Center Events Archive
The Center on Democracy in a Multiracial Society Events & Lectures from Fall 2003 to present
Race, Diversity, & Campus Climate
April 10, 2008; Illini Union
Race, Diversity, and Campus Climate is the focus of a major conference to be held April 10, 2008 at the Illini Union on the University of Illinois Urbana- Champaign campus. This conference builds on and extends the theme of the inaugural conference held in 2006 which focused on “Documenting the Differences Racial and Ethnic Diversity Makes: Uncovering, Discussing, and Transforming the University”. The goal of the Race, Diversity, and Campus Climate conference is to present information the University of Illinois and similar universities can use to make the campus more diverse and inclusive. We are particularly interested in issues related to campus climate and diversity scholarship. This year’s theme can be in interpreted in a number of ways, but must focus on forms of inquiry that impact research and practice in higher education, while advancing the commitment to the practice of democracy and equality within a changing multiracial U.S. society.
The HistoryMakers
Feb 21, 2007; 6:00 p.m.; Douglass Branch of the Champaign Library
Even though African Americans have made significant contributions to American life, society and culture, the world is still largely unaware of these contributions as well as the many personal stories of African American contributors. The HistoryMakers goal is to change this. The HistoryMakers provides living proof that African American history did not begin or end with the civil rights movement, that The HistoryMakers number in the thousands and that their names are not just Harriet Tubman, W.E.B. DuBois, Martin Luther King, Jr. and Ella Fitzgerald. The goal of The HistoryMakers is to complete 5,000 interviews of both well-known and unsung African American HistoryMakers, creating an archive of unparalleled importance and exposing the archival collection to the widest audience possible. Not since the recording of former slaves during the WPA Movement of the 1930s (1936-1938), when teams of writers/researchers were sent throughout the South resulting in approximately 2,300 mostly hand-recorded interviews, has there been a methodic and wide-scale attempt to capture the testimonies of African Americans. Join us for a video screening of The HistoryMakers and a discussion about those deemed to be history makers, their voices, faces, and lessons. For more information about The HistoryMakers project, visit http://www.thehistorymakers.com/ This event is free and open to the public.
Rethinking the Languages of Racism
March-April 2007
While rooted in the brutal history of the country, today the media, popular culture, legal systems, university curricula and graduation requirements, the corporatization of the public university, and the market-driven commercialization of knowledge re-invent and reinforce languages of racism in ways that obstruct a free exchange of language and ideas. During the last forty-five years, scholars concerned with the operations of power—how it is constructed, what its effects are, how it changes—have persuasively made this case. Yet, their efforts also have been attacked, trivialized, marginalized, and misrepresented. Thus a fundamental purpose for the “Rethinking the Languages of Racism” series is to challenge long-established ways of talking, thinking, and writing about racialized minorities in the U.S.; but it also creates possibilities for imagining radical redistributions of power and privilege—in politics and in culture—as it looks forward to the history of racism in the United States and on campus.
For a complete listing of "Rethinking" events online, here: www.uiuc.edu/goto/rethinking
To view the "Rethinking" publicity flyer, click here.
Co-sponsored by the African American Studies and Research Program, American Indian Studies Program, Asian American Cultural Center, Asian American Studies, the Center on Democracy in a Multiracial Society, Gender and Women's Studies, Intersections Living Learning Community/University Housing, La Casa Cultural Latina, Latina/o Studies Program, and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Resources
Critical Whiteness Interest Group and the University of Illinois Panhellenic Council present
Taking Critical Race Theory and
Critical Whiteness Studies to the Public
Robert Jensen
Professor, University of Texas–Austin
December 1, 2006; 3:00 p.m., 1541 Wohlers
This event will offer a synthesis of emerging scholarship in critical race theory and critical whiteness studies, with emphasis on the practical application of such work. Robert Jensen, University of Texas at Austin journalism professor, authored numerous articles and publications on institutional racism and white privilege. His most recent publications include: “Ghetto Fabulous” Parties: the New Face of White Supremacy, Racism and Cheap Thrills (CounterPunch, October 16, 2006) and The Heart of Whiteness: Confronting Race, Racism, and White Privilege (City Lights, 2005). Following his talk, Jensen joins a panel discussion, moderated by Helen Neville (Educational Psychology and African American Studies), with UIUC scholars Norman Denzin (Communications Research), Colin Flint (Geography), Lisa Nakamura (Speech Communication and Asian American Studies), and Laurence Parker (Educational Policy Studies) to discuss the application of critical race theory and critical whiteness studies in daily life
Multicultural Youth Conference
October 25, 2006; 6:00-9:00 p.m., Illinois Terminal building, 45 E. University Ave. , Champaign
Students in grades 7-12 who are thinking about college – especially low-income or minority students, or those who would be first-generation college students – are invited to attend the third annual Multicultural Youth Conference on Oct. 25, sponsored by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Parents and families also are welcome at the event.
