Emdin, Christopher (ce2165)

Christopher Emdin

Professor of Science Education, Maxine Greene Chair for Distinguished Contributions to Education.
Director, STEAM, DREAM & IdeaLab
212-678-3825

Office Location:

412C Zankel

Office Hours:

M & W 5-7 & by appointment; please email.

Educational Background

B.S. in Physical Anthropology/ Biology/ Chemistry, Lehman College (2000)
M.S. in Natural Sciences, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (2003)

Project: Extracellular Matrix and Mesenchymal Cell Signaling

Ph.D in Urban Education, Graduate Center of the City University of New York, (2007)

Dissertation: Exploring the contexts of Urban Science Classrooms: Cogenerative dialogues, Coteaching and Cosmopolitanism

- Specialization in Science, Mathematics and Technology

Scholarly Interests

STEM Education

The intersection of theory and practice in science education

Urban science education 

Race, classs and diversity in education

Hip-Hop Education (HipHopEd)

Selected Publications

Emdin, C. (2007). Exploring the contexts of urban Science Classrooms: Part 1-Investigating corporate and communal practice. Cultural Studies of  Science Education (2) 2, 319-341

Emdin, C. (2007). Exploring the contexts of Urban science Classrooms: Part 2- The role of rituals in communal practice. Cultural Studies of  Science Education (2) 2, 351-373

Emdin, C. (2008) .The Three  C’s for urban science education.. Phi Delta Kappan, Vol. 89, No. 10, June 2008, pp. 772-775. June 2008

Emdin, C. (In press)  Affiliation and Alienation : Hip hop, rap and urban science education. Journal of Curriculum Studies
National Association for Research in Science Teaching (NARST) 2005 - present
American Educational Research Association (AERA) 2004- present
National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) 2004- present
Association for Science Teacher Education (ASTE)  2006- present


  • Co-author on application for U.S Department of Education Upward Bound grant for students with “high academic risk of failure” #84.07A and 84.07M (in process)

  • Fund For Teachers Grant for studying the impact of science education leadership in urban schools $5000 Awarded June 2005

  • Advisory Board members for NSF grant: Girl Talk: Using cogenerative dialogues to expand girls agency in science. P.I Kate Scantlebury Ph.D, University of Delaware (In Process)

  • External reviewer for NSF grant on studies of African American teachers in science. P.I Jianzhong Xu Ph.D, Mississippi State University


2011:
Strage Prize
  • The Prize supports the production of a web video to highlight original and innovative work of a junior faculty member at Teachers College. For more information, visit this link.

2008:
  • ASTE (Association for Science Teacher Education): Best paper on Innovation in Teaching Science Teachers
  • PDK-Phi Delta Kappa International Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation
  • PDK -Phi Delta Kappa 2008-09 class Emerging Leader
Assistant Professor of Science Education,  2007 - Present
Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY
  • Course assignments: Physical science methods, Urban Science Education Seminar, Methods of Research in Science Education, Multicultural science education, Physical Science Curriculum and Methods
Instructor and Coordinator, Science Education Program, September 2006 – June 2007
Lehman College, City University of New York, Bronx, NY
  • Course assignments: Methods of Science Instruction in Middle and High School, Methods of Research in Education
  • Supervise middle and high school science teachers/student teachers in classrooms
  • Supervise students’ thesis for completion of Masters in science education
  • Plan and coordinate courses offered in Masters in science education program
  • Advise graduate and undergraduate students in science education program
  • Member of Middle and High school education curriculum committee
Adjunct Professor of Science Education, Elementary Education Program,  Spring 2007
Queens College, City University of New York, Queens, NY
  • Advise undergraduate students in science education teaching assignments
  • Course assignments: Methods of Elementary Science Education


Emdin, C. (2008) Pathways to New Possibilities: Creolized Science, Solidarity and Hybrid Idetities. Natinal Association for Research in Science Teaching.

