Through the Race and Ethnicity Cluster Hire Initiative, Washington University in St. Louis aims to build a world-class research program on race. The University already boasts preeminent scholars engaging in path-breaking research on race and endeavors to further enhance the University’s distinction in this area. With this set of hires, the University will increase its capacity to examine some of the most pressing questions of our time; complement and advance the expertise of outstanding researchers and departments; and embed a suite of varied methodological approaches to race in the intellectual life of the Danforth campus. The real and tangible effects of this initiative will not be limited to faculty alone as students will gain greater opportunities to pursue rich inquiry in the field of race. The success of this endeavor will be visible in not only the visionary research and innovative course designs but in the scope and scale of its impact in helping to forge an equitable and just future for our city, our nation, and our world.

In the first year of the initiative, the preliminary call for proposals was met with signal enthusiasm. The Cluster Hire Review Committee (CRC) received submissions from all Danforth schools. These proposals represented a broad range of scholarly approaches and reflected the university-wide commitment to advancing the study of race and ethnicity. The CRC advanced a set of finalist proposals to the Provost, who, in coordination with senior leadership, selected five submissions as the first round of hires for the cluster on race and ethnicity.

Proposals from the following schools and departments were selected to move forward with faculty hires as part of the Race and Ethnicity Cluster Hire Initiative:

Department of Art History and Archaeology, School of Arts & Sciences
Department of English, School of Arts & Sciences
Department of Political Science, School of Arts & Sciences
Department of Sociology, School of Arts & Sciences
McKelvey School of Engineering and Brown School (joint proposal)

More information about these proposals will be published once search details are finalized.