“Rekindling the Spirit of Brown v. Board of Education: A Call to Action”
Sponsor and Co-Sponsor Profiles
INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF SOCIAL CHANGE (ISSC)
The ISSC has a long and distinguished history of studying relations of power, access, and inequality, particularly as they affect the poor and people of color. Currently, ISSC is launching a research initiative on “The New Metropolis” with a particular focus on cities in California and the West. This initiative complements work at the Center for Latino Policy Research (CLPR), which addresses emerging issues that affect the growing Latino population. In addition, ISSC houses several affiliated projects that explore equal opportunity and achievement in higher education, community-based strategies for preventing drug and alcohol abuse, and social movements and mobilizations in the Bay Area. ISSC provides graduate student training, hosts colloquia and symposia, publishes working papers, and sponsors visiting scholars.
UC ACCORD, ALL CAMPUS CONSORTIUM ON RESEARCH FOR DIVERSITY
An interdisciplinary, multi-campus research center devoted to a more equitable distribution of educational resources and opportunities in California’s diverse public schools and universities. This distinctive UC voice serves as an information and research clearinghouse and catalyst for promoting the delivery of high-quality, equitable schooling to all students. ACCORD harnesses the research expertise of the University of California to identify strategies that will increase college preparation, access, and retention. Policymakers, researchers, teachers, outreach staff, and students all benefit from this source of reliable information for equitable education policy and practice.
CENTER FOR LATINO POLICY RESEARCH (CLPR)
Responding to the research and policy challenges of limited educational and economic opportunities facing the Chicano and Latino population, the Center for Latino Policy Research (CLPR) was founded in 1989 to promote collaborative research, develop mechanisms for an effective exchange of ideas, provide training and research opportunities for faculty, undergraduate and graduate students, disseminate policy-relevant research publications, and conduct outreach meetings for public officials, non-profits, advocacy groups and the general public. CLPR is committed to sponsoring research efforts that have direct policy impact on the Latino population in the United States. CLPR’s current research foci are in the areas of higher education access, immigration, and political participation. CLPR, however, will support policy research in any field in which there is strong faculty or student interest.
GOLDMAN SCHOOL OF PUBLIC POLICY (GSPP), UC BERKELEY
GSPP, founded at the University of California, Berkeley in 1969, was one of the nation’s first graduate programs of its kind. Today it is ranked among the very top policy programs in the country and is recognized nationally and internationally as a source of incomparably qualified professionals in the field. Embracing the realms of both domestic and international policy, the School prepares students for careers including policy analysis, program evaluation, and management and planning. GSPP graduates enjoy an outstanding rate of employment and career advancement, working in government, in the private and nonprofit sectors, in research organizations, and as consultants.
DEPARTMENT OF ETHNIC STUDIES, UC BERKELEY
The group major in ethnic studies provides a core curriculum designed to develop a comparative and multidisciplinary understanding of the experiences and communities of African Americans, Asian Americans, Chicanos, and Native Americans. Students majoring in Ethnic studies study the history, culture, politics and sociology of Third World communities in the United States within the general context of American society and institutions. Thus, they pursue knowledge vital for critical understanding of contemporary society and for social changes to improve the lives and communities of racial minorities. Ethnic studies majors also prepare themselves for advanced graduate study in either academic or professional fields.
DEPARTMENT OF AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDIES, UC BERKELEY
Increasingly, African American Studies has become an interdisciplinary field that focuses on race as a social construction. Our department has led the field with its emphasis on the African Diaspora and the cultures, patterns of social organization, political economies, life conditions, etc. of various African-based societies and communities in the Caribbean, Latin America, the United States, Europe, and other areas of the world. In addition to the development of African American Studies as a coherent and innovative discipline, departmental efforts are focused on fundamental reformulations of the theories, frameworks and methods employed for understanding race and ethnicity. The field of African American Studies is new and developing. Our department has managed to establish itself at the forefront of the intellectual development of the field.
GRADUATE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION, UC BERKELEY
Since its inception in the late 1800s, Berkeley’s Graduate School of Education has had a rich and active history. The school is widely regarded for its research, teaching, and influence on the practice of education. Nine research centers and numerous other projects are housed in the school, tackling cutting-edge issues from the use of the Internet to link students directly with innovative scientists, to pioneering methods for teaching a classroom of students who speak several different languages in their homes. The school actively builds bridges between theory and practice in the form of innovative partnerships with the public schools and the community.
DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY, UC BERKELEY
The Berkeley Department of Sociology is one of the world’s top-ranked centers for sociological research, training and teaching. For a half-century, it has brought together renowned scholars who have helped shape the discipline, stimulated public debate, and educated leading members of the profession – nation-wide and internationally.
YOUTH AND EDUCATION LAW SOCIETY, BOALT HALL SCHOOL OF LAW
The Youth and Education Law Society (YELS) contributes to the law school learning environment at Boalt Hall by facilitating discussions and encouraging active participation in issues involving youth and the law. To this end, YELS provides its members and the greater Boalt community opportunities for career guidance, policy debate, and direct service.
AFRICAN-AMERICAN LAW & POLICY REPORT
Founded in 1992, the African-American Law & Policy Report (ALPR) is dedicated to addressing legal and policy issues that affect the African-American community and people of color, in general. ALPR deals with such matters as constitutional law, criminal justice, civil rights, African-American participation in the political process, the death penalty, fair housing, economic development in the African-American community, African immigration to the United States, and health issues that affect African Americans.