Emdin, C. (2008) Access to Science for Marginalized Groups through Hip hop culture and Cogenerative Dialogues. Penn Ethnography Forum. Philadelphia, PA

Emdin, C. (2008) Providing Science Agency to Marginalized Students in Urban Classrooms Through Neo-Indigenous Cosmopolitanism. Paper presented at American Educational Research Association. New York, NY

Emdin,C. (2008). A search for student culture in the Science Curriculum: Focusing on Hip hop and science education. Paper presented at the American Association for the Advancement of Curriculum Studies. New York, NY

Emdin, C. (2008). Producing Success in Science Through Culturally adaptive Teaching and Learning. Paper presented at the Association for Science Teacher Education.  St. Louis, Missouri

Emdin, C. (2008). Hybridized teacher and Student identities, Creolized Science and Emotionality in Urban Science Classrooms. Paper presented at the Association for Science Teacher Education.  St. Louis, Missouri

Emdin, C. (2007). Computers, Digital Camcorders, and Voice Analysis Software in the Urban Science Classroom. Workshop at  NYSCATE (New York State Association for Computing and  Technology in Education). Rochester, NY 

Emdin, C. (Oct 2007) Equity in Mathematics and Science Education: Critical Issues in Leadership Deveopment. Mentoring in Academia. Portland, oregon

Emdin, C. (2007). Providing agency for othered populations in urban science classrooms: Attaining neo-indegenous cosmopolitanism. Paper presented at New York University Sharing Our Success Conference.  New York, NY.

Emdin, C. (2007). Coteaching as a means to facilitate collaboration and communalism. Paper presented at the University of Pennsylvania Ethnography in Education in Trying Times. Pennsylvania, PA

Emdin, C. (2007). Neo-indigenous cosmopolitanism: New methods for teaching in urban settings. Paper presented at the annual meeting for the American Association for the Advancement of Curriculum studies. Chicago, IL

Emdin, C. (2007). Rethinking professional development relationships: coteaching as a means for investigating, changing and renewing praxis. Paper presented at the National Association for Research in Science Teaching. New Orleans, NO

Emdin, C. (2007). Cogenerative dialogues and School Culture: The emergence of democratic practice within an urban school. Paper presented at the Annual meeting of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education. New York, NY.

Emdin, C. (2007). Creating new paradigms for teacher practices in science classrooms. Paper presented at the Association for Science Teacher Education. Clearwater, FLA.

Emdin, C. (2006). Cogenerative dialogue in the physics and living environment classrooms. Paper presented at New York University Sharing Our Success Conference.  New York, NY.

 Emdin, C. (2006). Utilizing the mutually sustaining nature of student rituals to support African American and Latino/a science success. Paper presented at the annual meeting for the American Educational Researchers Association. San Francisco, CA

Tobin, K., Emdin, C., Bayne, G., & Lehner, E. (2006). Expanding the ways in which students participate in science education.    Paper-set presented at the annual meeting for the National Association for Research in Science Teaching. San Francisco, CA.

 Emdin, C. (2006). Approaching democratic science classrooms: Cogenerative dialogue as a cosmopolitan act. Paper presented at the American Association for the Advancement of Curriculum Studies. Berkeley, CA

 Emdin, C. (2006). Expanding students’ roles in urban social science and science education: Cogenerative dialogues as seedbeds for learning science. Paper presented at University of Pennsylvania Ethnography Forum. Philadelphia Pennsylvania

Emdin, C. (2006). Hip hop, symbolic violence and war: Negotiating the terrain of cultural misalignment within inner city schools. Paper presented at Teachers College : Threat N Youth Cultural studies Conference.  New York, NY

Emdin, C. (2005). Engaging in ethnographic research within the science classroom. Paper presented at Queens College Ethnography in education forum.  Queens, NY

Emdin, C. (2005). Utilizing technology in the science classroom. Paper presented at New York State Association for Computing and Technology in Education. Albany, NY 

Emdin, C. (2005). Implementing cogenerative dialogues in new science classrooms in urban high schools. Paper presented at Third Annual New Visions Small Schools Conference. Bronx, NY

Emdin, C. (2008) .The Three  C’s for urban science education.. Phi Delta Kappan, Vol. 89, No. 10, June 2008, pp. 772-775. June 2008

Emdin, C., (In press)  Affiliation and Alienation : Hip hop, rap and urban science education. Journal of Curriculum Studies

Emdin, C. (In Press). Investigating intersubjectivity and grammar in the third space: On urban classrooms and new possibilities. Cultural Studies of  Science Education

Emdin, C. (2007). Exploring the contexts of urban Science Classrooms: Part 1-Investigating corporate and communal practice. Cultural Studies of  Science Education (2) 2, 319-341

