About

Our Mission

The Center's mission is to promote engaged research, scholarship and discussion, with a focus on the ways in which issues of race and democracy impact the lives of global citizens.

Statement on Our Dual Pandemics

The Center for the Study of Race and Democracy, the Department of Studies in Race, Colonialism, and Diaspora, and the African American Trail Project remain committed to the pursuit of racial justice and equality at this moment of global pandemic. Read our statement.

Overview of Our Center

The Center for the Study of Race and Democracy (CSRD) is devoted to conceptualizing the intersection between race and democracy at the local, national, and international levels. On this score, it focuses on the pivotal contributions of ordinary activists, iconic anti-racist political activists, intellectuals, elected officials, and cultural workers. Based on the belief that history informs contemporary struggles for democracy and public policy, the Center seeks to participate in a public conversation about the very meaning of racial, social, and political justice.

The African American Trail Project

The African American Trail Project is a collaborative public history initiative housed at Tufts University's Center for the Study of Race and Democracy. Originally inspired by the scholarship of Tufts Professor Gerald R. Gill (1948-2007) and driven by faculty and student research, this project maps African American and African-descended public history sites across greater Boston, and throughout Massachusetts. The African American Trail Project aims to develop African American historical memory and intergenerational community, placing present-day struggles for racial justice in the context of greater Boston's historic African American, Black Native, and diasporic communities.

Slavery, Colonialism, and their Legacies

In 2023-24, the Center for the Study of Race and Democracy has partnered with the Center for Humanities at Tufts (CHAT), the Tufts Archival Research Center (TARC) and the Office of Provost, in a university-wide collaborative research initiative to examine the history of slavery, colonialism, and their legacies at Tufts University. The project will provide sustained support for interdisciplinary scholarship and public programming focused on Tufts’ historical ties to slavery and the long presence of African descended and indigenous communities in the region.