The Institute plays an important role in encouraging engaged research on race and public policy, and advancing the broader diversity agenda of UIC. As a community of scholars, it provides minority faculty and students with a supportive home for their intellectual endeavors.
IRRPP plans, hosts, and supports gatherings that encourage the exchange of ideas, deeper understanding of race and policy issues, and the development of collaborative networks. Our core programs include the following:
* The Annual Phillip J. Bowman Critical Issues Lecture on Race & Public Policy: A yearly lecture by a nationally recognized scholar who provides timely analysis of current issues.
* The Director’s Series on Racial Justice: Convenings of scholars and activists that reframe policy issues, spark long-term collaborations, and influence policy development around pressing social justice issues.
* The Race and Sexuality Series: a multi-format series that focuses on the intersection of race and LGBTQ issues.
* The Race & Public Policy Practicum: A public lecture & invited workshop that help UIC faculty members develop the policy dimensions of their research on race.
* The Race & Public Policy Brown Bag Series: informal presentations by IRRPP fellows and scholars of their works-in-progress.
Our work has been guided by these major themes:
* Migration, Displacement, and Diaspora: Understanding uprooting; new immigration and immigrants; linkages between the USA and immigrants’ countries of origin; ethnic and racial diasporas; internal migration movements; undocumented migration; and the impact of these issues on the construction of race and disadvantage.
* Home, Community, and Institutions: Studying policies and practices that affect families, households, and communities of color, as well as the role policy plays in supporting or hindering the well-being of these communities.
* The Dynamics of Race and Ethnicity in a Globalizing World: Examining changing conceptualizations of race and their overlap with class, gender, and demographics in a globalizing world.
