Each year, the Center for the Comparative Study of Race and Ethnicity builds its programming around one central theme that is broadly defined.

For academic year 2019–2020, programming focused on decolonization.

More than a push for political sovereignty, decolonization implies a deep, complex, and multifaceted process by which the discourses, knowledges, and worldviews at the core of imperialism(s) and its mechanisms of oppression are challenged and dismantled. In this regard, decolonization within higher education necessitates work across disciplines and at various institutional levels (curriculum, research, pedagogy) in order to identify and undo colonial hierarchies of personhood based on race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and other markers historically reproduced in the realms of higher education. Decolonization, furthermore, situates collective justice and equity, instead of personal advancement, as the goal of education. Toward these ends, the CCSRE offered programming and resources providing insights on how to begin and carry out this long-term endeavor.

Past Annual Themes

  • 2018–2019: Race, Ethnicity, and Hybridity
  • 2017–2018: Race, Ethnicity, and the Arts
  • 2016–2017: Race, Ethnicity, and Social Movements
  • 2015–2016: Race, Ethnicity, and Intersectionality
  • 2014–2015: Race, Ethnicity, and Representation
  • 2013–2014: Race, Ethnicity, and Institutions
  • 2012–2013: Race, Ethnicity, and Migrations
  • 2011–2012: Race, Ethnicity, and Education
  • 2010–2011: Race, Ethnicity, and the Environment
  • 2009–2010: Citizenship