In partnership with the Department of Criminology at the University of the Free State in South Africa, the Center for Antiracist Scholarship, Advocacy, and Action (CASAA) is proud to announce the launch of the CASAA Global Conversations Series. This cross-continental initiative–to be led by Dr. Favian Martin, CASAA’s Director of Community and Student Engagement, is designed to reshape global discourse on racism and to promote racial justice as well as equity across diverse cultural contexts. 

The series will kick off on Thursday, September 25, 2025, at 2:30 PM EST with a virtual keynote discussion with Dr. Michelle Reale, Professor and Librarian at Arcadia University and CASAA Associate Director. Her recent book, Volta: An Italian-American Reckoning with Race explores critical themes of identity, history, and racial reckoning. Alison Bailey, author of The Weight of Whiteness: A Feminist Engagement with Privilege, Race, and Ignorance, comments on Reale’s work: “White anti-racist work demands creative methodologies for engaging and reckoning with the places that scare us. Reale employs autoethnography, memory work, and poetic inquiry to spark a full-hearted realignment with her humanity to lay bare her complicity in the racism inherited from her Italian-American community. Honest, raw, and reflective, Volta offers readers a set of conceptual tools for examining their own internalized racism.”

“We are honored to begin this important dialogue with such powerful and timely work,” said Dr. Martin. “This series is about creating space for international collaboration, where scholars, students, and communities can challenge racism and share strategies for equity across different cultural and national contexts.” Open and honest dialogue is the key to learning from and through our faults as societies, both past and present. We know that the CASAA Global Conversations Series will inspire critical thought and reflection on the lived experiences of individuals in South Africa and the United States while fostering a deeper appreciation for the nuanced and multidimensional nature of the human experience. The event will take place on Zoom on Thursday, September 25, 2025, featuring a thirty-minute talk, followed by a fifteen-minute Q&A session. The Series will alternate between U.S. and South African speakers, offering an ongoing platform for critical conversations and community building across continents. All are welcome to add; please reach out to the CASAA Leadership Team at casaa@arcadia.edu if you need access to the Zoom link for this event.