Race, Democracy, and Global Social Justice: How Studying Inequality and Vulnerability can Transform the World

Cohort: 2020
Fellow: Peniel Joseph

My initiative will achieve better learning outcomes in undergraduate and graduate students in History and the LBJ School by examining the intersection of history and contemporary policy, specifically its disparate impact on communities of color. Currently, departments, centers, faculty and students work independently of one another and lack valuable opportunities to collaborate. Genuine collaboration has evolved into a rare and difficult concept. Our campus-wide initiative seeks to draw from different methodological and practical approaches based on comprehensive understandings of race and democracy. We also hope to develop relationships between students and faculty mentors within our new Faculty Fellows program at the Center for the Study of Race and Democracy. In addition to bringing together academic silos, this initiative will result in the diversification of syllabi across the University of Texas campus. Professors will become more understanding and aware of how significant their syllabi reflect tools for equity, and students will become conscious of their right to hold professors accountable. Overall, the goal is for campus leaders and students to solve university and city-based problems with a lens of equity, understanding, and cooperation. The project consists of 4 undergraduate and4graduate level CSRD Fellows who will conduct semester and year-long individual research projects related to race, democracy, civil rights, and intersectional justice. Fellows enroll in a CSRD Conference course that meets every other week, engage in Faculty-Fellow collaboration, and participate in Center-based symposium events throughout the year.