CASAA Goals
Shaped in part by the Combating Anti-Black Racism initiatives (CABR) at Arcadia University, the Center has three core goals that it aims to achieve in its efforts to become a leading advocate of antiracist thought and to act towards ensuring racial justice and equity. These goals include 1) pursuing research, 2) building community, and 3) providing resources.
Pursue Research
Because the cultures of racism and white supremacy are intersecting and constantly evolving, a central goal of CASAA is to promote the development of scholarship—through an intersectional lens—that contributes to our understanding of race, racism, and antiracism in the past as well as in the contemporary world. CASAA defines scholarship broadly to include discovery, artistic expression, and application. CASAA will:
- Promote University-wide scholarship related to better understanding racism and antiracist practices.
- Support scholar-advocates’ existing and developing research projects that are related to better understanding contemporary and historical forms of racism, how notions of white supremacy create racism, and other similar foci.
- Encourage community-engaged and action-oriented scholarship as well as research that will lead to the creation of curricula for understanding racism and antiracism.
- Develop, implement, and evaluate best practices for antiracist advocacy and action.
Build Community
CASAA will foster relationships within and across disciplines, institutions, and communities to generate diverse coalitions addressing issues of racism and social justice. This will involve engagement with colleagues and communities for the development, implementation, and evaluation of evidence-based resources in addition to advocacy and action efforts. In order to build this network of researchers, CASAA will:
- Promote and enable the development of diverse coalitions and, by doing so, serve as a model for unifying efforts.
- Be a space that actively engages the insights of those traditionally marginalized and disenfranchised in these important conversations.
- Work with community members to advocate for reform and action to combat racism and promote racial equity.
- Work collaboratively with the community, including colleagues and stakeholders both inside and outside of the University, to develop, test, and implement evidence-based antiracist practices.
Provide Resources
CASAA will cultivate a culture of professional and personal learning by providing access to training, conferences, and presentations, some of which will be the outcome of our scholar-advocates’ research. In collaboration with other units on and off campus, CASAA will also create an interdisciplinary repository of resources that addresses racism, outlines strategies for building racial equity, and shapes an ethic of care. CASAA will:
- Provide funding, grant-writing support and information, and collaborative spaces that support antiracist scholarship, action, and advocacy.
- Support existing faculty and staff scholarly and applied projects by providing opportunities for research dissemination and connecting faculty and staff with networks.
- Provide personal learning opportunities for faculty and staff to 1) increase awareness of positionalities, power, and privilege; 2) increase knowledge of the multifaceted effects of systemic racism; and 3) develop antiracist strategies and practices.
- Support faculty and staff in the development of antiracist, interdisciplinary, and inclusive curricula and pedagogy.
CASAA Programs and Initiatives
Part of the vision for the Center is to offer innovative and thought-provoking programming/initiatives to the members of the Arcadia community and beyond in order to deepen our collective understanding of the systems of racism and the efforts toward building racial equity in the modern world. Through sustained, research-based dialogue and opportunities to support the work of scholar-advocates, both at the University and within the community, we aim to be a catalyst for change.
Microgrants Program
The CASAA mission includes directly supporting research on race, racism, and antiracism in the past as well as the contemporary world. The CASAA Microgrants Program, which launched in AY21-22, provides opportunities for faculty and staff to pursue, polish, and present their scholarship with targeted financial support.
Scholar-Advocates Program
Determined to build a network of researchers from across the disciplines, CASAA established the CASAA Scholar-Advocates Program in Summer 2022. Our Scholar-Advocates engage in year-long antiracist research projects, receiving course releases, travel and professional development funds, and a stipend as support.
Emerging Scholars Program
In order to train the next generation of antiracist scholars, CASAA recognized the importance of supporting student projects related to race, racism, and systems of inequity across the globe. Known as the CASAA Emerging Scholars Program, established in AY22-23, this program provides financial and research assistance to student scholars.
CASAA Conversations Series
Promoting interactive conversations on race matters, across time and across the globe, is essential to our mission of fostering a culture of open yet challenging dialogue. CASAA Conversations—a moderated discussion on race, racism, white supremacy, and social justice—is open to both the Arcadia and local community.
CASAA Race Matters Forum
Part of the mission of CASAA is to create space in which scholar-advocates from Arcadia and the local community can engage in critical conversation about issues of race, racism, and racial inequity. We achieve this in part through the CASAA Race Matters Forum, which promotes the exchange of research and perspectives on race.
CASAA Research Design Series
Part of the mission of CASAA is to create space in which scholar-advocates from Arcadia and the local community can engage in critical conversation about issues of race, racism, and racial inequity. We achieve this in part through the CASAA Race Matters Forum, which promotes the exchange of research and perspectives on race.
CASAA Leadership
Through effective leadership, CASAA promotes research as a gateway to advocacy and antiracist action. Under the direction of our Leadership Team, the CASAA provides a platform to bring together diverse minds across the world to conduct research and develop antiracist practices while finding mechanisms for sustained community engagement. After all, change must happen both inside and outside of the academic classroom.
Executive Director
Dr. Christopher Allen Varlack, Executive Director of CASAA (AY22-present), is responsible for developing the mission and vision of the Center toward antiracist scholarship, co-managing its day-to-day operations, promoting the Center’s activities and services, establishing initiatives and partnerships to encourage and support faculty and staff antiracist research, and finding funding sources to accelerate CASAA projects.
Associate Director
Dr. Favian Alejandro Martin, Associate Director of Events and Engagement (AY22-present), is responsible for developing the Center’s core programming, creating spaces to showcase faculty and staff research through the CASAA Conversations Series and the CASAA Race Matters Forum. He is also responsible for organizing CASAA-sponsored faculty and staff working groups on the indigenous and Latinx experience.
Associate Director
Dr. Hilary Parsons Dick, Associate Director of Advocacy and Special Projects (AY23-present), is responsible for the development and management of the Arcadia Student Legal Clinic for Humanitarian Relief and strengthening connections with community organizations such as CCATE that serve minoritized populations. She is also reponsible for programming on global displacement and dispossession.
Administrative Coordinator
Ms. Deja Edwards, CASAA Grant Administrative Coordinator (AY22-present), is responsible for co-managing the Center’s day-to-day operations and financial records, coordinating tours of CASAA’s artifacts/collections, handling logistics for Center-sponsored and co-sponsored events, and supporting CASAA grant-funded initiatives.
Community Coordinator
Dr. Doreen E. Loury, CASAA Community Coordinator (AY22-present), is responsible for the development and organization of the Community Advisory Council, bringing together stakeholders to enhance the work of the Center and to discuss opportunities for community collaboration. She is also the Founding Executive Director of CASAA (AY21-22).
Community Advisory Council
The CASAA Community Advisory Council includes community leaders, center directors, and philanthropists, all of whom will help build CASAA networks, seek funding and donor support for the sustainability of the Center, and guide Center activities. The Council meets four times per year in both in-person and virtual modes in order to achieve these goals and refine CASAA’s mission.
