{"id":752,"date":"2018-12-13T20:50:26","date_gmt":"2018-12-13T20:50:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/repconference.org\/rep2021-archived\/?page_id=752"},"modified":"2021-10-03T09:39:24","modified_gmt":"2021-10-03T09:39:24","slug":"race-ethnicity-and-place-ix-engaged-scholarship-fostering-civil-and-human-rights","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/repconference.org\/rep2021-archived\/race-ethnicity-and-place-ix-engaged-scholarship-fostering-civil-and-human-rights\/","title":{"rendered":"Race, Ethnicity, and Place IX"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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2018 Race, Ethnicity and Place Conference<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Engaged Scholarship: Fostering Civil and Human Rights<\/strong>
Austin, TX<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

From October 23-25, 2018 the IX bi-annual Race, Ethnicity, and Place Conference took place at the Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center in downtown Austin. The conference was a collaboration between the Texas State University, the University of Texas at Austin, the City of Austin and the National Science Foundation (NSF).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The conference brought together over 235 participants, over half of whom were from groups historically underrepresented in academia. They were from twenty-six states and eight countries. The host institutions had very strong representation: 38 presenters from University of Texas at Austin and 40 presenters from Texas State. The conference kicked off with an NSF sponsored pre-conference Early Career Mentorship Workshop themed \u201cSurviving and Thriving in the Academy\u201d that consisting of 27 early career scholars and 13 senior scholar mentors. The workshop included panels focused on achieving success at writing, research, and publishing, small breakout groups, a talk on finding and applying for grants by Tom Baerwald of the NSF, and sessions on applying for tenure-track jobs and achieving tenure and promotion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The two other days of the conference involved 50 separate paper and panel sessions on topics as diverse as gentrification and community resilience, natural disaster recovery, diversity, inclusion and ethnic studies initiatives on college campuses, immigration and refugees, health disparities, human-environment interactions, criminalization and human rights, and cultural and ethnic identity. The conference also featured panels that allowed for in-depth discussion on topics such as teaching race and ethnicity, advancing women in geography, methodological and theoretical diversity in the discipline of geography, international field work, supporting historically black serving institutions, and more. Powerful keynote speakers concluded the conference days. On Wednesday, associate professor of the Department of African and African Diaspora Studies and Vice Provost of Diversity at The University of Texas at Austin Dr. Edmund Gordon provided a deeper context for the controversy around confederate statue removal and name changes in Austin and across the U.S. South. Closing out the conference on Thursday were two inspiring addresses given by Christina Tzintz\u00fan Ram\u00edrez and Rebecca Flores. Ms. Tzintz\u00fan spoke of the importance of finding your voice, and Ms. Flores traced the history of farm worker organizing from the early days of Cesar Chavez to the present through her own vast experience as an organizer for the Texas United Farm Workers. All speakers spoke to this year\u2019s conference theme: \u201cEngaged Scholarship: Fostering Civil and Human Rights\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We were also able to impart upon participants a sense (and taste!) of the City of Austin. Meals were catered by locally-owned restaurants including TacoDeli, the Tamale House, La BBQ, Hoover\u2019s Cooking, and Hecho en Mexico. Local artists Javier Jara, Austin\u2019s Bronze Band Community Project, and mariachi bands from Texas State University and Wallace Middle School provided wonderful music. On the Friday following the conference, field trips led by local experts provided conference-goers with the opportunity to experience Austin\u2019s unique cultural and social geographies: UT\u2019s racial geographies (led by Dr. Ted Gordon), Austin\u2019s ethnic museums (led by Laura Esparza), Austin\u2019s cultural murals (led by Frederico Geib), and Historic Black East Austin (led by Harrison Eppright of SixSquare).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The conference would not have been possible without the generous support of so many institutions, academic departments, and private donors. In addition to a National Science Foundation grant, both Texas State and the University of Texas at Austin raised $10,500 thanks to a multitude of academic departments, research centers, and university offices and colleges. The City of Austin covered the cost of the venue, and private donations covered 22 graduate students\u2019 participation (in the form of waived registration and travel stipends). Additionally, universities across the country contributed with co-sponsorships (see website), and many have already committed to future collaboration. We are extremely grateful for all this support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Planning for the X REP Conference is underway \u2013 mark your calendars for October 2020. The Tenth REP will be held in Baltimore, MD in collaboration with Joe Wood (University of Baltimore) and Mark Barnes (Morgan State University), keep an eye on developments at www.repconference.org\/rep2021-archived.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Download the complete REP IX program<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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NSF Early Career Scholars<\/h4>\n\n\n\n