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Martin Paul Smith

Assistant Professor of the Practice of Education
Education Program

Overview


As an Assistant Professor of Education at Duke University, Dr. Martin P. Smith teaches two courses titled, Race, Power and Identity: From Ali to Kaepernick and Education 101: Foundations of American Education. He also serves as Director of Duke’s Secondary Teacher Preparation Program and is the Faculty Director of the DukeEngage Boston Summer Literacy Program. Dr. Smith was first able to fuse his passion for education and sport at the University of California at Berkeley, earning both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education while playing on the basketball team. At Berkeley, he won the 2006 Jake Gimbell Award which honors the student most committed to academic and athletic excellence.

After matriculating at Berkeley, he worked in San Diego’s inner city, teaching geometry at Lincoln High School and adult education at San Diego Community College. He also established the Phil Smith Basketball Camp to honor his late father, NBA All-Star Phil Smith, using basketball as a means to promote academic achievement. In pursuit of his passions, Dr. Smith has traveled extensively, directing basketball clinics in China, the Philippines and Panama. Furthermore, he was the Lead Teacher’s Assistant at the University of Cape Town, South Africa facilitating a course examining the effects of apartheid and American segregation on contemporary Black, urban economic development. He completed his Ph.D. in Cultural Studies in Education at The University of Texas at Austin. He then conducted post-doctoral research in Spanish at UT’s Mesoamerica Center in Antigua, Guatemala, studying the amalgamation of race, culture, education and athletics. His work has been published in the Journal of Urban Education and The Journal of Race, Gender and Class.

Current Appointments & Affiliations


Assistant Professor of the Practice of Education · 2016 - Present Education Program, Education

In the News


Published April 28, 2022
Black in Blue: Race and Sports at Duke and Beyond
Published October 6, 2021
‘Truth is a Linguistic Question’: Five Scholars on Fraught Questions of Language Discrimination
Published November 9, 2020
In One Semester, A Lifetime of Stress: Finding Purpose During the Pandemic

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Recent Publications


Black Male Brilliance as (Ill)Legible: Challenging and Changing Societal and Educational Narratives

Journal Article Urban Education · October 1, 2024 In this study, we examine how race and racism impact the schooling of African American males by analyzing the first-person perspective of hip-hop superstar, Nasir “Nas” Jones. We selected Nas due to his unique yet prevalent educational trajectory and persp ... Full text Cite

The Misintegration of the Negro: A Historical Analysis of Black Male Habitus in Sport and Schooling

Journal Article Urban Education · July 1, 2017 Drawing from the lenses of critical race theory (CRT) and Pierre Bourdieu’s notion of habitus, this article compares the Jackie Robinson story with the Brown versus Board of Education narrative. This juxtaposition illustrates the similarities of these narr ... Full text Cite

The mis-education of the African American student-athlete

Journal Article Kinesiology Review · February 1, 2017 The African American male student-athlete occupies one of the most peculiar positions in American society. While lauded for their sport performance, they are often viewed as problematic in the broader society. While their performance generates millions of ... Full text Cite
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Education, Training & Certifications


University of Texas, Austin · 2015 Ph.D.