The aim of the conference is to provide local students, from grades seven through 12, with information and encouragement in preparing for higher education. Students and families attending the conference will be able to ask questions about the college admissions process, financial aid, how to select a college major or career, and support services for students from underrepresented groups. They also will have the opportunity to meet with representatives from Eastern Illinois University , Illinois State University, Parkland College and the University of Illinois .
To register or to volunteer to help with the conference, or for additional information, contact the Center on Democracy in a Multiracial Society at (217) 244-0188 or cdms@uiuc.edu. Pre-registration is encouraged, although participants also can register at the event.
African Americans and Latinas/Latinos: Eliminating Barriers to Coalition Building
August 23, 2006 ; 7:00 pm; Douglass Community Center, 510 E. Grove Street
This community dialogue program extends the May 2006, Brothers United "Making the Connection: Renewing the Family, Community and School Connection" conference.
Samuel Betances addresses comparative forms of racialization and explores the striking similarities and differences between African Americans and Latinas/Latinos. He also explores the prospects and obstacles for creating alliances and coalition-building between and among racial(ized) minorities in contemporary U.S. society.
About Samuel Betances:
Dr. Samuel Betances is a Professor of Sociology at Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago where he has taught undergraduate and graduate students for the past eighteen years. He earned his Masters and Doctorate at Harvard University. He has lectured and published extensively in areas related to diversity, social change, gender and race relations, demographic changes, and the impact of the global economy on group relations in the U.S. This bilingual, bicultural man regularly consults with city officials, educational policy makers, community leaders and business managers. He also has a distinguished record as a motivational keynote speaker and consultant with such major fortune 500 companies as AT&T, XEROX, McDonalds, Merrill Lynch, and Coca-Cola USA.Child care and translators will be providedCo-sponsors: Brother United Network at Parkland College, Unit 4 Schools, the Urban League's Center for Civic Engagement and Social Justice, La Casa Cultural Latina, College of Education, Office of the Provost, African American Studies and Research Program, Latina/o Studies Program, Office of the Chancellor, and Education Career Services Office.
CDMS Fellows Symposium
May 2, 2006; 10:00 a.m.; 314 A Illini Union
Moderators:
- Sundiata Cha-Jua, African American Studies and Research Program
- Daria Roithmayr, College of Law
- Helena Worthen, Labor and Industrial Relations
This day long symposium showcases the 2005-2006 CDMS fellows and the scholarship they have developed over the course of the fellowship year. Topics focus on the central parts of the CDMS mission, but vary depending on fellows research interests. The papers will be organized around three structured themes: they are democratic visions of a nation, democratic citizenship, and educational democracy.
Docmenting the Differences Racial and Ethnic Diversity Makes
April 21, 2006; Levis Faculty
Center Although the affirmative action cases of Gratz and Grutter limited the formulaic use of race in college admissions decisions, the University of Michigan’s core argument prevailed. As a result, colleges and universities may implement affirmative action policies in which race is used as a factor in admissions decisions to create a diverse environment that leads to positive educational outcomes. The task of documenting these positive educational outcomes entails attending to various elements of the organization, including campus climate, leadership, interaction dynamics, curriculum, and other aspects of the environment. Given the complex nature of campus environments, uncovering evidence that demonstrates the contributions of racial/ethnic diversity or the differences that diversity makes is not an easy task. However, there is a growing body of literature that points to the significance of and need for racial diversity on college campuses to affect educational outcomes, curriculum, and racial attitudes and behaviors of students. These changes can ultimately transform predominately white institutions into increasingly inclusive environments that promote a culture and climate that prepare students to live and work productively in a multiracial democracy.
Knowing the positive impact that racial/ethnic diversity can make on college campuses, the aim of the Documenting the Differences Diversity Makes project was to document empirical evidence of diversity’s benefits. The project examined a new collaborative effort between five program initiatives that address four aspects of the campus environment—teaching, research, leadership, and student life. Although both quantitative and qualitative data were collected, the overall research design was that of a case study, using as a guiding framework Hurtado, Milem, Clayton-Pedersen, and Allen’s (1998) four dimensions of campus climate: historical legacy of inclusion/exclusion, structural diversity, perceptions of diversity, and behavioral dynamics.
