|
Kirwan Institute Launches New Website!
Check out the Kirwan Institute’s new website! The new site, which launched on June 10, accommodates more interactive graphics and visually-appealing pages designed for easier navigation.
Transforming Race – Call for Proposals
The Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity is pleased to announce the Call for Proposals for our third biennial conference, Transforming Race: Visions of Change, to be held March 15-17, 2012, in Columbus, Ohio.
We’re soliciting your proposals for sessions that offer substantive visions of the racial/ethnic landscape in 2042. We welcome proposals in a variety of subject areas, including capitalism, race and the mind sciences, global warming and energy, religion and faith, corporations, and much more.
Please share the Call for Proposals with your networks. Should you have any questions, contact Brookes Hammock at hammock.5@osu.edu.
Email your proposal submissions to tr2012cfp@gmail.com by September 30.
ACHIEVEMENTS
Christy Rogers Earns PhD
On May 5, 2011, Christy Rogers, senior sesearcher at the Kirwan Institute, successfully defended her dissertation, “From Gautreaux to MTO: Racial Discipline and Neoliberal Governance in Housing Policy.” She is now officially Christy Rogers, PhD!
Charisma Acey Wins CRP Faculty Award for Excellence
Charisma Acey, assistant professor of City and Regional Planning with a joint appointment to the Kirwan Institute, recently was recognized with the 2011 Faculty Award for Excellence in Community-Based Scholarship for efforts with the Ghana Study Abroad Program. This university-wide award is an outstanding honor and a distinct tribute to Charisma’s work.
PAST EVENTS
 bell hooks
During her May visit to campus as visiting distinguished professor, bell hooks, the internationally recognized author and scholar, joined the Kirwan Institute’s Wendy Smooth, assistant professor of Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies, to engage the campus community in a discussion. The discussion, “Race is Gendered,” can be viewed here.
Panel Discussed Popular Revolutions in North Africa, Middle East
On May 16, the Kirwan Institute hosted the discussion “North Africa and Middle East Popular Revolutions: Is Now the Time for People’s Power?” Speakers included: Laila Al-Arian, writer and producer for Al Jazeera English in Washington D.C.; Franco Barchiesi, assistant professor of African American and African Studies at The Ohio State University; and Fadhel Kaboub, assistant professor of economics at Denison University.
On the morning of May 16th, panelist Laila Al-Arian was interviewed on WOSU’s All Sides with Ann Fisher.
H-2 Worker Screening
On May 17, the Kirwan Institute hosted a film screening of H-2 Worker, followed by a conversation with producer/director Stephanie Black.
The 70-minute award-winning film documents the plight of the 10,000+ Caribbean men who are brought to Florida each year under a temporary guest-worker (H-2) visa to harvest sugar cane for American sugar corporations.
 A Visit With Duke University Professor Eduardo Bonilla-Silva
Eduardo Bonilla-Silva, professor of sociology at Duke University, (center) visited the Kirwan Institute in April, sharing insights with several Kirwan Institute leaders. Bonilla-Silva’s visit to campus was sponsored by the Department of Sociology with co-sponsorship by the Kirwan Institute. With Bonilla-Silva are Wendy Smooth, assistant professor of Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies, and john powell, Kirwan Institute executive director.
john powell Webinar: Systems Thinking and Racial Justice
On May 16, Professor john powell presented a webinar, Systems Thinking and Racial Justice, for Leadership Learning Communities which drew nearly 500 participants. The presentation examined how the interactions of structures and institutions create not only opportunity and deprivation, but also inhabit our ideas and language about race, identity and the self. The full webinar can be heard here.
PROJECTS
Research Underway on Black Girls in Franklin County, Ohio
With support from the Columbus Foundation, the Kirwan Institute will soon release a report that focuses on Black girls (ages 12-19) in Franklin County. The goal is to understand Black girls’ experiences, including their successes, challenges, and aspirations. This information will help service providers in the community better align their programs with the needs the girls articulate. The report includes a literature review, demographic overview, opportunity mapping, information from interviews with local service providers, and data from a survey of the girls.
Kirwan mentioned in OSU history book
C. Sunny Martin & Associates is publishing an OSU commemorative history book, 100 Years of African-American Achievement at the Ohio State University. The book, featuring a tribute to Jesse Owens and a special salute to Dr. Frank W. Hale, Jr., includes a section about the Kirwan Institute, and is now available.
Sustainable Communities in the Gulf Coast of Mississippi
Since February, the Kirwan Institute has been re-involved in a collaborative effort to reinvigorate the Mississippi Gulf Coast area. The Institute, in collaboration with Ohio State University’s Department of City and Regional Planning, is part of a consortium for a sustainable Gulf Coast, led by the Gulf Coast Regional Planning Commission.
Since the collaborative began work in February, the Institute provided trainings on civic engagement with disadvantaged communities and conducted opportunity mapping which will guide and inform regional sustainability plans. Kirwan also has assisted in mapping food access issues in the region, with a particular focus on food access for disadvantaged communities. The Institute will provide research and technical assistance throughout the multi-year planning process, doing opportunity mapping in the region and advising on the civic engagement plan. The sustainable communities initiative plan is funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for the Gulf Coast.
Kirwan Maps Show Diversity Impact of Student Assignment Plan
Kirwan Institute resources are helping a North Carolina partner advocate for meaningful diversity in Pitt County North Carolina schools. The UNC Center for Civil Rights included maps and data analysis from the Kirwan Institute as exhibits when it filed a recent legal motion to encourage adoption of a more equitable student reassignment plan for elementary and middle schools in the district. The motion came in response to a school board vote in late 2010, approving a student assignment plan which would re-segregate the school system.
Kirwan’s maps provide a visual representation of the devastating impacts the approved plan would have on school diversity and student achievement. The maps show that the new plan would open a new school with 88 percent minority students and less than 50 percent reading proficiency, while making several other schools racially isolated and low-performing.
The Center is still awaiting a legal decision on the latest motion. |
