ADVISORY BOARD 2007-2008

RECENT PUBLICATIONS

James Anderson, Educational Policy Studies William Berry, Office of the Chancellor Michael Ross, Krannert Center for the Performing Arts Stephen Hartnett, Speech Communication Soo Ah Kwon, Asian American Studies

& Human and Community Development Faranak Miraftab, Urban & Regional Planning Kent A. Ono, Asian American Studies Lissette Piedra, School of Social Work Robert Rich, Institute of Government & Public Affairs Giraldo Rosales, Office of the Dean of Students Jesse Thompson, Human & Community Development Helena Worthen, Labor & Industrial Relations

lA!\'I)SO\PE .JOL1{J.~\L

A special issue of

Landscape Journal

devoted to the

topic of "Race and

Space." Volume 26,

n.l, Spring, 2007.

Professor Dianne

Harris edits this jour­

nal that is based on

papers presented at the CDMS-sponsored

symposium, "Constructing Race: The Built

Environment, Minoritization, and Racism

in the U.S ."

NATIONAL BOARD OF ADVISORS

Bernice McNair Barnett, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Joe Feagin, Texas A&M University Melvin Oliver, University of California at

Santa Barbara

DIRECTOR

Jorge Chapa, Sociology and Latina/ Latino Studies

Critical Whiteness

Studies

CDMS also pub­

lished, "Towards

a Bibliography of

Critical Whiteness

Studies," edited by

Tim Engles with an

introduction by David

R. Roediger. This pub­

lication is a product of the Critical Whiteness

Studies Group and is available on-line at

http://cdms.ds. uiuc.ed ulResearch_ CD MS/

CriticalWhitenesslIndex.htm

OUR M 5 5 o N

THE CENTER ON DEMOCRACY IN A MULTIRACIAL SOCIETY (CDMS) is a unique interdisciplinary re­

search and service institute organized around a commitment to the practice of democracy, equality, and social

justice within the changing multiracial society of the United States. It includes a network of UIUC-affiliated

scholars with an expertise in and sensitivity to the persistent and significant role of race in many aspects of life in

the United States. The Center's three core principles are to: 0 Learn how to fully realize the benefits of diversity,

negotiate conflicts, and form coalitions with individuals and groups of various racial and ethnic backgrounds;

8 Empower members of the University of Illinois community to live in racially diverse communities, maintain

friendships with people of different backgrounds and function more effectively in an increasingly diverse work­

place by teaching and learning about racial diversity in formal classroom activities and informal interactions on

campus; and, @) Prepare students for civic engagement and participation in a democratic society.

CDMS Center on Democracy in a Multiracial Society

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 1 108 West Stoughton MC-253 . Urbano Illinois 61801 Telephone (217) 244-0188 Fox (217) 333·8122 Web cdms.ds.uiuc.edu . Email cdms@uiuc.edu

CDMS Center on Democracy in 0 Multiracial Society

• CURRENT PLANS

The Center was founded at the recom­

mendation of the Chancellor's Diversity Initiative Committee to express a com­mitment to achieve excellence in the practice of democracy and equality with­in a multiracial U.S. society. CDMS will honor this intent and respond to recent

campus events by making Race, Diversity, and Campus Climate its priority for the 2007-2008 academic

year and the focus of a major conference to be held April 10, 2008 at the Illini Union.

The goal of the Race, Diversity & Campus Climate conference is to provide information the University of Illinois community can use to make the campus more di­verse and more inclusive. The conference will be part of a year-long series of events and activities that will include:

• Research and discussion that could lead to a con­sensus on valid and useful ways to assess and improve our campus climate;

• Research from the recently established CDMS­ICHASS (Illinois Center for Computing in Humanities, Arts, and Social Science) research group on the Internet

and Campus Climate. The group investigates all aspects of how the internet affects campus climate in either posi­tive or negative ways with a particular focus on these issues at UIDe. The internet is used to build networks of friendships and virtual communities, as well as to serve

as a means of expressing cyber-hatred and cyber-racism. Ultimately, the goal of this research group is to provide

knowledge that can be used to foster a positive and inclu­sive campus climate;

• Research that results from a forthcoming open call for commissioned papers that will invite widespread input and participation in the conference;