Given the overarching case study design, the Documenting the Differences Diversity Makes Ford Foundation project at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) was a multifaceted project examining how racial/ethnic diversity influences or aspects aspects of the University of Illinois community. As such, the project sought to achieve the following objectives:
- Develop a preliminary diversity model;
- Transform teaching and the curriculum;Establish a Web-based archive; and
- Examine students' beliefs and attitudes regarding diversity.
Prisoner's Art Festival
Friday, 21 April, from 8:00 p.m. -late, at OPENSOURCE(12 E. Washington, Champaign; www.opensource.boxwith.com), Prison Arts Festival Opening and Party. OPENSOURCE will host a traveling collection of prisoner art collected by the Prison Creative Arts Project (PCAP) of Ann Arbor, Michigan. Art made by Illinois prisoners, and collected by Sandra Ahten of the Champaign-Urbana Books 2 Prisoners Program, will also be displayed. Opening comments by Tim Green from OPENSOURCE and Buzz Alexander from PCAP will be followed by wine, cheese, and, later, dancing to the rockin' tracks spun by UC Hip-Hop. Come and see the art, meet fellow activists, and dance the night away!
Prison art offers viewers opportunities for recognizing the humanity of men and women whom the prison-industrial complex would like you to believe are monsters. Moving from comedy to tragedy, from self portraits to nature drawings, from realism to fantasy, the prison arts on display will enlighten and empower viewers, hopefully motivating them to begin seeking alternatives to massive incarceration.
Saturday, 22 April, from Noon-to-2:00, at Boardman's Art Theatre (126 West Church, downtown Champaign): screening of What We Leave Behind: a remarkable documentary produced by the Beyondmedia collective from Chicago, What We Leave Behind was written, filmed, and edited by formerly incarcerated women to portray how the prison-industrial complex destroys families. After the screening, join in a discussion about the hardships of living life on the edge of poverty and the particular difficulties faced by women trying to raise families, hold down jobs, and rebuild lives shattered by crime, violence, and imprisonment.
Saturday, 22 April, from 2:30-4:00, at OPENSOURCE (12 E. Washington, Champaign; www.opensource.boxwith.com), How to Fight The Prison Industrial Complex. A roundtable discussion on strategies for advocating for social justice, featuring:
- William Patterson, U. of I. African American Studies, hosting.
- Judith Tannenbaum (Bay Area activist) on teaching political poetry in prisons.
- Edward Hinck (Central Michigan State U.) on teaching debate skills in prisons.
- Sandra Ahten (Books 2 Prisoners) on winning grassroots strategies.
- Cherrie Green (Critical Resistance) on mobilizing youth for justice.
- Andrea Brandon (Students for Sensible Drug Policy) on sane drug policies.
- John Howard Association representative on monitoring prisons.
- Carol Aamons (C-U Citizens for Peace and Justice) on fighting racism.
Get involved! Each of these speakers represents a group or movement desperately in need of your assistance, so come to this session prepared to join the fight against the prison-industrial complex.
Saturday 22 April, from 7:30-9:00, at OPENSOURCE (12 E. Washington, Champaign; www.opensource.boxwith.com), Slam Jam Romp Stomp II. As our capstone event to the First Annual Prison Arts Festival, join us for a raucous evening of prison-based poetry. Poems by Illinois prisoners will be read by Aaron Aamons of Champaign-Urbana's Citizens for Peace and Justice; poems by Michigan prisoners will be read by Janie Paul of PCAP; poems by California prisoners will be read by Judith Tannenbaum; and poems in honor of her students on Rikers Island will be read by Tori Samartino, the founder of Voices Unbroken. Come prepared to be enlightened and empowered by the voices of folks the prison-industrial-complex wants silenced!
