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Notre Dame’s Initiative on Race and Resilience serves as the site at which a community of scholars, teachers, students, artists, and community organizers gather to develop and advance their respective projects, exchange ideas, and celebrate the expressive cultures of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) communities. Our mission is to challenge systemic racism and to advance racial equality through research, education, and community empowerment.
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Global in scope and comparative and interdisciplinary in critical approach, the Initiative on Race and Resilience promotes multiracial collaboration, qualitative and quantitative methodologies, and inclusive pedagogy. Equally as important, the Initiative embraces the arts as a means to examine race more substantively and thus to attend to the forms of oppression it produces — as well as the identities and forms of resistance it enables.
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Established in January 2021, the Initiative has already built a community of more than 100 Notre Dame faculty and graduate students representing a wide range of disciplines and research interests, from reducing intergenerational poverty to analyzing voting behavior to showcasing the work of African American composers. We’ve begun awarding grants to support faculty and graduate student research, undergraduate course development, and inclusive pedagogy. And we’ve sponsored a number of powerful events, including:
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an evening with Joy Harjo, the first Native American appointed U.S. Poet Laureate
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the premiere of a one-man show by MacArthur Genius Award-winning poet Reginald Dwayne Betts, the Initiative’s inaugural artist-in-residence in partnership with the Notre Dame Institute for Advanced Study
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a Black History Month panel on the lasting impact of Toni Morrison, in conjunction with the Civil Rights Heritage Center in South Bend
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a lecture by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones ’98, co-sponsored by the Gallivan Program in Journalism, Ethics, and Democracy
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an evening with renowned Nigerian author Chimamanda Adichie, in partnership with the Provost’s Office
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a Forum on Systemic Inclusion during Reunion Weekend, co-sponsored by the Class of ’72
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and this summer’s joint conference of the national organizations for Black Catholic clergy, women religious, deacons, and seminarians.
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We have an exciting year ahead, including former U.S. Poet Laureate and Pulitzer Prize-winner Natasha Trethewey as our artist-in-residence.
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The Initiative on Race and Resilience is pleased to partner with ThinkND as we honor a legacy of advancements and models of courage that we must build up and so bequeath to ensuing generations. Join us!
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Director of the Notre Dame Initiative on Race and Resilience
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Professor of English and Africana Studies
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