s EmpowerWomen team and is an SDSN Youth Local Pathways Fellow. Hadia’s research and advocacy is focused on climate change, sustainability, gender, DRR, and peace and security.

Derald Wing Sue is a pioneer in the field of multicultural psychology, multicultural education, microaggression theory, psychology of racial dialogues, multicultural counseling and therapy, and the psychology of racism/antiracism. He is Professor of Psychology and Education in the Department of Counseling and Clinical Psychology at Teachers College and the School of Social Work, Columbia University. His current research involves the relationship of microaggressions and difficult dialogues on race. If you missed the awards, you can see the recording below: 


2016 Recipients of the Morton Deutsch Awards for Social Justice The twelfth Annual Morton Deutsch Awards Ceremony celebrating  distinguished contributions to social justice, April 7th, 2016, was a resounding success! We honored Dr. Michael Wessells PhD for his work in child protection worldwide. He presented  on "Cooperative strategies in the reintegration of former child soldiers: The case of Sierra Leone" We also honored Alexandra Tamiko Da Dalt, MA class of 2015, for her winning paper: Women's Perceptions of Gender and Power in Post-Conflict Timor-Leste: Opportunities for Transformative Education around Gender Roles. You can read the full text here:Gender and Power in Timor Leste.

If you missed the awards, you can see photos from the event here: Facebook 2016 Deutsch Awards and you can watch the recording below:


2014 Recipients of the Morton Deutsch Awards for Social Justice

The eleventh Annual Morton Deutsch Awards Ceremony celebrating  distinguished contributions to social justice, April 16th, 2015, was a resounding success!  Eighty-some people gathered to hear The Fortune Society, a community-based organization, be honored for its exemplary practice and advocacy work in the field of criminal justice --  supporting successful reentry from prison and promoting alternatives to incarceration.

Three exemplary leaders of Fortune were there to receive the award:  David Rothenberg, who founded the Fortune Society in 1967 because he saw a need; JoAnne Page, President and CEO for the last 25 years during which Fortune experienced dramatic growth and magnified its impact and Stanley Richards, who started at Fortune as a counselor two decades ago and rose to Senior VP of Programming, drawing on his own experience with the justice system.

Also honored at the ceremony was the winner of the Distinguished Graduate Student Paper on Social Justice Award, Jiri Jelinek, a SIPA MIA candidate.  His paper focused on the challenges in access to education faced by the Roma in the Czech Republic.  His paper was selected by a cross-disciplinary panel for its sound analysis, innovative thinking and recommendations for remedying  the conditions his paper addresses. If you missed the Awards Ceremony, watch the video below: 


2014 Recipients of the Morton Deutsch Awards for Social Justice Watch the video here. Photos of the Morton Deutsch Awards now on our Facebook page.

Abigail Disney, Exemplary Scholar-Practitioner in the Field of Social Justice

Madeline Sims, Distinguished Graduate Student Paper on Social Justice "The business of teaching: Can a new contract change the culture?"

Sandra Sirota, Honorable Mention "Adolescent Transformation through Human Rights Education"

2014 Submissions


2013 Recipients of the Morton Deutsch Awards for Social Justice Watch the video here. Photos of the Morton Deutsch Awards now on our Facebook page.

Gretchen Buchenholz, Exemplary Scholar-Practitioner in the Field of Social Justice

Anna Gaarde, Distinguished Graduate Student Paper on Social Justice “Picturing Atrocity: Atrocity Photography as a Tool for Human Rights Advocacy”

2013 Submissions


2012 Recipients of the Morton Deutsch Awards for Social Justice

Dr. Gene Sharp, Exemplary Scholar-Practitioner in the Field of Social Justice

Kate Cronin-Furman, Distinguished Graduate Student Paper on Social Justice “Managing Expectations: International Criminal Trials and the Prospects for Deterrence of Mass Atrocity”


2011 Recipients of the Morton Deutsch Awards for Social Justice

Dr. Ervin Staub, Exemplary Scholar-Practitioner in the Field of Social Justice

Shenila Khoja-Moolji, Distinguished Graduate Student Paper on Social Justice (unable to post due to publication constraints)

Kimberly Rogers, Distinguished Graduate Student Paper on Social Justice

2011 Submissions


2010 Recipients of the Morton Deutsch Awards for Social Justice

Dr. Claude M. Steele, Exemplary Scholar-Practitioner in the Field of Social Justice

Lauren Johnson, Distinguished Graduate Student Paper on Social Justice "The Downside of Patriarchal Benevolence: Ambivalence in Addressing Domestic Violence and Socio-Economic Considerations for Women of Tamil Nadu, India"

Naomi Mayor and Linda Leder, Distinguished Graduate Student Paper on Social Justice "Formulating a New Model of Israel Education for the 21st Century Based on Concepts of Peace Education"


2009 Recipients of the Morton Deutsch Awards for Social Justice

Sister Elaine Roulet, Exemplary Scholar-Practitioner in the Field of Social Justice

Ashley D. Benner, Distinguished Graduate Student Paper on Social Justice "Turning Promise into Practice: The Challenges of & Next Steps for Implementing the Responsibility to Protect"

Alison Jean, Honorable Mention for Graduate Student Paper on Social Justice "Aung San Suu Kyi’s Noble Path towards Democracy"

Samantha Spilka, Honorable Mention for Graduate Student Paper on Social Justice "Madrasas and Their Impact on Pakistani Society"


2008 Recipients of the Morton Deutsch Awards for Social Justice

Dr. Janusz Grzelak and Dr. Janusz Reykowski, Exemplary Scholar-Practitioners in the Field of Social Justice J

ulia Maskivker, Distinguished Graduate Student Paper on Social Justice “Sovereign Debt and Global Justice”

Jennifer D. Whitney, Honorable Mention for Graduate Student Paper on Social Justice “The Diversity Disconnection: Discourse in Mainstream Literacy Instruction”


2007 Recipients of the Morton Deutsch Awards for Social Justice

Dr. John T. Jost, Exemplary Scholar-Practitioner in the Field of Social Justice

Jeremy Beard, Carrie Dattilo, Jessica Madden-Fuoco, Rory McCourt, Martha Zornow, Distinguished Graduate Student Paper on Social Justice “Proposal to Establish the Keith Haring Academy of Vision & Empowerment”

Audrey Sasson, Honorable Mention for Graduate Student Paper on Social Justice “The Coalition of Immokalee Workers vs. Taco Bell: The Role of Skillful Framing in Creating Social Change”

Julia Maskivker, Honorable Mention for Graduate Student Paper on Social Justice “Gender Matters: Towards One Possible Explanation of Female Suicide Bombings”


2006 Recipients of the Morton Deutsch Awards for Social Justice

Dr. Mahazin Banaji, Exemplary Scholar-Practitioner in the Field of Social Justice “The mental origins of conflict and cooperation”

Geoffrey Canada, Exemplary Scholar-Practitioner in the Field of Social Justice “Harlem Children’s Zone: An experiment in interrupting oppression”

Adam Branch, Distinguished Graduate Student Paper on Social Justice “The international Criminal Court in Northern Uganda: A legal, political, and moral critique”


2005 Recipients of the Morton Deutsch Awards for Social Justice

Dr. Michelle Fine, Exemplary Scholar-Practitioner in the Field of Social Justice “Morton Deutsch, Abu Ghraib and What do we tell the Children?”

Julia Heck, Distinguished Graduate Student Paper on Social Justice “Health Care Access as a Social Justice Issue: Findings on Same-Sex Couples in a National Survey.”

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