Bio
Dr. Gerrelyn Patterson earned a B.A. in English Literature from NC Central University, M.Ed. in English Education from the University of Virginia, and Ph.D. in Curriculum, Culture and Change from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She has more than 20 years of P-12 and post-secondary experience as a literature and composition instructor and teacher educator. She serves as the Chair of the Department of Educator Preparation as the chief academic and administrative leader of the largest unit in the College of Education. Her research involves documenting school desegregation in North Carolina and using service learning pedagogy to prepare culturally responsive teachers. She also serves on an Advisory Board for the National Museum of African American History and Culture at the Smithsonian Museum, is a Duke University Mellon Sawyer Fellow, and was nominated as a finalist for Outstanding Contributions to Teacher Education by the NC Association of College Teacher Educators.
Research Interests
Dr. Patterson's research utilizes the lens of HBCUs a historical models of service learning and how they provide contest on the effective preparation of preservice teachers to work in diverse cultural contexts.
