In this week’s program profile, we will be looking at the Future of Minority Studies Summer Institute at Cornell.
The Future of Minority Studies Summer Institute is part of the larger FMS Research Project, which is a consortium of scholars that discuss the needs of minority education.
Although originally conceived in 2000 as a year-long interdisciplinary bicoastal research initiative, the FMS project has evolved to become a mobile “think tank” facilitating focused and productive discussions across disciplines about the democratizing role of minority identity and participation in a multicultural society. At a number of different events organized over the past few years, FMS participants have focused their discussions on a defined set of questions about the changing role of education and the need for an adequate conception of minority identities as the basis for progressive social change. (link)
The Summer Institute is a two-week seminar for 12-14 graduate students and postdoctoral faculty, who meet four days a week for lectures. The middle of the Institute is a two-day Colloquium, where the students of the Institute can interact with FMS scholars from all over the world.
This year’s Institute has the theme “Thinking Transnationally: Feminist Visions” and is led by Beverly Guy-Sheftall and Chandra Talpade Mohanty. Professor Guy-Sheftall, a Professor of Women’s Studies and English and Spelman College, is also on the Steering Committee for SILCS and will be speaking at the 2008 SILCS program.
The application deadline for this summer’s Institute has passed, but keep an eye on their website for information on when to apply for next year.
The Future of Minority Studies Research Project is funded by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, which also funds SILCS.