Jarvis R. Givens is an assistant professor of education and faculty affiliate in the department of African & African American studies at Harvard University. As an interdisciplinary scholar, he specializes in 19th and 20th century African American history, history of education, and theories of race and power in education. Professors Givens’ work has been supported by fellowships and grants from the Ford Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the William F. Milton Fund, and the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. From 2016 to 2018 he was a Dean’s Postdoctoral Fellow at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Professor Givens’ first book, Fugitive Pedagogy: Carter G. Woodson and the Art of Black Teaching, was published by Harvard University Press in 2021, and it won the 2022 ASALH Book Prize for “the best new book in African American history and culture” as well as the 2022 AERA Outstanding Book Award. Fugitive Pedagogy journeys through the subversive history of African American education from slavery through the Jim Crow era, analyzing the political and intellectual work of black teachers. The famed educator and groundbreaking historian Carter G. Woodson is the central character in this story. Professor Givens also co-edited We Dare Say Love: Supporting Achievement in the Educational Life of Black Boys, published by Columbia’s Teachers College Press in 2018. His articles appear in academic journals and various public outlets, such as The Atlantic, American Education Research Journal, Souls: A Critical Journal of Black Politics Culture and Society, Harvard Educational Review, Black Perspectives, Anthropology & Education Quarterly, Education Weekly, and more.