Scholars of Color- Dr. Arash Daneshzadeh
What is Scholars of Color?
It is a platform in which scholars of color are purposefully celebrated. It’s a space where scholars of color are showcased front and center. It is a digital space where we feel empowered and resilient. Let us get to know each other. Let us cheer each other on AND show the world what we have to offer.
Let us now welcome Dr. Arash Daneshzadeh to the Scholars of Color space!
Name: Dr. Arash Daneshzadeh
Location: San Mateo, CA
Gender Pronouns: He / His / Him / Él / They
What's your current occupation? (i.e. Student, Scientist, Coach, In transition, etc.): Professor of Education, Editor-In-Chief of Transformative Justice Journal, Prison Educator, Refugee Resettlement Advocate, Anti-Carceral Scholar Activist
Without positions or titles, how would you describe yourself?: Dr. Arash Daneshzadeh was born in Tehran, Iran and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area (as a biracial refugee and formerly incarcerated youth) where he has served the mission of educational equity for 16 years. Arash also serves as National Chair for Save The Kids from Incarceration, a national nonprofit focused on prison abolition and school sanctioned violence and co-edited a textbook on the topic of youth punishment entitled Understanding, Dismantling, and Disrupting the Prison-To-School Pipeline. For the past five years, Arash has taught classes on organizing movements in the Graduate School of Education at the University of San Francisco. For the past 7 years, he has taught in the Prison University Project at San Quentin State Penitentiary. Arash's recently published research based on his doctoral work at UC Davis involved an ethnographic study of Black girls participating in Restorative Justice programs at a local alternative school in San Francisco, which focused on navigational and resistance capital among Black girls.
What are you passionate about?: Abolitionist Carceral Geographies, Dismantling the school-to-prison pipeline vis-a-vis design-thinking restorative justice methodology that draws upon the testimonios and critical narratives if youth to dismantle intentionally repressive and draconian school systems.
What does the representation of Scholars of Color mean to you?: This is an opportunity for cross pollination and asset-sharing of praxis and to uplift the work of our fellow BIPOC organizers who embody the resilience, hope, and trauma-informed cultural community wealth that is necessary to fill our social and emotional fuel tanks in order to continue fighting for the liberation of our historically-looted and systemically-marginalized people of color
If people are interested in getting connected to you, how can they?: drarashdaneshzadeh.com,, twitter: @a_daneshzadeh or via LinkedIn and email at arashdaneshzadeh@gmail.com
Anything else you would like us to know?: Dr. Arash Daneshzadeh was born in Tehran, Iran and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area (as a biracial refugee and formerly incarcerated youth) where he has served the mission of educational equity for 16 years. Arash also serves as National Chair for Save The Kids from Incarceration, a national nonprofit focused on prison abolition and school sanctioned violence and co-edited a textbook on the topic of youth punishment entitled Understanding, Dismantling, and Disrupting the Prison-To-School Pipeline. For the past five years, Arash has taught classes on organizing movements in the Graduate School of Education at the University of San Francisco. For the past 7 years, he has taught in the Prison University Project at San Quentin State Penitentiary. Arash's recently published research based on his doctoral work at UC Davis involved an ethnographic study of Black girls participating in Restorative Justice programs at a local alternative school in San Francisco, which focused on navigational and resistance capital among Black girls. Currently, Arash Daneshzadeh serves as Editor-In-Chief of The Transformative Justice Journal.
Thank you Dr. Arash for sharing space with us!
Stay tuned everyone for more Scholars of Color profiles. Interested in being showcased yourself? Please email the Scholars of Color team at scholarsofcolor@reclaimingyourhappiness.com and we will get back to you shortly.
