2025 Alumni Award of Excellence Recipient: Brian Lozenski
Brian Lozenski (he/him) is an Associate Professor of Urban and Multicultural Education and chair of the Educational Studies Department at Macalester College. He received his doctorate from the University of Minnesota (2014) where he studied the cultural contexts of teaching and learning. His research explores the intersections of critical participatory action research, black intellectual traditions in education, Ethnic Studies pedagogies and policy, and cultural sustainability in the education of youth of color.
Dr. Lozenski holds deep commitments to a community-engaged research framework where academic researchers follow the lead of community members and organizations to identify prevalent issues that can be addressed through an inquiry-based approach. He is a working board member of the Education for Liberation Network, where he has been a core organizer of the biannual Free Minds Free People Conference, which he convened in Minnesota in 2019. He is also a founding organizer with Education for Liberation Minnesota, the first local chapter of the Education for Liberation Network.
Current Job: Educational Studies Department Chair and Associate Professor at Macalester College
CEHD Degree: PhD, Culture and Teaching
Current job
Educational Studies Department Chair and Associate Professor at Macalester College
CEHD degrees
PhD, Culture and Teaching
What is your favorite memory from the University of Minnesota?
My favorite memories are sitting in the Purple Onion with my classmates debating about what we were reading for class. It was such a time of intellectual explosion for me, and I loved the challenge of having to form thoughts and ideas about complex topics.
What professor(s) or course(s) were most influential during your time in the College of Education and Human Development (CEHD)?
I was fortunate to have several wonderful professors at the U. Bic Ngo's Critical Ethnography course really shaped my understandings of how power mediates research. Tim Lensmire's courses on Race and Literacy pushed me to deepen my approaches to racial theory. Cynthia Lewis's Critical Sociocultural Theory course expanded my thinking about agency and determinism. I was also so fortunate to take classes with Rose Brewer in Afro Studies that shaped my practice as a community-engaged scholar.
What was the impact and benefit of your educational experience in CEHD?
My time in CEHD altered the trajectory of my vocation as an educator. I came in planning to study cultural relevance in mathematics instruction, and emerged doing critical participatory action research with youth in the area of Black Studies. This speaks to how CEHD pushed me to expand my imagination and follow my passions as an educator and researcher. My advisor, Bic Ngo, provided a wonderful balance of care for me as a person and high expectations for my work. I learned to be more rigorous in my thinking and developed more courage to challenge my own tacit assumptions and presuppositions, as well as that of others.
What gets you excited about work?
I am always excited to teach. Education is about possibility, aspiration, and imagination. When we lose sight of this we fall into the trap of despair. Learning about the past of political struggle through rigorous study excites me because it gives me perspective on our current world. Working on projects and trying to build alternative systems is challenging and often frustrating work, but being able to strategize with other like-minded colleagues is definitely energizing.