Imagining Bodies
Visions of the Nation through Race, Gender, and Space
Mar 15, 2006 - Mar 16, 2006
Like being "fixed by a dye" is how Frantz Fanon described the working of racial knowing and subject making in everyday being. He was concerned with how racialization reduces to the "epidermal schema" or the surface inscription of skin color, naturalized ideas of culture and civilization. How our nation sees itself, how it imagines the national body, has always been complicated by social and cultural contestation. Many scholars have reflected on the racing, gendering, sexualizing, and classing of the American national body and efforts to create counter images to those that have been dominant. Although these struggles over signification appear to occur in the rarified realm of cultural production, it has become increasingly clear to all Americans that our imaginings of national self have produced very concrete and material results. For example, we have become targets in ways we didn't before imagine, or we have experiences of the suffering of fellow citizens that vary with our sense of their difference. Considering how the nation sees itself already signals our engaging in signifying practice in the context of what Gilian Rose calls the scopic regime, the set of logics that inform both how we see, and what social and cultural sense we make of what we see. This symposium brings together scholars concerned with the logics of seeing and the social ramifications of the working of those logics; that is, their material effects. From cinema to photography to art and political production, the scholars who gather for this symposium will engage the intertextual spaces of the visual as they consider how the national body is fixed through a raced and gendered visual culture.Like being "fixed by a dye" is how Frantz Fanon described the working of racial knowing and subject making in everyday being. He was concerned with how racialization reduces to the "epidermal schema" or the surface inscription of skin color, naturalized ideas of culture and civilization. How our nation sees itself, how it imagines the national body, has always been complicated by social and cultural contestation. Many scholars have reflected on the racing, gendering, sexualizing, and classing of the American national body and efforts to create counter images to those that have been dominant. Although these struggles over signification appear to occur in the rarified realm of cultural production, it has become increasingly clear to all Americans that our imaginings of national self have produced very concrete and material results. For example, we have become targets in ways we didn't before imagine, or we have experiences of the suffering of fellow citizens that vary with our sense of their difference. Considering how the nation sees itself already signals our engaging in signifying practice in the context of what Gilian Rose calls the scopic regime, the set of logics that inform both how we see, and what social and cultural sense we make of what we see. This symposium brings together scholars concerned with the logics of seeing and the social ramifications of the working of those logics; that is, their material effects. From cinema to photography to art and political production, the scholars who gather for this symposium will engage the intertextual spaces of the visual as they consider how the national body is fixed through a raced and gendered visual culture.
"Sexuality and Democracy in a Multiracial Society"
Part 2
A panel discussion organized by
Center on Democracy in a Multiracial Society
February 8, 2006; 8:00 p.m.; 3rd Floor Levis Faculty
In contemporary discussions of democracy within a multiracial society, sexuality is often bracketed, or not discussed at all. This panel aims to unpack issues relating to sexuality, race, and democracy by asking such questions as: How do we talk about democracy in a diverse sexual and racial social context? How do issues of class and race relate to queer, gay, gendered, and transgendered identities and issues? What stake do queers of color have in defining democracy when heteronormative discussions of racism predominate? By addressing the interrelationships of sexuality,race, and democracy, a stronger understanding of how democracy is shaped within multiracial contexts is possible.
"Whispering Black: Code Talk for Whites"
January 24, 2006, 7:00 p.m. Foellinger Auditorium
In "Whispering Black," Molly Secours addresses the hushed tones often used by those classified as white whenever referring to race. She also illustrates how avoiding meaningful racial discussions only furthers the divide between whites and non-whites- thereby maintaining the benefits of "white privilege" and the injustices of white supremacy.By honestly examining our thoughts, behaviors, and history regarding race, Secours excavates the origins of our biases and deepens our understanding so that we can more consciously change our actions and strengthen our commitment to social justice.
Welcome!
Multicultural Youth Conference 2005
“Just as we thirst for water, we should also thirst for knowledge”
Haz click para Español
On November 18th, 2005, the University of Illinois will be hosting the second annual Multicultural Youth Conference organized by a committee of UIUC students, staff, and administrators. Over two hundred 7-12th grade students of color as well as first generation and lower income students from the Champaign and Urbana communities will be participating in this conference. The purpose of the Multicultural Youth Conference is to provide students with the tools to be better informed and prepared about the higher education system.
"Sexuality and Democracy in a Multiracial Society"
a panel discussion organized by
Center on Democracy in a Multiracial Society
November 2, 2005; 7:00 p.m.; 3rd Floor Levis Faculty
In contemporary discussions of democracy within a multiracialsociety, sexuality is often bracketed, or not discussed at all.This panel aims to unpack issues relating to sexuality, race, anddemocracy by asking such questions as: How do we talk about democracyin a diverse sexual and racial social context? How do issues ofclass and race relate to queer, gay, gendered, and transgenderedidentities and issues? What stake do queers of color have indefining democracy when heteronormative discussions of racismpredominate? By addressing the interrelationships of sexuality,race, and democracy, a stronger understanding of how democracy isshaped within multiracial contexts is possible.
February 3-5, 2005
CDMS will co-sponsor the Asian Americans & the Law Conference which is to be held at the College of Law Building
The conference features 13 academic panels comprised of 35 scholars from the United States and abroad who are experts on Asian Americans and the law. It highlights the newest cutting-edge work being done in the field of Asian American law and legal studies, ranging from critical race theory, immigration law and history, transnational and comparative legal scholarship, affirmative action, bilingual education, and race and ethnic relations.
One goal of the conference, which is being generally supported by a College of Liberal Arts and Sciences State of the Art Conference Grant, is to cull together excellent research being done at the intersection of Asian American Studies and Law. The three-day event will bring scholars together to discuss this exciting area of exploration and will begin a broad conversation across the humanities, social sciences, and law.
