Crystal Chen Lee

Photo of Crystal Chen Lee
Asst Professor
cchen32@ncsu.edu

About Crystal

Crystal Chen Lee, Ed.D., is an assistant professor of English language arts and literacy in the College of Education at North Carolina State University. Her research lies at the nexus of literacy, teacher education, community engagement and marginalized youth. She is the founding director and PI of the Literacy and Community Initiative (LCI), a collaboration among the College of Education, the Friday Institute for Educational Innovation and youth-serving community organizations (Juntos NC, Triangle Literacy Council—Bull City YouthBuild, CORRAL Riding Academy,and Refugee Hope Partners). Dr. Lee also has two appointments as a faculty fellow of the Friday Institute of Educational Innovation and an NCSU Community Engaged Fellow. Her work has been featured nationally and internationally, and she has published in books and journal articles such as Reading Research Quarterly, Journal of Literacy Research, Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, English Journal, English Teaching: Practice and Critique, Teaching and Teacher Education, and the International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education. Dr. Lee began her teaching experience as a high school English teacher in New Jersey and a literacy instructor at Teachers College, Columbia University and Montclair State University. In addition to her teaching, she has also served as an International Leadership Civic Fellow in the United States Congress and an education intern at International Justice Mission, a global non-profit organization partnering with local justice systems to end violence against people living in poverty. She received her Ed.D. in Curriculum and Teaching from Columbia University. Her dissertation, “Critical Literacy as Common Ground: The Possibilities of African Immigrant Girls in New York City Schools and Community-Based Organizations,” received the AERA Research in Women and Education SIG Outstanding Dissertation Award (Selma Greenberg Award), the American Association of University Women (AAUW) American Dissertation Fellowship, Teachers College’s Provost Dissertation Award and Dean’s Dissertation Fellowship.