New Center on Race and Democracy Launched at Arizona State University

Arizona State University has announced the establishment of the Center for the Study of Race and Democracy on its Tempe campus. The new center will include scholars from several departments and schools including law, political science, English, sociology, anthropology, and religion. As a kickoff event, the center held a conference late last month entitled “Barack Obama and American Democracy.”

The founding director of the new center is Matthew C. Whitaker, an associate professor of history at Arizona State, where he has been on the faculty for the past decade. Professor Whitaker has bachelor’s degrees in sociology and U.S. history and a master’s degree in history from Arizona State University. He has a Ph.D. in history from Michigan State University. His latest book is Hurricane Katrina: America's Unnatural Disaster (University of Nebraska Press, 2009).

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