Parsons, E., Pitts, W. Emdin, C., (2007). Using the Macro to unpack the corporate | communal dialectic. Cultural Studies of Science Education (2) 2, 342-350

Emdin, C. (2007). Exploring the contexts of Urban science Classrooms: Part 2- The role of rituals in communal practice. Cultural Studies of  Science Education (2) 2, 351-373

Bennett, L., Collins, J., & Emdin, C. (2007). A metalogue on urban schools and science classrooms: Student voices on research products. Cultural Studies of  Science Education (2,) 2 387-392

Emdin, C & Lehner, E. (2006). Situating cogenerative dialogue in a cosmopolitan ethic. Forum: Qualitative Social Research

[On-line Journal], 7(2), Art. 39.

Emdin, C. (2006). Teaching and Learning Science in an Urban School: Analogy as a key to communal Science Pedagogy. 2006 E-Yearbook of Urban Learning, Teaching, and Research. 46-52

Stith, I, Scantlebury, K, LaVan, S, Emdin, C, Lehner, E & Kim, M. (2006). The ethics of cogenerative dialogue: A cogenerative dialogue. Forum: Qualitative Social Research [On-line Journal], 7(2), Art. 44.

Emdin, C . (2006). Teaching and learning science in an urban school: Analogy as a key to communal science pedagogy. 2006 AERA SIG Yearbook of  Urban Learning,Teaching, and Research.

Emdin, C. (2006). Beyond coteaching: Power dynamics, cosmopolitanism and the psychoanalytic dimension. Forum: Qualitative
Physics and Chemistry Teacher, grades 9-12              September 2004 – June 2006   
Marie Curie High School, Bronx, NY
  • Designed and developed interdisciplinary science curriculum immersed in regional, city, and state technology, mathematics and science standards
  • Implemented cogenerative dialogues in all science classes as a foundation of effective science instruction for urban students
  • Developed critical thinking skills through hands on physics and chemistry activities
  • Focused learning objectives to improve science fluency, critical thinking, reading comprehension, and writing skills
  • Grounded all lessons, units, and projects in technology and multimedia resources 
  • Utilized Power-point presentations in all conceptual physics lessons
  • Developed effective distributed classroom management policies that infused students modes of learning
  • Established connections across physics and chemistry curriculum
  • Collaborated with community and museum educational programs such as the American Museum of Natural History and Queens Hall of Science
  • Prepared students for success on New York State Regents examinations.
Science and Math Teacher, grades 7 - 8                         September 2002 - August 2004                                               
Middle School 219, Bronx, NY
  • Implemented general science curriculum that infused biology, chemistry and physical sciences
  • Incorporated students ways of knowing into the curriculum and mentored student co-teachers
  • Enhanced “Science in the Community” curriculum: Utilizing science examples from students’ neighborhoods in general and   physical science classes
  • Integrated technology and multimedia resources into lessons via Power-Point, Excel and various multi-media tools
  • Established strategies for working with disadvantaged youth on state wide 8th grade science exam
Science and Math Teacher, grades  6 - 7                      September 2000 - August 2002
Community Intermediate School 148, Bronx, NY  
  • Implemented general science / physical science curriculum with hands on activities
  • Developed “Science in the Community” curriculum: Utilizing science examples from students’ neighborhoods into curriculum used throughout school district
  • Integrated technology and multimedia resources into lessons via Power-Point, Excel and various multi-media tools
  • Established strategies for working with disadvantaged youth on state wide exams
  • Established Science club for students that presented experiments and investigations at state wide science fair in Albany N.Y

Related Articles

TC's Emdin Honored for Dissertation on Urban Science Education

Christopher Emdin, an assistant professor of science education at Teachers College, Columbia University, has won the 2008 PDK International Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation Award for his in-depth research on approaches to increase student motivation, involvement and achievement in science education in urban high schools.

Emdin will receive the award, and -- together with his former students from Marie Curie High School in the Bronx -- present ideas from his dissertation at a special ceremony and colloquium at Teachers College in New York City on Thursday, April 17th, from 3-5 pm.

TC at AERA, 2008

Hank Levin is giving the Distinguished Lecture; Janet Miller is receiving a lifetime achievement award; Susan Fuhrman, Amy Wells, Jeanne Brooks-Gunn and Edmund Gordon are speaking in Presidential Sessions, and Gordon and colleagues are part of "A Scholar's Evening in Harlem." And then there's the research.

