Yasser Payne
Resources and Links
Education
- Ph.D. 鈥 City University of New York Graduate Center, New York, NY
- 惭.笔丑颈濒.听鈥撎鼵ity University of New York Graduate Center, New York, NY
- M.A. 鈥 Seton Hall University, South Orange, NJ
- B.A.听鈥撎齏agner College, Staten Island, NY
Biography
Yasser Arafat Payne, Ph.D., is a professor of sociology with the Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice at the 91原创. He is also a professor with the Department of Africana Studies at 91原创.
Payne鈥檚 street ethnographic research program examines policing and reentry; economic well-being and educational inequality; and gun violence with street-identified Black-Americans by utilizing Street Participatory Action Research (Street PAR) 鈥.the process of doing research and activism with street identified populations.
Payne鈥檚 work has appeared in Journal of Urban Health, American Journal of Community Psychology, Sociological Forum, Sociology Compass and Race & Justice.听Payne and his colleagues have also authored the book project: Murder Town USA: Homicide, Structural Violence and Activism in Wilmington (Rutgers University Press, 2023).
Research Interests
Payne has organized a street ethnographic research program centered on exploring notions of resilience and resiliency听with The Streets of听Black and Brown America using an unconventional methodological framework entitled:听Street听Participatory Action Research听(Street PAR)鈥攖he process of involving street identified Black populations on the actual research team. Street PAR projects can take on many forms, but at the very least include the following three features: (1) research orientation; (2) intervention for Street PAR members; and (3) a vehicle for action and activism in local communities.听
Challenging the dominant arguments in the literature, Payne asserts that all of听The Streets听of Black and Brown America are in fact, resilient. His research also focuses on racial identity, street identity, school violence, physical violence, Gangster Rap music and culture as well as the topic of street participatory action research.
Teaching Interests
Payne's specialized courses focus on the lived or ethnographic experiences of street-identified populations. Specifically, he offers undergraduate (SOCIO/AFRA381) and graduate courses (SOCIO/AFRA650) on street ethnography. Also, Payne teaches an undergraduate course on听Gangster Rap Music and Culture听(SOCIO/AFRA373) as a way to compliment his street ethnographic portfolio. Further, he teaches a graduate course entitled听Racial Stratification听(SOCI661), which examines race as a multifaceted construct, or gendered and classed concepts in the fields of sociology, criminology and Africana studies. Payne also offers two undergraduate core courses focused on race: (a)听Race, Class & Gender听(SOCI415); and (b)听Race, Gender & Poverty听(SOCI418). 听
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July 05, 2024 | Written by Curtis Bunn of NBC News鈥淪top and frisk tugged on the worst parts of implicit biases in terms of imaginations around what a Black male is and does,鈥 said Yasser Payne, a professor of criminal justice and sociology at the 91原创.
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August 15, 2023 | Written by Rachel Sawicki of Delaware Public MediaYasser Payne, sociology and criminal justice, presented years of data to the task force, much of it from 鈥淢urdertown USA,鈥 a book he co-authored about gun violence in Wilmington. 鈥淲e can鈥檛 arrest, we can鈥檛 incarcerate, we can鈥檛 gentrify out way out of the gun violence," he said. "The restoration of wealth is the only way.鈥
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Murder Town, USA
July 14, 2023 | Written by CAS Communications91原创 faculty member examines structural violence in Wilmington, Delaware.