Additionally, this is an opportunity for the College of Law and the Asian American Studies Program to collaborate on a project and to draw attention to the importance of this area of research, teaching, and scholarly focus. Fellow scholars in the Midwest region are especially encouraged to join us for what promises to be an eventful and signature event. We hope the conference will advance possibilities for collaborative research and generate a quality publication effort.
For more detailed information, please visit the following link:
http://www.law.uiuc.edu/conferences/aalaw/index.asp
December 2-4, 2004
Beyond a Boundary: Area, Ethnic/Race and Gender Studies and the “New” Global Imperative
The Center for African Studies and the Center on Democracy in a Multiracial Society, with the assistance and support of the area, ethnic and gender studies programs at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, is organizing a symposium that will investigate the intersections among area, ethnic and gender studies programs in light of the “new” global imperative on university campuses across the country. Our primary concern is to explore the extent to which our multi-disciplines have been engaged in global practice, including the theorization of the “global,” and to consider the ramifications – practical, theoretical and structural – of emphasizing the global, transnational and hybrid over the national, regional, local and subaltern.
The symposium will be structured around both individual papers that highlight cutting edge scholarship across area, ethnicity/race and gender and roundtables of leading scholars whose work addresses the following:
-
Where is the United States in the global? How do area, ethnic/race and gender studies address questions of US hegemony? What are the implications for how universities are structured?
-
What has been the impact of the new global imperative on area, ethnic/race, and gender studies programs? Have those programs been enhanced by this imperative? Or have they been subsumed by or set up in opposition to “the global” in the academy? What are the implications of privileging the “hybrid” or the “transnational” over the “local” or the “subaltern?”
-
Should initiatives for enhancing domestic diversity content and international content be counter-posed as areas of knowledge? If so, why? If not, what are the ways forward? Do the “dark days of empire,” as Neil Smith has termed them, create new possibilities?
October 18-22, 2004
CDMS will cosponsor a visit by
Tariq Ali
MillerComm lectuer and Guest in Residence at Union One.
Mr. Ali will give a lecture on Wednesday, October 20 at 4 p.m. for the LAS Global Studies Initiative in Foellinger Auditorium. He will then give his MillerComm Lecture on Thursday, October 21 at 4:00 p.m. in the Knight Auditorium, Spurlock Museum.
September 30, 2004
2-6 p.m. - 210 Illini Union
CDMS will cosponsor a Current Affairs Forum entitled:
"Communities and Conflicts in Central Asia and the Caucasus"
Organized by the Russian, East Euyropean, and Eurasian Centers
September 18, 2004
“Embracing Our Youth with Education and Diversity”
For 7th-12th Graders - Lunch will be provided!
Please Register Early!
How to register:
Just complete the student and parent section of the application and mail it to the following address by September 1, 2004! Space is limited. Annel D. Medina360 Education Building1310 S. Sixth St. Champaign, IL 61820
Multicultural Youth Conference 2004 Committee Members:
Annel D. Medina, M.A., Chair, Educational Policy Studies, Jerrell Beckham, M.A., Educational Policy Studies, Grace Casillas, Office of Minority Students Affairs, Gabriel Cortez, Educational Policy Studies, Shawn Lampkins, Center for African Studies, & Educational Psychology, Myrian Luis, Educational Policy Studies, Anne Martinez, PhD., History and Latino/a Studies, Manuel Rodriguez, Business and Latino/a Studies, Roy Saldaña, Jr., Office of Minority Student Affairs
This event was made possible by the generous support from the following units on campus:
Office of the Provost, College of Business, College of Fine and Applied Arts, College of Medicine, Educational Policy Studies, Gender and Women’s Studies Program, Latino/a Studies Program, Mechanical & Industrial Engineering, Psychology, Cell & Structural Biology, Center on Democracy in a Multiracial Society, Illinois International High School, Illinois CIBER, Office of Continuing Education, U of I Extension, Women & Gender in Global Perspectives Program, Afro-American Cultural Program, Anthropology, C & I Committee, Campus Honors Program, and Center for Writing Studies
The University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign Multicultural Youth Conference is a one-day event made up of small sessions designed to get you thinking about your education beyond high school. It will include information sessions about the admissions and college application process and the procedures of applying for financial aid. It will also include sessions on self-empowerment and cultural awareness. A college education is not something to put off thinking about till you’re a senior in high school. It’s really something you should start thinking about and planning for in middle school. Many students don’t plan for it, because they think they can’t afford a college education. Some students put it off, because they don’t have someone to answer their questions. And others still don’t know if “college is for them.” If any of these describe how you feel, this conference is for YOU.
