A Message from the Director

Welcome to the Center for Ethnic Studies and the Arts.  Studying the distinctive, yet synthetic relationships among minority communities and the arts, CESA supports both those who specialize in individual ethnic studies areas and those who wish to learn more about how cultural diversity defines and enriches the arts. Our public programs, faculty and student research activities, educational opportunities, and other innovations have inspired dialogues and new creative force about ethnic identities and the arts, writ broadly. We organize lectures, book discussion groups, graduate proseminars, an annual junior faculty publications workshop, and symposia and conferences. In addition, we have published a student-written cookbook.

From 2008-2011, CESA has launched its Arts in Everyday Life initiative.  At CESA, we embrace not only the traditional fine arts, but all aspects of expressive culture, including vernacular traditions, rituals, and commercial popular culture. Our 3-year initiative focuses on three research clusters: Women of Color in Popular Culture; Food Studies; Identities and Technoculture.

Lauren Rabinovitz
Professor of American Studies and Cinema and Comparative Literature