New Directions in Critical Race and Ethnic Studies
April 27 – 29, 2017
Panhellenic Building and College of Law (click here for map)
Critical race theory revolutionized the way scholars in multiple disciplines understand race and ethnicity in the United States and beyond. Unlike traditional racial and ethnic studies, which see race as less important than more “fundamental” categories of analysis such as class and ethnicity, critical race theory has provided piercing insights into the nature of racial categorization, racial hierarchy, racial privileges, social movement progress and backlash, and analytical concepts such as intersectionality.
Empirically, critical race theory helps to explain the deeply entrenched racial inequalities plaguing nearly every domain of social life—from prenatal differences in the rates of survival to reduced life expectancy of African Americans. Many scholars whose goals are not simply to describe the social world, but to help change in, have adopted critical race theory as a political project.
In line with this goal, organizers of the New Directions in Critical Race and Ethnic Studies conference invite scholars, activists, and practitioners to a conference inaugurating the new area of focus on critical race and ethnic studies in the Department of Sociology at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
Organized around the theme of the future of critical race and ethnic studies, the conference takes place April 27-29, 2017, on the UT campus. Registration is free.
During the conference, we anticipate discussing what critical race theories can teach us about schooling, wealth, health, incarceration, social movements such as #Blacklivesmatter, policing, global racism, intersectionality, gender in race scholarship, and many more. We welcome scholars and activists to engage in these important conversations as we seek to nurture a community of critical scholarship in pursuit of racial justice.