Teachers College to Partner with 10 Public Schools in Harlem

Teachers College has received a $5 million grant from the GE Foundation to create an intensive new partnership with a group of 10 public schools in Harlem.

New Faculty and Their Interests: Education in Many Forms

Chris Emdin, Carol Garber and Regina Cortina are among the new faculty at TC this year. Their interests range from comparative and international education to science and urban education to exercise physiology and applied physical health.

Emdin, GZA on PBS Newshour With Rap Genius

Professor Christopher Emdin and GZA, the Rap Artist from the Wu Tang Clan, demonstrate their Rap Science B.A.T.T.L.E. contest at Bronx Compass High School.

TC Launches $300 Million Fundraising Campaign for the Future

Speaking to an audience of some 600 alumni, faculty, students and friends of TC at the Apollo Theater, TC President Susan Fuhrman put the finishing touches on a yearlong celebration of the College's founding and announced a $300 million fundraising campaign

State of the College 2013

The monthly President's Corner is an opportunity to share with you updates on TC's goals, challenges and the good news happening on our campus. For this first column, I invite you to read the annual State of the College address, which I delivered to the campus community on Oct. 23.

Emdin Chats With the Chronicle About Science Rap

The Assistant Professor of Science Education says his science rap project "helps create a more scientifically literate populace."

Science Genius B.A.T.T.L.E.S. Judges Choose Winning Science Rap

Jabari Johnson, a senior at Urban Assembly High School in Harlem, won the final Science Genius competition at TC with a rap about a physics formula

Science Genius Project Picks Winning Rap

The science rap contest, co-sponsored by Christopher Emdin, Assistant Professor of Science Education: the hip-hop performer GZA; and Rap Genius, chose a citywide winner, Jabari Johnson, at its final showdown.

Hip-Hop Science BATTLE on PBS Newshour This Evening

TC's Chris Emdin and Wu Tang Clan's GZA will appear on PBS Newshour March 27, at about 20 minutes after the hour (check local listings) with students at Bronx Compass High School who are participating in their joint project, Science Genius B.A.T.T.L.E.S. The BBC World News Radio aired a spot about the project on March 23.

Hip-Hop and Health

Using an urban art form to understand "the broken health of a population"

More about Christopher Emdin

Christopher Emdin is an Assistant Professor of Science Education in the Mathematics, Science and Technology department's Science Education Program.

Professor Christopher Emdin

Assistant Professor of Science Education

Chris Emdin Teams up With Rap Artist GZA to Sponsor Science Rap Battle

Chris Emdin Teams up With Rap Artist GZA to Sponsor Science Rap Battle

Professor Chris Emdin Teams up With Rap Artist GZA to Sponsor Science Rap Battle

In a competition that kicks off December 12 in Cowin Auditorium, NYC high school students will write rap songs about science and compete to record their song and spend a day with GZA, the New York Times reports. The songs will be judged on their artistry and science content by science educator Emdin, GZA, and Neil deGrasse Tyson

TC's Christopher Emdin writes: "Geniuses Unite: The Intersection of Hip-Hop and Science"

The science educator interviews Neil deGrasse Tyson and the rap artist GZA about what kids need to get hooked on science.

TEDx @ TC: Speaking From the Head and the Heart on International Education

Student organizers are looking ahead to next year's event

TC's Christopher Emdin: "America's Youth is Uprising"

On the Huffington Post blog, the Assistant Professor of Science Education writes that Arab Spring protests and the Occupy movement have inspired an "underground uprising" in American high schools.

Inaugural TEDxTeachersCollege Conference to Explore Innovations in International Education

The conference on Friday, March 23, will feature live and video talks by prominent experts about some of the most important topics in international education

Prof. Emdin Urges Elon Students to "Make the Classroom a Social Place"

Speaking at a gathering of Elon University education students, Emdin said social classrooms can re-engage students who are disconnected from school.

TC's Christopher Emdin Responds to Forbes Column, "If I Were a Poor Black Kid"

The Assistant Professor of Science Education draws five lessons from an opinion piece in Forbes

TC's Chris Emdin in Huffington Post on Minority STEM Teachers

Students are bored by science classes that stress memorization rather than engagement in science, Emdin, author of Urban Science Education for the Hip-Hop Generation and Assistant Professor of Science Education, writes.

