Janine Novais

I am a writer, sociologist and teacher interested in how our liberation is a cultural project, a matter of (un)learning. I believe culture is the greatest human technology because it is how we humans craft our freedom. My book, Brave Community: Teaching for a Post-Racist Imagination (coming April 2023) shares a method for educators or anyone who wants to create empathetic and resilient conditions for learning about racism in order to intervene on it.

In my facilitation and consulting, I combine the Brave Community method, the sociology of race and culture, expertise in teaching and curriculum design at the undergraduate, graduate, and professional levels, to support individuals and organizations to achieve self-authored, context-specific solutions. I have held academic positions at Harvard University (2017-2018) and the University of Delaware (2018-2022). Before that, I served as the Associate Director of Columbia University’s Center for the Core Curriculum. I was born and raised in Cabo Verde.

Areas of Expertise

• Research focuses on the intersection of race, culture and education, with a focus on pedagogical approaches to confronting racism.
• Can comment on issues of racial and cultural pluralism in the larger society as well as formal and informal educational spaces.
• Works with diverse communities within non-profit institutions as well as K-12 schools and higher education.