Scholarship

	Dr. Sawyer's lived experiences as a Black male, father, mentor, educator, and scholar have played a significant role in determining his academic and research focus.

Although Don is a sociologist, his research and teaching are interdisciplinary and contribute to multiple areas of inquiry. He has accumulated a body of research that focuses on race, social justice, Black and Latino males in urban schools, youth resistance, hip-hop culture, and the reentry experiences of formerly incarcerated individuals.

Selected Academic Work

Hip-Hop and Dismantling the School-To-Prison Pipeline (edited w/ Daniel White Hodge, Anthony J. Nocella II, and Ahmad R. Washington). Peter Lang Publishing, Inc. (2020)

Step Your Game Up: Teaching Sociology through the Art of the Hip-Hop Rap Battle. Humanity & Society, 39(2) 224-235 (2015)

“Hip-Hop, Food Justice, and Environmental Justice” (w/ Anthony J. Nocella II, Priya Parmar, and Michael Cermak) in Addressing Environmental and Food Justice Toward Dismantling the School-To-Prison Pipeline (2017). New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

A Different Kind of Black: Black Males and the Intersection of Gender, Race, and Class at Predominantly White Institutions (w/ Robert T. Palmer-Stephenson) Journal of Progressive Policy & Practice, 2(3) 255-272 (2014)

Informing Higher Education Policy and Practice through Intersectionality (Edited w/ Donald Mitchell, Jr.) Journal of Progressive Policy & Practice, 2(3) 195-293 (2014) [special issue].

“When Keeping It Real Goes Wrong” Enacting Critical Pedagogies of Hip-Hop in Mainstream Schools (w/ Lauren L. Kelly) Journal of the International Association for the Study of Popular Music, 9(2) 6-21 (2019)

Public Sociology and Community Engagement

Reentry Realities

Dr. Sawyer is the Founder of a visual project focusing on formerly incarcerated men in New Haven, CT, using mini-documentaries to disrupt negative perceptions of people reentering society from prison.

#HipHopHeals-HDR

Dr. Sawyer is the Founder/Director of a community-based project using hip-hop, cinematography, photography, and music production to unite Haitian and Dominican youth living in the Dominican Republic.

The Crossroads Collective

Dr. Sawyer is the Founder/Instructor for Hip-Hop program using critical media literacy, creative writing, and performance art with Black and Latino male students at risk of dropping out of high school.

Work With Don

Dr. Sawyer is available for collaborations

Outside of Dr. Sawyer’s inspired work in public schools and the Dominican Republic, he is actively engaged in creating community-centered partnerships devoted to freedom and justice with social collaborators.

Partner