Community Programming
Annual Public Lecture
Each year the Center hosts a public address to the university and the greater Chicago community presented by a distinguished scholar, activist, or artist known for his or her contribution to intellectual discourse around issues of race and ethnicity. The guest speaker also leads a smaller workshop with community activists, faculty, and students.
Chicago Artist/Activist-in Residence Fellow
Each year a Chicagoan who has produced either a body of path-breaking and inspiring art or a record of distinguished activism on issues of concern to the Center will be awarded a resident fellowship at the Center for the academic year. The Chicago Fellow will be provided a stipend, research budget, office space, computer, and administrative assistance to support their work. The Chicago Fellow will be expected to participate in Center programs as well as provide a minimal level of teaching in the College. Click here for more information on the fellowship.
Policy Mini-Conferences
An annual grant will be provided to faculty affiliates to support a mini-conference on a specific policy issue. These small conferences are meant to bring together academics, policy-makers and community organizers from across the country around specific policy issues with the hope of initiating important discussions and collaborative efforts that might be sustained over an extended period. Click here for information on upcoming and past conferences.
Race and Human Rights Forum
Each spring the Center, along with the Human Rights Program at the University of Chicago, sponsors a forum for exploring issues of race, ethnicity, and human rights. The forum highlights the work of scholars and activists who use the framework of international human rights to understand and address social issues, especially those dealing with race and racism, in new and innovative ways.
Upward Bound Lecture Series
The Center is sponsoring a series of lectures presented by faculty of color to high school students participating in Upward Bound Programs at the University of Chicago and Chicago State University. The goal of the program is to introduce young people of color to the academy through the work of faculty of color. Each month a different faculty member will present their work and engage students in a discussion about their research. Ten days prior to the meeting students will be given a short article by the faculty member who is scheduled to give the lecture and lead the discussion. Staff of the Upward Bound Program will review the major themes in the work prior to the discussion with the faculty members so that students will feel more confident in their discussion of the material.
Cultural Programming
The Center supports and sponsors a number of events geared towards promoting an investigation of the ties between race, ethnicity and culture. Past programs include Trading Fours: Jazz and Its Milieu, a two-day conference; the Race Film Group, which organizes an annual film series open to the public that focuses on the work of specific actors and directors; a reading by Regina Harris and Angela Jackson through Poem Present, a poetry reading series; screenings of “Sisters in Cinema,” a documentary by Yvonne Welbon on the history of African American Women Feature Filmmakers, and “NO!,” a documentary by Aishah Shahidah Simmons on sexual violence in African American communities; and Addressing Difference: Teen Programs in Art Museums and Contemporary Art Institutions, a panel discussion that explored how museum programs for teenagers are shaped by the race, class, gender and educational background of participants co-sponsored with The Smart Museum of Art at the University of Chicago.
Current Issue Programming
Periodically the Center sponsors programs that focus on issues for which we believe there is a need for informed deliberation. Affirmative Action and Beyond: A Roundtable Discussion is an example of this. This roundtable discussion which took place while the Michigan Case was before the Supreme Court included experts from the fields of law, political science and history. During the 2003-2004 academic year we will sponsor programs that commemorate two historically significant events by investigating their legacies and evaluating their impact on contemporary race relations and racial and ethnic politics. The events are the 1983 election of Harold Washington as the first Black mayor of Chicago and the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision.
