The research emerging from the Cogut Institute is fascinating and extraordinarily diverse, reflecting Brown University’s vibrant humanities community.

Emerging from the initiative “Origins and Afterlives of Ethnic Studies” directed by Shelley Lee (American Studies, History, Urban Studies), “The Confluence: Ethnic Studies and the Public Good” features conversations with thinkers and practitioners in and outside of the academy and examines how Ethnic Studies serves a public good, transforming education and our broader world as we grapple with questions of race, migration, identity, and justice.

Every year, the Cogut Institute hosts a cohort of research fellows at all levels — undergraduate, graduate, postdoctoral, and faculty. Fellows meet together weekly to share and discuss work-in-progress, creating a lively space of interdisciplinary learning and community.

The center, emerging from a grassroots initiative started by Brown University facutly and graduate students, advances research and pedagogy on the more-than-human world and unfolding environmental crises. It is led by inaugural director Macarena Gómez-Barris (Modern Culture and Media).