Panel Discussion Workshop: On the Study of Racism
Thursday, February 11, 2016 1-4:30 PM
Institute for Social Research, 426 Thompson Street, Room 1430
The toxicity of racism has long been understood by communities of color – and with the growth of camera phones and social media, there has been a rapid growth in the public documentation and discussion of racism in the American public sphere. In the research setting, there is a growing interest and scientific literature in multiple disciplines systematically documenting the linkages between racism and social, economic, political, and health-related resources and constraints. Nevertheless, there continues to be a lack of clarity about the ways in which racism affects the lives of people of color, making response and intervention challenging. To improve the research on racism, the Rackham Interdisciplinary Workgroup on Racism (“RacismLab”) is convening a panel of distinguished scholars from sociology, public health, psychology, and anthropology in an interdisciplinary discussion on the study of its conceptualization and measurement. Speakers include: Philomena Essed (Antioch University), a pioneer in the conceptualization of racism in Europe and the US; Chandra Ford (UCLA), who integrates critical race theory into public health research; Tene Lewis (Emory University), a leading scholar in the study of interpersonal discrimination and health; Ellis Monk (University of Chicago), who has brought global understandings of race to the study of skin tone and discrimination in the US; and our own James S. Jackson, a pioneer in the study of racial health inequalities. This workshop, which will include presentations from then panel and then a moderated discussion, is open to all students, staff, and faculty. This workshop is sponsored by the Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research, and Rackham Graduate School.