About CRES
Comparative Race and Ethnicity Studies (CRES) is the interdisciplinary study of how race, ethnicity, and indigeneity have been formed, contested, transformed, and mobilized on local, national, and global scales. We understand ‘race’ to be an ideological framework through which power and domination, alongside liberation and self-determination, have been understood and enacted throughout modern history and in our present time.
How to Navigate CRES
The program in Comparative Race and Ethnicity Studies (CRES) is a community of students and faculty who are interested in the interdisciplinary study of race and ethnicity, whether through the CRES major, minor, colloquium, or courses. If you would like to receive announcements about upcoming events and program updates, please subscribe to the CRES students mailing list. Faculty can also subscribe to the CRES faculty mailing list.
The CRES major is intended for students who wish to combine focused study in anthropology, dance, English, history, music, religion, or sociology, with comparative interdivisional work on race and ethnicity. For more information, see the major profile of CRES. Majors are required to pass CRES 300 as well as their home department qual as juniors; as seniors, they write theses with a focus on comparative race and ethnicity.
The CRES minor is intended for students in any department who wish to engage with with the cross-disciplinary examination of race and ethnicity as well as acquire an understanding of approaches (including theories and methods) to the study of race and/or ethnicity within given disciplines.
The CRES colloquium hosts a series of events centering on the study of race and ethnicity, including Reed faculty research, student theses, and visiting speakers. All Reed community members are welcome! Please check the events sidebar to the right to see when the next CRES colloquium will take place.
All CRES courses examine questions of race and ethnicity for half the semester or more. Many courses also treat specific categories of race and ethnicity as the central object of inquiry and teach approaches (including theories and methods) to the study of race and/or ethnicity within given disciplines.