• Findings from the Diversity Research Project. This combined undergraduate and graduate course reviews and evaluates multidisciplinary research and scholarship on approaches that have or could be used to assess the UIUC campus climate. Students in the course also analyze the

research archives of the Ethnography of the University Initiative (EUI);

• Public lectures by invited experts and open forums for UIUC and its surrounding community scheduled throughout the year to build interest and knowledge regarding the conference; and,

• The publication and dissemination of conference­related research or presentations.

o THE R CUR R E N T PROJECTS

• MAPPING ENVIRONMENTAL RACISM IN THE CONTAMINATED NORTH END OF CHAMPAIGN, IL

In this research project, Professor Ken Salo seeks to map the social and spatial practices that produce environmen­tal racism in an ethnically diverse, nonwhite, low-income and contaminated community located in North End of Champaign, IL. Research questions posed focus on how resurgent theories on the spatiality of racism can bet-ter explain the persistence of environmental injustices in

these settings as a consequence of larger, trans-local and

uneven urban development processes. Study outcomes will include a mapping from below of toxic sites in the North End that resulted in residents receiving the rela­tionship of places in which they live, work, and play to

those of adjacent white suburbs and downtown. Artifacts of this collaborative research will be archived as products of value to both community activists and academic schol­

ars. The study has the goal of engaging historical geogra­phers, planners, landscape architects, and other scholars of critical spatial practices in a debate on spatiality for raCism.

• DIVERSITY AND TECHNOLOGY FOR COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

Professors Antonia Darder and

Debbie Reese direct this project that is committed to breaking cul­tures of silence by encouraging and creating spaces where community members engage and document issues related to racism, power, and

privilege at UIVe. Recruiting and teaching students the

necessary technological and interviewing skills to capture

narratives from undergraduate and graduate students,

faculty, staff, and community members will accomplish

this goal. These narratives will further dialogue, analysis, increasingly complex understandings of ourselves, and

the different social relations at UIDe. This project speaks to obstacles related to a general lack of understanding and acknowledgement of diverse populations who attend and live within the UIDC community. The Offices of the

Provost and the Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs also fund this project.

• EDUCATION BEYOND BARS (EBB)

Education Beyond Bars supports the efforts of incarcerated Illinois residents to receive a college edu­

cation. Formed in 2006, EBB is currently investigating available

educational resources and pris­oner needs, as well as conducting research on the history and cur­

rent status of correctional educa­tion in Illinois. EBB is funded by the Office of Continuing

Education and the Assistant Vice-President of Academic

Affairs and collaborates with a range of community part­ners and campus units. It receives administrative suppOrt

from the CDMS. Research reveals that college-in-prison programs reduce arrest, conviction, and re-incarceration rates among released prisoners. Evidence also links the presence of college-in-prison programs to fewer disciplin­ary incidents within prison, finding that they produce saf­er environments for prisoners and staff alike. The stron­

gest predictor of whether a given person will attend col­lege is whether her or his parents did. When an incarcer­

ated person receives a college education, whether or not

s/he is eventually released, her or his children are more likely to pursue their own education.

• EDUCATION OR INCARCERATION? SCHOOL AND PRISONS IN A PUNISHING DEMOCRACY

Professor Stephen Hartnett has spent the past 16 years in

prison activism and scholarship. His ongoing project at CDMS is an edited book that focuses on further diagnos­ing the prison industrial complex and building a network

for teaching democracy with goals of empowerment.

Public education in the U. S. has suffered a precipitous

decline, while the prison-industrial complex has expand­

ed dramatically over the last generations, becoming one

of the fastest growth industries in the U.S. It currently houses over 2.1 million prisoners and supervises another 5 million parolees and probationers. This book tackles the complicated and compelling question of how to re­claim our students, our schools, and the future of democ­racy by compiling essays by some of the nation's leading

scholars, teachers, artists, and activists.

APRIL 10. 200B ILLINI UNION

The goal of the Race. Diversity & Campus Climate conference is to provide information the University of Illinois

and other universities can use to make campuses more diverse and inclusive. .1 CDMS

Center on Democracy in a Multiracial Society

http:// cd ms.ds. uiuc.edu