Asma Barlas, Professor and 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 enables 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 hosts a yearlong lecture series, working with other departments and administrative units at Ithaca College to sponsor several speakers. To complement the lecture series, we 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 is mapping out future directions for the center. The newest minors are African Diaspora Studies and Latino/a Studies. 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.