September 9, 2004
CDMS cosponsors the CAS/MillerComm lecture by
Elizabeth Grosz
entitled:
"Kinsey and the Future of Female Sexuality"
Will be held Thursday, September 9 at 7:30 p.m. in the Knight Auditorium, Spurlock Museum.
September 8, 2004 at 5:30 p.m. to be held at the Krannert Art Museum.
CDMS will cosponsor a public screening of the documentary entitled
"Afropunk."
There will be a panel discussion after the film. Frances Gateward (Comparative Literature-UIUC) is moderating, and the panelists are the director James Spooner, Fanon Wilkins from History, and Stacy Thompson, a professor of English and Cultural Studies from the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire. Professor Thompson is the author of Punk Productions: Unfinished Business, Albany: SUNY Press, 2004.
For information on the documentary, please visit the following link:
Tuesday, April 20, 2004 at 4 p.m. in 192 Lincoln Hall
Final Lecturer for this semester.
Implementing Brown v. Board?:
Vocational Education and Racial Privilege in St. Louis’ Building Trades
Dr. Deborah J. Henry
University of Missouri-St. Louis
Scholarship concerned with segregated education and the implementation of Brown v. Board rarely includes a specific examination of vocational education offered at segregated technical high schools. Prior to Brown v. Board, and in the immediate years thereafter, only St. Louis’ white technical high school offered a developed educational program in the skilled building trades. An analysis of the racially segregated vocational education program in the St. Louis Public Schools has been neglected in the current debates around why there is a dearth of African American workers entering and remaining in St. Louis’ building trades. To more fully comprehend the depth of this reality and to begin crafting sustainable solutions to the shortage of African American workers in the building trades, two major factors must be considered; first, the historical role of racial privilege in St. Louis’ segregated vocational education program and second, the opening of the St. Louis Construction Training School in 1966.
April 12-14, 2004
Professor Joe Feagin
visits
Organized by Professor Bernice McNair Barnett. Please contact Professor Barnett at bmbarnet@uiuc.edu or by phone at 217-333-7658
Friday & Saturday, March 5 & 6, 2004
Constructing Race: The Built Environment, Minoritization, and Racism in the United States
Organized by Dianne Harris, Professor of Landscape Architecture and Karen Rodriguez'G, CDMS
Sponsored by the Center on Democracy in a Multiracial Society
Co-sponsored by the Department of Landscape Architecture, and the College of Fine and Applied Arts, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Location: Levis Faculty Center
This Conference is free and open to the public
In a recent publication, historian David Roediger asked “What is the whitest building in the United States?” Referring to racial privilege rather than to the actual color of the architecture, Roediger’s provocative question refers to the location of racism in the built environment that surrounds us. Although, as Angela Davis recently noted, overt acts of racism directed from one individual to another occur less frequently since the Civil Rights Movement ended, racism has now moved underground, embedded in the institutions that form the backdrop for our society. The policies and social structures enacted in these institutions--hospitals, schools, prisons, civic institutions, and housing--all reinforce the implicit assumptions and practices of minoritization, oppression, and privilege based on socially constructed notions of race. But the architecture and landscapes of those institutions play an equally significant enforcing role. Designed spaces, it has been argued, are particularly potent conveyors of specific ideologies because they are seemingly benign, the everyday and often unnoticed ordinary backdrops against which we enact our daily lives.
This symposium examines the physical framework of the built environment as a means for understanding the reinforcement of social constructions of racial identities and modalities of racism. Its focus will be on the spatial apparatuses that are complicit in the formation of everyday life that not only reflect, but reinforce and even create racially based practices of exclusion, oppression, minoritization, and privilege in a variety of realms. Architectural and landscape historians, as well as human geographers, have long acknowledged the critical role space plays in the formation of cultural histories. Yet critical examinations of the relationship between race and space, in which both are viewed as socially constructed devices, have only recently begun to emerge. That the design professions and construction trades in the United States remain overwhelmingly dominated by white males is not news. But the results of this uneven distribution amount to a world that is physically constructed as “white unless labeled otherwise.” How do we read and internalize these built codes of racial privilege? By examining the connection between racial and spatial constructs, a deeper understanding of the possibilities for designing in ways that are more racially and socially just may emerge.
In this two day symposium, eight speakers will address this topic from a range of perspectives and at a variety of scales. Invited speakers include scholars from a range of disciplines whose works focus on environmental justice, cities and public spaces, prisons, housing, and gardens. Key questions for investigation may include examinations of the manner in which spaces define insiders and outsiders; exclusionary practices and counter-movements that are spatialized; space as a framework for the construction of racial or ethnic identity; space as a coercive construct that operates to enforce privilege; the ‘invisibility’ of racialized spaces; the instantiation of racism in the architecture of specific institutions and forms; racism and professional practice in the environmental design disciplines; and much more. Our primary but not exclusive focus will be the United States in the twentieth century.
