Biography
Kinyel K. Ragland, Sr. is a PhD candidate in the Social Inequalities track. His research interests and areas of specialization include race, politics, education, music, culture and non-profit organizations and leadership. His research primarily consists of understanding inequalities within the frameworks of race and social class, as well as exploring new means through technology to educating students in higher education.
His academic training began at Brooklyn College where he earned a BA in Political Science and Master’s in Urban Policy and Public Administration.
Kinyel also teaches courses in the discipline of political science and by utilizing the teaching philosophy of social reconstructivism, his teaching techniques and practices emphasize exposing students to political and social issues, concurrently encouraging students to advocate for social change. His immediate and long-term goals are to continue teaching political science and sociology courses and to continue engaging in research within the aforementioned areas. His dissertation is based on the connection of the music of John Coltrane to the civil rights movement, while utilizing a short documentary on Coltrane as a tool to teach about systemic racism.