Celebrating the Life of Professor Garrett Albert Duncan  

Dr. Garrett Albert Duncan, associate professor of African & African American Studies and Education at Washington University in St. Louis, passed on December 8, 2020, at age 59.  

Garrett Duncan was a prominent researcher on race and educational theory and director of the “Schooling as a Moral Enterprise” project at Washington University.  He joined the AME in 1997 and presented an engaging paper at the Atlanta conference on “The Play of Voices,” which shed light on the construction of the self and morality among Black adolescents.  He presented other papers at subsequent AME conferences, published an article on race and human rights violations in the Journal of Moral Education in 2000, was elected to the AME Board in 2004, and served as the AME’s Treasurer from 2004 to 2009.  At each annual meeting, his treasurer’s style was to write the checks, intended to cover a portion of the travel expenses of each AME Board Member, right on the spot in full view of all.  No one before or after him knew how to be the AME’s banker with such panache. 

Being a tall, muscular man who dressed sharply, Garrett attracted attention.  I remember walking with him through an urban neighborhood and watching a spontaneous entourage of teenagers develop and follow us.  Garrett flashed them a warm smile and greeted them like they were old friends.  Garrett was good with youth, and his community outreach included mentoring students for the St. Louis schools. 

Dr. Garrett Duncan lives on through his students and publications.  To support his dedication to youth and urban education, you may donate in his name to the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Saint Louis (https://www.bgcstl.org).  To peruse his publications, the following are among his most popular: 

Duncan, G. A. (2000). Urban pedagogies and the celling of adolescents of color. Social Justice, 27(3), 29-42. 

Duncan, G.A. (2002). Beyond Love: A Critical Race Ethnography of the Schooling of Adolescent Black Males, Equity & Excellence in Education, 35(2), 131-143.   

Duncan, G.A. (2004). The play of voices: Black adolescents constituting the self and morality. In V. Siddle-Walker & J. Snarey (Eds), Racing moral formation: African‐American voices on care, justice, and moral education (pp. 38-54). New York: Teachers College Press. 

Duncan, G.A. (2005). Critical race ethnography in education: Narrative, inequality and the problem of epistemology, Race Ethnicity and Education,8(1), 93-114.   

--John R Snarey, AME Archivist