Monday, February 28 10:30 a.m./THE CRITICAL RACE THEORY (CRT) CONTROVERSY: A VIEW FROM WITHIN
w/ DR. CRYSTAL J. LUCKY
This talk will consider the contentious and complex debate surrounding the misunderstood acronym used to describe “Critical Race Theory.”  The theoretical tool, first employed by legal scholars in the 1980s, has been the subject of intense debate among liberals and conservatives about its basic tenets and whether it should be used as a tool to inform K-12 policy and practice.  We will consider the many aspects of the argument and my unique experiences working as an educational consultant with multiple school districts in the Philadelphia area on the best ways to meet the changing needs of its students and
families. Dr. Crystal J. Lucky has worked as a diversity consultant with teachers and administrators in both public and private secondary schools on curriculum enhancement and multi-cultural community building for twenty-five years.  She is the Associate Dean of Baccalaureate Studies in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and Professor of English at Villanova University, where she has taught since 1996. She is also the former director of the university’s Africana Studies Program. She teaches courses in 19th  and 20th  century African American literature and specializes in the autobiographical narratives of black preaching women, the Harlem Renaissance, novelist Toni Morrison, and playwright August Wilson. Her most recent book, A Mysterious Life and Calling, is a critical edition of the autobiography of the Rev. Mrs. Charlotte Riley, a nineteenth-century black preaching woman born into South Carolina slavery. She is currently working on two book projects: On the Threshing Floor: Representations of African American Women’s Piety; and Relentless Hearts: The Story of Debbie and Michael Africa.

Dr. Lucky holds a Th.D. in Biblical Studies from Manna Bible College (2019), a Ph.D. in English from the University of Pennsylvania (1999), an M.A. in Afro-American Studies from Yale University (1989), and a B.A. in English and Communications from the University of Pennsylvania (1985). She also serves as the Pastor of Sword of the Spirit Church in Lansdowne, PA with her husband of thirty- two years, Dr. Timmy L. Lucky. They have one son, Caleb, a proud Villanova University graduate!