Skip to main content

Inaugural IDEAL Provostial Scholars Conference to explore how racism manifests across systems

Scholars will gather Oct. 7-8 for the inaugural Stanford IDEAL Provostial Scholars Conference “Inequity by Design: The Structural Forces Making and Erasing Racism.” The virtual conference is open to the public via livestream.

IDEAL Provostial scholars (from left) Catherine Duarte, Eujin Park, Jordan Starck, Kelly Nguyen, Michela Simmons organized the inaugural conference, “Inequity by Design,” drawing scholars from across the country to discuss racism and its effect on society. (Image credit: Courtesy IDEAL Fellows)

Foremost scholars of race and ethnicity from throughout the country and across disciplines will gather Oct. 7-8 to focus on racism and racial justice in the inaugural Stanford IDEAL Provostial Fellows conference, “Inequity by Design: The Structural Forces Making and Erasing Racism.”

The free virtual conference is open to the public via livestream; register online.

Conference program

The conference will begin with a welcome from Stanford Provost Persis Drell and a keynote speech by Dr. Claude Steele, the Lucie Stern Professor of Psychology, Emeritus, at Stanford, followed by panel sessions focused on how racism manifests across systems, its downstream consequences, and efforts toward intervention.

Interdisciplinary panels will address the following topics:

  • Reckoning with Racial Injustice: Lessons from History
  • Mobilizing Research for Community-Driven Change: Examinations of Asian America for Justice
  • Punishment as a Tool of Structural Racism
  • Perpetuating Inequality in Pursuit of Diversity
  • Racialization Across Space and Time

In addition to scholars of race and ethnicity from institutions across the country, the IDEAL Provostial Fellows from the 2021 cohort, Catherine Duarte, Kelly Nguyen, Eujin Park, Michaela Simmons, and Jordan Starck, will participate on the panels.

The complete list of panelists can be found on the conference website.

The conference is sponsored by Stanford’s Office of the Vice Provost for Faculty Development, Diversity and Engagement and organized by the IDEAL fellows.

“A primary goal of the IDEAL Provostial Scholars program is to increase the amount of research and teaching related to race and ethnicity at Stanford, as well as nationally,” said C. Matthew Snipp, vice provost for faculty development, diversity, and engagement. “This inaugural conference will showcase some of the outstanding work that is happening today in the field.”

About the IDEAL Provostial Fellows Program

The IDEAL Provostial Fellows program brings early-career scholars of race and ethnicity to Stanford. The program launched with an inaugural cohort of five in fall 2021, with five fellows appointed in subsequent years to three-year terms by the provost.

Fellows, who may come from any school of the university, engage in research about the impacts of race and ethnicity, teach one course per year, participate in the intellectual life of their departments and programs, and organize an annual conference.

The fellows program is part of the IDEAL (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity & Access in a Learning Environment) initiative, a set of university-wide efforts designed to create a culture of inclusion, access, equity, and belonging that infuses all areas of the university.

Read more about the IDEAL Provostial Fellows on the Office of the Vice Provost for Faculty Development, Diversity and Engagement.