Professor Emdin Writes Back-to-School Tips for Urban Parents

In the Huffington Post, Christopher Emdin, Assistant Professor of Science Education, suggests five tools for parents that could improve an urban student's chances of success in school.

Christopher Emdin Says Education System Discourages the Study of Science

Despite an acute need for college graduates in the sciences, students are turned off in lower grades by a rote memorization teaching style, Emdin tells Washington Post Writers Group.

TC's Christopher Emdin Featured in Amtrak's Arrive Magazine as Innovative Teacher

Emdin encourages teachers to use hip-hop principles and rap in science class.

TC's Christopher Emdin Responds to NYC School Closings

The Assistant Professor of Science Education appeared twice on Fox News to speak about the implications of impending school closings in New York City.

The Hip-Hop Hypothesis

To sell inner-city teens on science, Christopher Emdin is meeting them on their own cultural turf

Emdin's Students Rap to Success

TC's Prof. Christopher Emdin works as a consultant at MS 88 in Park Slope, Brooklyn, where students write rap about geology.

Emdin's Bronx students rap en Espanol

TC's Christopher Emdin, Assistant Professor of Science Education, has been helping students in the Bronx learn science by writing rap. This year, they're rapping en Espanol, and New York 1 TV had the story.

Cultures of Silence: Why Penn State and other institutions don't bring wrong-doing to light - and how outsiders should react

Why Penn State and other institutions don't bring wrong-doing to light -- and how outsiders should react

TC: The Next Generation

Four younger faculty members demonstrate that the College is still boldly going where no other educators have gone before

TC at AERA 2011

Highlights from the year's signature education conference

TC at AERA 2011

This year's annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA), taking place in New Orleans this week and themed "Inciting the Social Imagination: Education Research for the Public Good," includes the participation of nearly 175 TC faculty and students.

Honoring a Legacy for Generations to Come

Academic Festival 2013 celebrates TC's past with an eye toward the future

TC at AERA 2013

Some 172 faculty, students and others affiliated with Teachers College will present at "Education and Poverty: Theory, Research, Policy and Praxis," this year's meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA), which will be held in San Francisco from April 27-May 1.

Sealey-Ruiz Co-Edits Special Journal Issue on the Disappearance of Black Teachers

Would fewer Black male students drop out if more Black men were teaching? The question, which has provoked much discussion and research by educators and academics, is now the focus of a special issue of the prestigious Journal of Negro Education (JNE), guest edited by Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz, TC Assistant Professor of English Education.

Gamification Expert Joey Lee Receives TC's Strage Prize

Joey Lee, Assistant Professor of Communication, Computing and Technology in Education, is the recipient of the 2013 Strage Junior Faculty Prize.

Class Will Meet Outside Today

As the pendulum swings toward longer school days and years, is there a future in the concept - long championed at Teachers College - of education that occurs beyond school walls?

A Stage to Celebrate Their Accomplishments

At Academic Festival 2013, TC honors a distinguished group of alumni

Faculty Partners

Seven faculty are at the heart of TC's Harlem collaboration

Joining Forces

TC is partnering with 10 local public schools to improve education in science, technology, engineering and math

Taking The Pulse Of The Community

Changing the health of populations, from neighborhoods to nations, starts with finding out what's really going on in people's lives and their communities.

Harnessing Culture to End Health Disparities

The College's fifth annual conference on health disparities is highlighted by the launch of a new center and a call for a new paradigm of adapting coping to cultural differences

New TC Center to Advance Multimedia Health and Science Education to Foster Health Equity and Academic Achievement

Teachers College will launch its new Center for Health Equity and Urban Science Education (CHEUSE) at its fifth annual Health Disparities Conference, March 15-16

A Healthy Learner is a Successful Learner

Teachers College to launch a new Center on Health Disparities that will explore the connection between health issues and school success

TENURE BATTLES OF 2011

Amid growing challenges to teachers' rights to organize, what will happen in schools if tenure goes?

Summer Reading

New books by four TC faculty members range in focus from educational equity to adult learning

Celebrating the TC Ecosystem

An Office that enhances community, diversity and organizational change

Debating the Use <br>of Test Scores <br>to Evaluate Teachers

Last week, New York City released performance ratings for 18,000 teachers based on student test scores, following a ruling the state's highest court the information could be made public.

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