Directory

Lyssa Palu-ay is the Dean of the Office of Justice, Equity and Transformation (JET). JET is focused on achieving systemic equity related to access, opportunity and dignity at MassArt through the areas of transformative learning and teaching, pathways to art and design education, and retention and mentoring. Lyssa is an alumna of MassArt and a well-established member of the campus community. She is a full Professor and has served on the Studio Foundation faculty since 2001, and in 2001 assumed leadership of the Boston Public Schools mentoring program, which later became the Academic Compass Mentoring Program. Her scholarship and research interests include the history of institutes of art and design, critical race theory, and experiences of students of color in art and design education.

Industry Experience

Selected Presentations

• 2019 – Making and Re-Making Our Work with Inclusive Pedagogy: Notes from Our Practice, AICAD Symposium, Otis College, Los Angeles, CA
• 2019 – How Research Can Inform Equitable, Culturally Sustaining Curricula and Pedagogy: Two Studies Grounded in Critical Race Theory, Power and Place, Valuing Cultural Wealth to Advance Equity in Higher Education, Bunker Hill Community College, Boston, MA
• 2019 – Align Your Vision with Your Voice: Caring for Self, Caring for the Collective, Women of Color in the Academy, Northeastern University, Boston, MA
• 2018 – Engaged Pedagogy: Moving Towards More Dynamic, Equitable, and Inclusive Classroom Practices in Art College, Race and Pedagogy Institute, University of Puget Sound, Tacoma, WA
• 2018 – Catalyzing Change: Anti-Racism Efforts at a Public Art College, Race and Pedagogy Institute, University of Puget Sound, Tacoma, WA
• 2017 – Building Bridges of Intellectual Support Across Writing and Art, Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design (AICAD), Brooklyn, NY
• 2017 – Portraiture of Racial, Ethnic and Cultural Identity Among Students of Color at an Institute of Art and Design: A Post-Colonial Critical Race Theory Study, UMass Boston Higher Education Administration All Cohort Retreat, Boston, MA
• 2015 – Exploring Posthumanism in Higher Education: Methods, Contexts, and Implications, Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE), Inequality in Higher Education, Denver, CO

Publications

• 2019 – “Reclaiming the Archives: White Supremacy and Testimonials of Resistance in an Art & Design College.” Journal of Cultural Research in Art Education, 36. Beth Balliro and Lyssa Palu-ay
• 2017 – The Main Review, Port Clyde, ME
• 2016 – “Portraiture of Racial/Ethnic and Cultural Identity Among Students of Color at an Institute of Art and Design: A Post-Colonial and Critical Race Theory Study,” Proquest (2016): 1-207 Lyssa Palu-ay
• 2015 – “You don’t look like your profile picture”: the ethical implications of researching online identities in higher education, Special Issue Ethical Issues in Online Research, Educational Research and Evaluation, Volume 21, no. 2

  Gerardo Blanco Ramirez and Lyssa Palu-ay