Three faculty members in the department of government—Jamila Michener, David Bateman and Sergio Garcia-Rios—worked together to launch the PRICE Initiative in 2020. PRICE (Politics of Race, Immigration, Class and Ethnicity) is a new effort that aims to expand and enrich research, teaching, and engagement around race, immigration, class, ethnicity, and related intersections. Since PRICE launched in July 2020, we have convened scholars, activists, policymakers, and thought leaders for critical conversations about issues that are vital to the future of US Democracy. In July 2020, PRICE’s inaugural webinar, “Getting Free: Race and Abolition,” directly tackled urgent issues of racial injustice. In January 2021, our second webinar, “Women of Color and the Future of U.S. Democracy,” illuminated critical perspectives made especially salient in the wake of the 2020 election. Together, these two events attracted nearly 800 registrants and 500 attendees.
As PRICE move forwards, we will continue to organize public events that critically inform discourse about issues related to race, class, and immigration. Our next event, slated for May 2021, will assess the first 100 days of the Biden Administration, through the lens of racial justice, immigration and public policy. We already have an exciting lineup of panelists, including Cecilia Muñoz, the former Director of the White House Domestic Policy Council under President Obama and a key member of President Biden’s transition team.
This spring, PRICE will roll out our first round of PRICE grants to fund graduate student research and publishing. Follow PRICE on twitter @PRICEinitiative to keep up on the latest developments.
