Center for the Study of Race, Ethnicity & Equity, WUSTL

10/21/2026

Join WashU Libraries and WashU Studying Slavery for a special semiquincentennial event to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. John Garrison Marks will discuss his latest book Thy Will Be Done. The event will also include afterhours access to view two original printed Declarations of Independence, and a showcase of rare materials related to the founding of the United States of America.

How should we remember George Washington’s entanglement in slavery? Americans have argued over that question for nearly 250 years. More than any other Founding Father, Washington’s ties to slavery have vexed us. He enslaved more people than any of his fellow founders, yet he was the only one of them to emancipate the people he held in bo***ge. Since his death, Americans have grappled with this contradiction, shaping and reshaping our collective memory of Washington and slavery—along with our understanding of the nation.

Sign up (for virtual option as well): https://wustl.libcal.com/event/17753052

10/20/2026

James Baldwin Review is honored to announce the 2026 James Baldwin Lecture, “James Baldwin Through the Prism of Love,” delivered by Nicholas Boggs.

Boggs is the author of the bestselling biography Baldwin: A Love Story (2025) and coeditor of Little Man, Little Man: A Story of Childhood (2018), James Baldwin’s collaboration with French artist Yoran Cazac.

📅 November 13 at 4 p.m.
📍 Emerson Auditorium, Washington University in St. Louis

RSVP: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdtR4VU75hmfW_rjeI3Mnf0JpMYZVkCKHLi0tzlwOPkHo9tZg/viewform?edit_requested=true

10/19/2026

The Sawyer Seminar Series continues with Nikole Hannah-Jones who will deliberate on citizenship and the university, covering topics like academic freedom, democracy and the larger mission of the university as the primary place for advancing knowledge.

Learn more: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/nikole-hannah-jones-on-citizenship-tickets-1996173382322?aff=odcleoeventsincollection

Nikole Hannah-Jones is the Knight Chair in Race and Journalism in the Department of Media, Journalism, Film & Communication at Howard University and the Pulitzer Prize-winning creator of the 1619 Project.

The seminar is presented by the WashU Center for the Humanities and the Department of African & African American Studies. It is supported by Washington University Arts & Sciences; Center for the Study of Race, Ethnicity & Equity; Department of Sociology; John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics; Office of the Provost; Program in American Culture Studies; WashU Law; Weidenbaum Center on the Economy, Government and Public Policy; and Left Bank Books.

10/15/2026

In the news: CRE² faculty affiliate Bettina Drake was recently featured in The St. Louis American following her installation as the Michael F. Neidorff Professor at WashU Medicine.

The honor recognizes Drake’s work as a cancer epidemiologist and her commitment to addressing racial disparities in cancer outcomes through community-engaged research, outreach, and expanded access to screening and prevention resources across the St. Louis region.

Read more about Drake’s work and this recognition.

Before Dr. Bettina Drake stepped onstage to have Washington University’s custom, engraved professorship medallion draped across her neck, the audience understood why she was being honored. Drake, a cancer epidemiologist at WashU Medicine and Siteman Cancer Center, has built much of her career arou...

10/14/2026

Andre’A Roper, a 2025-2026 CRE² Graduate Fellow and PhD candidate in English and American Literature reflects on her experience as a race and ethnicity scholar and her takeaways from the program.

Andre’A Roper studies African American literature from the late nineteenth century to the present. She is particularly interested in the relationship between literature, race, childhood, and education as symbolized through black student characters.

10/12/2026

Each year CRE² names a select group of students interested in the study of race/ethnicity as graduate fellows. Meet one of our 2026-2027 fellows, Saria Bechara.
Learn more about Saria: https://cre2.wustl.edu/people/saria-bechara/

10/05/2026

Each year CRE² names a select group of students interested in the study of race/ethnicity as graduate fellows. Meet one of our 2026-2027 fellows, Mary Cox.
Learn more about Mary: https://cre2.wustl.edu/people/mary-cox/

10/02/2026

CRE² Faculty Affiliate Chris Dingwall is an editor of Black Designers in Chicago: Culture and Communication in the 20th Century, published by the University of Chicago Press. It is a richly illustrated book focused on Black designers, how they shaped the history of modern design, and how their designs in turn influenced modern Black life. Available for purchase : https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/B/bo262165038.html

10/01/2026

Jihye Lee, a 2025–2026 CRE² Graduate Fellow and PhD candidate in Social Work, reflects on her experience as a fellow and shares how her time with CRE² has shaped her research and academic journey.

Jihye Lee's work focuses on social policies related to the economic integration and multidimensional poverty of immigrants, with a specific emphasis on forced and unauthorized migration populations. Her research was inspired by her experiences as a researcher and social worker, during which she witnessed how exclusionary social policies contribute to poverty and hinder social integration into the host community among immigrant young adults. Jihye’s primary goal is to examine the trajectory of multidimensional exclusion among immigrant populations exposed to poverty and inequality.

09/29/2026

The Sawyer Seminar Series continues with Devon Carbado, who examines the intersectional nature of oppression and the relationship between the attack on academic freedom, Black studies and other critical studies, and the creation and maintenance of social inequalities and oppression in society.

Learn more: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/devon-carbado-on-labor-tickets-1996172130578?aff=oddtdtcreator&keep_tld=true

Devon Carbado is the Elihu Root Professor of Law at NYU Law School. He earned his BA in History from UCLA and his Juris Doctorate from Harvard Law School. Professor Carbado writes and teaches in the areas of Constitutional Law, Constitutional Criminal Procedure, and Race and the Law.

The seminar is presented by the WashU Center for the Humanities and the Department of African & African American Studies. It is supported by Washington University Arts & Sciences; Center for the Study of Race, Ethnicity & Equity; Department of Sociology; John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics; Office of the Provost; Program in American Culture Studies; WashU Law; Weidenbaum Center on the Economy, Government and Public Policy; and Left Bank Books.