Abolition Science Radio
Atasi Das, Urban Education
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Jennifer Adams
Project Website: Abolition Science Radio
Abolition Science Radio is a project developed and created by two Urban Education doctoral candidates, LaToya Strong and Atasi Das. We have been continuously working on this digital pedagogy project since 2017 and are excited to be developing an educational podcast to be used in and beyond classrooms. Abolition Science radio is an open educational resource, available free and online at www.abolitionscience.org. The project consists of podcasts, transcripts, supplemental educational materials for episode topics, and periodic reading groups.
The podcast series, entitled Abolition Science Radio, was inspired by W.E.B duBois’ notion of abolition democracy (duBois, 1898). The intention of this podcast project is to, through public discourse, interrogate and deconstruct existing notions of science and STEM education that perpetuate inequities, while simultaneously reimagining the possibilities of an alternative approach to science and STEM education in society. On the podcast, we address all things science and math and their relationship to colonialism, oppression, resistance, education, liberation, and so much more.
In the first season of Abolition Science Radio, we were able to introduce history, concepts, tenets, and practices of an Abolition Science that have been shared in K-12 and university classrooms. We interviewed cutting edge critical scholars in the fields of math and science education such as Dr. Rochelle Gutierrez and Dr. Danny Morales-Doyle, amongst others. We also developed episodes with activists connected to these fields such as the Free Radicals Collective.
One goal in this project is to advance an Abolition Science framework highlighting the social and historical contexts from which particular science and math practices emerge and subsequently examine how these practices continue to shape society. As we continue to develop this project, another goal is to develop a range of methods to explore topics, experimenting with sound textures and storytelling structures, in order to expand the educational utility of the podcast for all types of learning contexts. We are committed to producing a high-quality podcast from a technical stance, as well as, expanding our praxis in order to enact, imagine, and shape alternative math and science futures.
Abolition Science Radio has been awarded several grants including the Digital Initiatives Training Grant in 2017, Digital Initiatives Start-Up Grant in 2018, and the Cottonwood Foundation Grant in 2018. We appreciate the support in this work, and the support of educators using the materials.