Center for the Study of Culture, Race, and Ethnicity

Larry Hajime Shinagawa, Associate Professor/Director

To ensure that our students are prepared to meet the increasingly complex demands of a multicultural, multiracial, and multiethnic society and global community, Ithaca College established the Center for the Study of Culture, Race, and Ethnicity (CSCRE) in 1999.

Through courses and extracurricular activities, the center will enable students to engage their own identities as well as those of people different from themselves and to understand how we define ourselves in relationship to others. Courses offered by CSCRE focus primarily on the experiences of groups traditionally marginalized, underrepresented, or misrepresented in our society as well as in the curriculum. At the same time, courses provide an opportunity to explore and analyze the nature of interconnections between the United States and the rest of the world.

CSCRE holds a yearlong lecture and film series. This year, the center will focus on the theme of indigenous cultures and communities, working with other departments and administrative units at Ithaca College to sponsor several speakers. To complement these speakers, we will also cosponsor films and other activities that further engage the Ithaca community.

CSCRE was established to function as an important resource for the community by supporting meaningful dialogue and learning; developing conflict-confronting and conflict-resolving skills; and serving as a beacon for faculty, speakers, and events that support its objectives.

A steering committee, made up of faculty and administrators and reporting to the dean of interdisciplinary studies, is mapping out future directions for the center. There are five minors being developed: African/New World studies, Asian American studies, Latino studies, Native American studies, and theoretical approaches to culture, race, and ethnicity. A future major or set of majors is being planned that will cover aspects of culture, race, and ethnicity both within this society and internationally. In addition, a professional multicultural minor and certificate programs are being developed jointly with faculty from schools throughout Ithaca College.