St. Olaf celebrates 50 years of Race and Ethnic Studies

At this year’s Homecoming and Family Weekend, St. Olaf College will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Race and Ethnic Studies (abbreviated RACE) program. Established as the American Minority Studies program, RACE was started in 1969 with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

RACE is an interdisciplinary program offering a major and concentration that focuses on the cultural and historical concerns and experiences of people of color, recognizing that race and ethnicity have been — and continue to be — crucial components within interlocking systems of oppression, as well as powerful sites of intersectional resistance. The program received a To Include is To Excel grant to update its curriculum to include current concepts, methods, and theories that interrogate ethno-nationalist border-making.