Intercultural American Studies Council at Northwestern University

In the wake of the Civil Rights movement, the United States has witnessed the emergence and proliferation of powerful and creative diasporic groups in the United States, transforming traditional ideas of what constitutes “America” and, therefore, “American Studies.” As these groups self-identify and assert themselves politically, socially, and culturally, the boundaries between groups are also dissolving in interesting ways. Thus, at Northwestern University, while we see the virtue of continued investment in, for example, our well-established department of African American Studies, and in our curricularly-dynamic programs in Asian American Studies and Latinx Studies, our faculty and students also cluster in working groups and research initiatives that bring these separate academic units into creative and productive dialogue with each other, specifically on topics that touch upon critical race theory and diaspora studies. In response to the growing interest of students and faculty in strengthening and bringing together these currently dispersed academic units, we propose to establish a new Intercultural American Studies Council. This Council would join a cluster of other institutes and centers at Northwestern whose missions likewise emphasize collaboration, dialogue, and public engagement. These include the Institute for Policy Research, the Alice Kaplan Institute for the Humanities, the Buffett Institute for Global Studies, as well as the Mellon-supported Center for Native American and Indigenous Research (CNAIR).