Invited speakers: Rebecca Ginsburg, Theresa Mah, George Lipsitz, Dell Upton, Greg Hise, Laura Lawson, Raul Villa and Craig Barton
Thursday, January 22 thru Saturday, January 24, 2004
“Education or Incarceration? Schools and Prisons in a Punishing Democracy”
Hosted by the UI Center on Democracy in a Multiracial Society All events will be held in 407 Levis Faculty Center
While the prison-industrial-complex has expanded dramatically over the last generation, becoming one of the fastest growth industries in the United States of America, now housing over 2.1 million prisoners and supervising another 3.7 million parolees and probationers, public education in America has suffered a precipitous decline. For example, the State of California now spends more money on its prison system than on its once celebrated universities and state colleges combined. One result of such political choices is that there are now more African-American men in America’s prison than in its colleges. Furthermore, we know that 68% of state prison inmates did not finish high school, meaning there is a direct relationship between schools and prisons, between one’s access to education and one’s chances of becoming incarcerated. Indeed, young people who do not finish school are so much more likely to enter prison than students who complete high school that some scholars have begun referring to a “schools-to-prison pipeline.” Gathering some of the nation’s leading scholars, teachers, artists, and activists, this conference will tackle the complicated and compelling question of how to reclaim our schools — and hence the future of democracy — from the prison-industrial-complex.
. 
For questions about the conference or to volunteer your time, please contact Stephen Hartnett at 217-333-1593 or hartnett@uiuc.edu
November 19, 2003
A CDMS Supported event:
“Bismillah Al-Rahman Al-Rahim”:
Uncovering the Hidden Histories of African American Muslim Movements in the Hip Hop Nation
H. Samy Alim
Duke University
Featuring a performance by David Kelly of All Natural
Wednesday, November 19, 2003 7pm - 213 Gregory Hall
FREE and open to the public
Despite the fact that Islam has been a normative practice in African America for centuries since slavery, the full story of African American Muslim Movements (AAMM) remains untold. In particular, despite journalist Harry Allen’s description of Islam as Hip Hop’s “official religion,” Islam’s dynamic presence and central role in the Hip Hop Nation (HHN) have been largely unexplored. How much do we know about the relationship between “Hip Hop” and “Islam”? Do we even see these two movements as compatible?
In his talk, H. Samy Alim will investigate how Islam has served as a transformative force both in the personal lives (helping to shape their identities and ideologies as human beings in process and practice) and in the public roles of many Hip Hop artists as community conscious agents (helping to shape their actions as socially and politically conscious Hip Hop beings involved in the Movement).
H. Samy Alim is co-author of Street Conscious Rap (1999), the third volume in the Umum Hip Hop Trilogy. Currently teaching in Duke University’s Linguistics Program, Dr. Alim received his B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, and his M.A. and Ph.D. from Stanford University. Former editor of The Black Arts Quarterly, his research on the language, culture, poetics and education of the Hip Hop Nation has appeared in American Speech, The Journal of English Linguistics, B’ma: The Sonia Sanchez Literary Review, and The Black Arts Quarterly (ed. two special issues on Hip Hop Culture in the US and international contexts, 2001), as well as several book chapters. Alim’s most recent project explores Islamic identities and ideologies in the Hip Hop Nation in national and international contexts. After intensive language study in the American University of Cairo’s Arabic Language Institute, Alim has also begun a research agenda focusing on shaabi music – the street language, culture and verbal art of urban Cairo.
Sponsored by the Council of Muslim Graduates and the Muslim Artists Collective
Co-sponsored by: Afro-American Studies and Research Program, Al-Alim, Alpha Phi Alpha, Center on Democracy in a Multiracial Society, Egyptian American Students Association, Illinois Disciples Foundation, Illinois Program for Research in the Humanities, Intercultural Friendship Foundation, Justice for Palestine, La Casa Cultural Latina, Lebanese Students Association, Muslim Law Students Association, Parkland Muslim Students Association, NAACP, Program in South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, Progressive Resource/Action Cooperative, SORF, Student American Civil Liberties Union, Student Peace Action, U-C Hip Hop Congress, and the Women's Direct Action Collective.
Thursday, November 6 at 4pm Third Floor Levis Faculty Center
"A Filmmaker's Journey: From East St. Louis to Hollywood to Cyberspace"
by
Warrington Hudlin
Independent Filmmaker and President, Black Filmmaker Foundation
Sponsored by the African American Studies and Research Program with support from the Center on Democracy in a Multiracial Society and the Brown v. Board of Education Jubilee Commemoration Committee.
