Ithaca College

Sociologist Michael Omi — best known for helping develop the theory of racial formation — will kick off the yearlong discussion series sponsored by the Ithaca College Center for the Study of Culture, Race, and Ethnicity (CSCRE). Omi’s talk, titled “Colorblind? The Contradictions of Racial Classification,” will be held at 7 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 14, in Emerson Suites. It is free and open to the public.

Naeem Inayatullah, Professor and Chair in Department of Politics at Ithaca College, will be introducing this year’s series, “Suffocating Knowledge: Race, Power, Possibilities.”  Professor Inayatullah, who works on cultural identity in international political economy, will frame the series’ focus, which seeks to explore current trends in intellectual and curricular repression as manifested in the ongoing attacks on ethnic and race studies programs across the U.S.

Omi and colleague Howard Winant coauthored the 1986 book “Racial Formation in the United States,” now considered a classic in the literature on race and ethnicity. It was updated in 1994 to include new research as well as developments in American racial politics up to that time, focusing on such key events as the 1992 presidential election, the Los Angeles riots, and the Clinton administration’s racial politics and policies.

The two are currently working on a project that critically examines contemporary patterns of racialization in the United States. Their research centers on the emergence of both “colorblind” and “color-conscious” ideologies, strategies and practices in the post-Civil Rights era — and the overall impact of these ideologies on the framing of contemporary political and policy debates. Omi is also conducting research that looks at the “racial positioning” of Asian Americans in contemporary sociological literature.

Omi teaches in the Department of Ethnic Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. His honors include the inaugural Distinguished Teacher and Mentor Award from the American Sociological Association Section on Asia and Asian America, Distinguished Teaching Award from Berkeley and Community Changemakers Award from Asian Health Services of Oakland, California.

Individuals with disabilities requiring accommodations should contact Claire Crilly at ccrilly@ithaca.edu or (607) 274-1056. We ask that requests for accommodations be made as soon as possible.

For more information, visit www.ithaca.edu/cscre.