| 313 Smith Hall | Newark, DE 19716 | <div class="ExternalClass218297EE1B6E46449FA6FEB66DEF75DE"><p align="left">Yasser Arafat Payne is an Associate Professor
in the Department of Sociology and
Criminal Justice at the University of Delaware.
Dr. Payne completed his doctoral work at the Graduate Center-City
University of New York where he was trained as a social-personality
psychologist. Also, Dr. Payne completed
a postdoctoral fellowship funded by the National Institute of Drug Abuse
(NIH-NIDA) whereby he worked on a re-entry and intervention based research
project in New York City’s largest jail, Rikers Island—a project designed to
reduce: (1) recidivism, (2) drug use, and (3) other risky behavior leading to
HIV/AIDS. </p><p>Dr. Payne's latest Street Participatory Action Research (Street PAR) project is entitled: <em>The People's Report: The Link between Structural Violence and Crime in Wilmington, Delaware.</em> This community-based study trained fifteen people (20-48) formerly involved with <em>The Streets</em>
and/or criminal justice system as participatory action researchers, to
empirically document the impact of community violence in the Eastside
and Southbridge neighborhoods of Wilmington, Delaware. This study was
funded with generous grants issued by the American Recovery Reinvestment
Act, the University of Delaware and The United Way of Delaware. To
learn more about this project please go to: thepeoplesreport.com. </p><p>Dr. Payne also completed a video street ethnographic project in Harlem, NYC entitled: <em>The Streets of Harlem: How Black Men in The Streets Adapt to Structural Violence. </em>
This independent film project explores the lived experiences of street
life oriented Black men, across generations, in Harlem NYC. Topics
include experiences with violence, fatherhood, education, employment,
housing, prison re-entry and experiences with police. Also, this
research documentary captures how Harlem-based street life oriented
Black men, across generations, frame notions of resilience in relation
to structural inequality. This research documentary was released on
Youtube August 2016. </p><p>Furthermore, Dr. Payne has published in a
number of peer reviewed journals which include: Teachers College Record,
Culture Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, Journal of Black
Psychology, Journal of Social Issues and the International Journal of
Critical Psychology. Also, Dr. Payne has worked on several book chapters
looking at notions of resiliency, racial identity, urban education,
Hip-Hop and participatory action research as well as co-authored a book
publication entitled: <em>Echoes of Brown: Youth Documenting and Performing the Legacy of Brown V Board of Education</em> (Teachers College Press, 2004). </p></div> | <div class="ExternalClassCBC50DCD108D440788456419EB6116B7"><p>Dr. Payne has organized a street ethnographic research program centered on exploring notions of resilience and resiliency <em>with</em> <em>The Streets</em> of Black and Brown America using an unconventional methodological framework entitled: <em>Street</em> <em>Participatory Action Research </em>(Street
PAR)—the process of involving street identified Black populations on
the actual research team. Street PAR projects can take on many forms,
but at the very least, they take on the following three features: (1)
research orientation; (2) intervention for Street PAR members; and (3) a
vehicle for action and activism in local communities. </p><p>Challenging the dominant arguments in the literature, Dr. Payne asserts that all of <em>The Streets</em>
of Black and Brown America are in fact, resilient. Also, his research
program focuses on racial identity, street identity, school violence,
physical violence, Gangster Rap music and culture as well as the topic
of street participatory action research.</p></div> | <div class="ExternalClass2A59756C71314EB8983FE82ECEF34A45"><p>Dr. Payne's specialized courses focus on the lived or ethnographic
experiences of street- identified Black and Brown populations.
Specifically, he offers undergraduate (BAMS381) and graduate courses
(BAMS650) on street ethnography. Also, Dr. Payne teaches an
undergraduate course on Gangster Rap Music and Culture (BAMS373) as a
way to compliment his street ethnographic portfolio. Lastly, it should
be noted that several of Dr. Payne's courses draws on core ideologies
and/or theories extending from an Ancient East African worldview. And
in one instance, he teaches a course squarely on this topic (Egypt
BAMS367). </p></div> | | | | Researching Interest | Teaching Interests | | | | | ypayne@udel.edu | https://www.soc.udel.edu/Documents%20Bios%20CVs/yasser-payne.pdf | Payne Ph.D., Yasser | | 302-831-4383 | <img alt="" src="/Images%20Bios/Yasser-Payne.jpeg" style="BORDER:0px solid;" /> | Associate Professor | Joint Appointments: Black American Studies | | | |