Mixed Race Studies

Curriculum corner

The Daily of The University of Washington
2010-10-01

Laurel Christensen

Despite talk of budget cuts, swelling classes and disappearing instructors, the UW is offering more than 50 new courses this quarter. These are a few unique courses now available to students…

…Intergenerational Roots: A Mixed Heritage Family Oral History Project

Offered through the School of Social Work, Intergenerational Roots: A Mixed Heritage Family Oral History Project forgoes papers and exams to explore the history of mixed-heritage families directly by interviewing people of mixed race.

Instructor Theresa Ronquillo hopes that the course will teach students new skills in art, public relations, history, interviewing and event planning, as well as to help students understand the issues faced by the mixed-heritage community.

“I consider this very much a student-driven course, so while I am here to provide structure and guidance, my expectation is for participating students to take on the challenge and just go with it,” said Ronquillo.

Open to all students, this 1-credit course takes no more than 12 students per quarter.

Ronquillo hopes to work with students who have, “a willingness to learn new skills and [to] develop [and] engage in a creative, dynamic learning community.”

Taken over three quarters, this class is designed to be continuous, culminating in an oral history art exhibit at the end of the year. Each quarter can also be taken individually.

“Fall quarter will focus on student outreach, curriculum development and networking with potential university and community partners,” said Ronquillo. Winter and spring quarters will be more focused on interviewing, community art and event planning…

Read the entire article here.

Perceptions of Multiracial Individuals: Categorization Effects on the Race Continuum

Society for Personality and Social Psychology 2011 Annual Meeting
San Antonio, Texas
Poster Session G100
Saturday, 2011-01-29
18:15-19:45 (Local Time), Room TBD

Jacqueline M. Chen
University of California, Santa Barbara

David L. Hamilton, Professor of Psychology
University of California, Santa Barbara

We used a psychophysical approach to studying the categorization of biracials. The point-of-subjective-equality (PSE), or the exact ratio of minority-to-white background that is equally likely to be categorized as White or minority, differed for Asian-White and Black-White biracials. Only the PSE for Asian-White biracial suggested hypodescent.

For more information, click here.

Mixed-race models ignored by British fashion industry

The Independent
2010-10-03

Emily Dugan

They are under-represented on the catwalk – so they are holding their own glamorous contest

From triumph in the White House to Olympic and Formula One garlands, via just about every stage and screen, mixed-race people have made massive leaps forward in the past decade: everywhere, it seems, except in British fashion.

Though there is no shortage of glamorous mixed-race celebrities in public life – think Lewis Hamilton, his girlfriend Nicole Scherzinger, or Thandie Newton – it’s quite a different story on the UK’s catwalks. Britain’s first modelling contest exclusively for mixed-race entrants will take place later this month amid accusations that the fashion industry is overlooking them because they are too hard to pigeonhole.

The competition, set up by Mix-d, a social enterprise aimed at tackling racism, will allow only entrants who have parents of different racial backgrounds. Bradley Lincoln, the charity’s founder and a judge in the Mix-d: Face 2010 final on 30 October, said: “I noticed that there was a problem in the fashion industry for mixed-race models who weren’t seen as black enough to be black and not white enough to be white. I don’t think it’s conscious; [the industry] will pick what they like and think is current and mixed-race models often aren’t what they think of.”…

…Researchers believe the benefits of being from different races go far beyond just good looks. Dr Michael Lewis, lead researcher in the Cardiff University study, said: “There is evidence, albeit anecdotal, that the impact [of being mixed race] goes beyond just attractiveness. This comes from the observation that, although mixed-race people make up a small proportion of the population, they are over-represented at the top level of a number of meritocratic professions, such as acting with Halle Berry, Formula One racing with Lewis Hamilton and, of course, politics with Barack Obama.”…

Read the entire article here.