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CAS Launches Critical Race, Gender, and Culture Studies Collaborative

Battelle-Tompkins Hall

On April 6, the College of Arts and Sciences invited faculty, students, and community members to the launch of the Critical Race, Gender, and Culture Studies Collaborative (CRGC).  

The Collaborative will create a community for existing interdisciplinary programs that focus on questions of social justice: American Studies, Arab World Studies, Asian Studies, Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, African American and African Diaspora Studies, and Multi-Ethnic Studies. The new unit will also create a greater sense of community for students interested in questions of race, gender, and culture. It will also provide more high-profile events, more full-time faculty, better administrative and advising support, and a new physical space in the Battelle-Tompkins Building.  

The Collaborative Launch featured presentations by students from across the programs, followed by a Black Lives Matter Forum. The forum included a conversation between AU student activists involved with Black Lives Matter and AU alumna Marita Golden; a talk by Erika Totten, Black Lives Movement activist; and a talk with Marcia Chatelain, associate professor of history at Georgetown University. 

 

CRGC: Drawing Connections  

CRGC has been under development for nearly a year. “In Fall 2015, Dean Peter Starr and the College of Arts and Sciences gave us the green-light to create this inclusive community of faculty and students interested in exploring diverse voices, histories, and experiences through socially engaged scholarship,” says Theresa Runstedtler, associate professor in the Department of History and chair of CRGC.  

The collaborative will serve as a resource for all AU students, whether they are pursuing a degree in one of its programs, or they are interested in taking a class to explore a topic of interest. “There is potential for tremendous synergy and momentum between the different areas of study”, says Runstedtler. “CRGC will create one space for students to learn more about all of these programs.”

 

For More Information 

Visit the Critical Race, Gender, and Culture Studies Collaborative website.