The Ethnic Studies Week at ASU event series invites the ASU community to examine and discuss issues of race, privilege and difference in contemporary society through workshops, discussions and lectures.
The series is organized by the ASU Ethnic Studies Working Group, which consists of interdisciplinary scholars who explore the experiences of diverse communities in the U.S. with an emphasis on addressing systems of inequality that have valued and simultaneously devalued individuals based on race in relationship to gender, class, sexuality, and other social factors.
ASU's Ethnic Studies Working Group aims to address critics of Ethnic Studies programs - who have argued that the field teaches people to associate only with their own ethnic groups to the detriment of society - by showing that Ethnic Studies provides a framework for people to recognize and respect the different experiences of diverse communities while finding ways to work together to achieve social justice.
Working on the ASU campus and beyond, the scholars collaborate with community members and organizations to share research, resources, teaching techniques and knowledge.
Past events have featured scholars like Ruthie Gilmore, Kent Wong, and Stephanie Fryberg addressing economic inequality and racial difference; national efforts to build labor coalitions across differences of race, citizenship, and sexuality; and the impact of American Indian Mascots on the self-esteem of native and Euroamerican youth. Panels have addressed how popular images inform ideas about race and other forms of difference, the role of allies in the Dreamers movement, and other timely issues. Additional activities include seminars with visiting scholars like Ernesto Martinez and Lisa Marie Cacho about their research; a read-in of Ethnic Studies books to raise awareness of what constitutes Ethnic Studies; and film screenings.
Please check back for more details about Ethnic Studies Week at ASU.
