News Bureau, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
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The new Center on Democracy in a Multiracial Society is being established this fall. The center will support research, policy and public education focused on democracy and equality within the changing, multiracial U.S. society.

The center is founded on the belief that, in contemporary society, equality across and within racial and ethnic groups is a necessary component of healthy democracy. It will focus on the dramatically increased diversity of the U.S. population and the extension of democratic rights to all racial and ethnic groups.

The center's work will be organized around themes such as how democracy is experienced and expressed in everyday life, the role of public education in multiracial democracy, law and citizenship, and the ways that media and technology influence equality. Activities planned for the center's first year include inviting faculty participation in a range of programs, including collaborative research projects, a speaker series and a research conference planned for the spring semester.

David Roediger, the Kendrick C. Babcock Professor of History and professor in the Afro-American Studies and Research Program, has been appointed interim director of the center, and Rosalinda Barrera, a professor of curriculum and instruction, has been appointed associate director. In addition, a campus advisory board has been appointed to help shape the center's activities.

The center is located in temporary offices in the Armory and will move to permanent quarters at 1108 Stoughton in January. The center expects to search for a permanent director in 2003-2004.

Campus Advisory Board:

Faculty members
James Anderson
Susan Gray Davis
Stephen Hartnett
Moon-Kie Jung
Alejandro Lugo
Wanda Pillow
Daria Roithmayr
Siobhan Somerville

Graduate student members
Kevin Etienne-Cummings
Claudine Taaffe