October 13, 2003 - This is an Organization of American Historians lecture by Michael Honey, Harry Bridges Chair of Labor Studies, University of Washington and Professor of American history, and Labor and Ethnic Studies, University of Washington, Tacoma
Location: 213 Gregory Hall -- 4 p.m.
Title of lecture:
"Southern Labor and Black Civil Rights: History and Continuing Struggle"
Michael Honey
Host: Professor James Barrett, History Department 7:30 pm
Freedom Songs: A CDMS Reception
For more information about Professor Honey, please visit
http://faculty.washington.edu/mhoney/
October 11, 2003- Symposium co-organized by CDMS Fellow, Suk Ja Kang Engles and Tim Engles.
"After Whiteness: Race and the Visual Arts,"
Location: Levis Faculty Center, 8:30 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Occasional Paper Series
"Towards a Bibliography of Critical Whiteness Studies"
Ten members of three panelsTen members of three panels—including artists, curators, and historians—will address ramifications of the new Critical Whiteness Studies for the study, practice, and appreciation of contemporary visual arts.
Whiteness and Visual Space: David R. Roediger, Tyler Stallings, and Laurie Hogin
Whiteness and the Artist: Charlene Teters, Adrian Piper, and Tana Hargest
Whiteness and Art History: Rachel DeLue (Moderator), Kymberly Pinder, John Bowles, and Jan Nederveen Pieterse.
This event will culminate in a keynote address by Adrian Piper, described below.3:30 p.m.
"Now What? Awakening from the Dream of Whiteness"
Knight Auditorium, Spurlock Museum, 600 South Gregory, Urbana (A CAS/MillerComm Lecture)
Adrian Piper, Artist and Professor, Department of Philosophy, Wellesley College
Now that we know that the concept of race was developed in order to rationalize slavery in the Americas and has no legitimate use, meaning, or reference, how do we deal with the blatant inequities in wealth, status, and opportunities inherited from the fictional concept of whiteness? In particular, how do "whites" who have benefited from this fiction deal with them?
This talk is part of a symposium on “After Whiteness: Race and the Visual Arts” held earlier in the day at the Levis Faculty Center by the Center on Democracy in a Multiracial Society. Adrian Piper’s talk will be sponsored by: Center on Democracy in a Multiracial Society, the Center for Advanced Study, and the School of Art and Design, and in conjunction with: Afro-American Studies and Research Program, College of Fine and Applied Arts, Gender and Women's Studies Program, Illinois Program for Research in the Humanities, Krannert Art Museum, Office of the Chancellor, School of Art and Design, Art Education Program, Narrative Media Program, Painting Program, Spurlock Museum, and the Women and Gender in Global Perspectives Program.
Saturday, October 4 - 417 Levis Faculty Center - 9:00-10:30 a.m.
Keynote Address by Professor Vijay Prashad, Trinity College.
Title of lecture:
"Afro-Asian Connections: Race, Politics, and The Shaw Cinema"
Vijay Prashad teaches at Trinity College in Connecticut. He is the author of eight books, including two that were chosen by the Village Voice as among the top 25 books of the year: Karma of Brown Folk (2000) and Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting: Afro-Asian Connections and the Myth of Cultural Purity (2001). His most recent books are Fat Cats and Running Dogs: The Enron Stage of Capitalism (2002) and Keeping Up with the Dow Joneses: Debt, Prison, Workfare (2003). You can read his frequent pieces of journalism in South Asian periodicals (the fortnightly Frontline or the monthly Himal South Asia), in North American periodicals (the monthly Little India or occasionally for Color Lines) or else on the web (monthly at ZNET, occasionally at Counterpunch). He is on the Executive Board of the Center for Third World Organizing (www.ctwo.org), an editor of Amerasia Journal and of The Subcontinental. A native of Calcutta, India, he has lived in the United States for two decades, now in Northampton, MA.
Thursday, October 2 thru Saturday, October 4, A conference entitled:
"Constructing Pan-Chinese Cultures: Globalism and the Shaw Brothers Cinema,"
directed by Professor Poshek Fu, History.
Professor Prashad's talk is cosponsored by the Center.
Tuesday, September 30, 2003- Paul Buhle lecture, 4 p.m. 196 Lincoln Hall
"Race and the Films of the Hollywood Blacklist."
Brief description of lecture: This lecture will discuss the role of the Hollywood Left in creating the sympathetic cinematic treatment of African American and Mexican (and Chicano) characters and stories, along with inventive cinematography and music, in the US and European films of the 1940s to 1990s.