THE 8TH ANNUAL CRITICAL RACE and ANTICOLONIAL STUDIES CONFERENCE
of
RESEARCHERS AND ACADEMICS OF COLOUR FOR EQUALITY (R.A.C.E.)
 
 









 

R.A.C.E. is an association of First Peoples and people of colour who are academics and researchers engaged in anti-racist, feminist scholarship.

Our goals are to:

  • Foster and promote critical anti-racist feminist thought
  • Produce and disseminate a substantial body of Canadian anti-racist feminist research and scholarship
  • Create opportunities and foster networks among First Peoples and people of colour academics and researchers with the aim of cultivating a more equitable environment for the production of anti-racist feminist scholarship
  • Pursue institutional support to First Peoples and communities of colour
  • Provide support to First Peoples and communities of color

Structure

The steering committee of R.A.C.E. has the following academics:

Steering Committee Members

Name
Region
Sedef Arat-Koc  Ryerson University
Enakshi Dua York University
Yasmin Jiwani Concordia University
Charmaine Nelson   McGill University
Sherene Razack OISE, University of Toronto
Sunera Thobani University of British Columbia

 

 

THE HISTORY OF R.A.C.E.

The Vancouver based Race And Gender Teaching and Advocacy Group (RAGTAG) organized a National Conference and Consultation on furthering Race and Gender studies in Canada in May, 2001. RAGTAG is a voluntary group of anti-racist activists from various academic institutions and community organizations committed to contesting dominant race and gender relations in our teaching and learning.

The Conference and Consultation were held at the University of British Columbia.
Approximately two hundred academics and community activists participated in the events and adopted the following three recommendations at the national consultation:

  1. Organize a national conference on critical race and gender issues on an annual basis;
  2. Develop a national association for Aboriginal and people of colour academics and researchers to promote critical race scholarship;
  3. Build networks at the regional level.

A national steering committee was elected at that time to work on implementing the recommendations.

Annual Critical Race Studies Conferences :

In 2002, the Centre for Integrative Anti-Racism Studies organized the first annual Canadian Critical Race Conference as directed at the RAGTAG conference. This conference drew 350 participants and there were over eighty scholars of colour presenting papers. Students participated massively and were conference presenters as well. Following the OISE conference, a coalition organized the Canadian Critical Race Conference at the University of British Columbia in May, 2003. This conference, which drew approximately 400 participants, helped to further expand the RACE network. On April 29 to May 1, The Centre for Feminist Studies, York University  hosted the third annual Critical Race Conference. On April 1 and 2, 2005, The James R. Johnston Chair in Black Studies, Professor David Divine,  co-hosted the fourth annual Canadian Critical Race conference in Halifax Nova Scotia. On May 4-6, 2006, The Canada Research Chair in Social Justice and Aboriginal Education, Professor Carol Schick co-hosted the fifth annual critical race studies conference in Regina entitled the Race/Culture Divide in Education, Law and the Helping Professions.

On May 3-4, 2007, Prof. Sherene Razack from Sociology and Equity Studies at OISE, University of Toronto, co-hosted the sixth annual Critical Race Studies Conference at OISE, University of Toronto, entitled ‘Transnational Racism: “The Right to Have Rights”’.

In 2008, we celebrate eight years of R.A.C.E. by hosting our eighth annual conference at Ryerson University.