Diversity Challenge
The Institute was founded in 2000 at Boston College, to promote the assets and address the societal conflicts associated with race and culture in theory and research, mental health practice, education, business, and society at large.听Each year the Institute addresses a racial or cultural issue that could benefit from a pragmatic, scholarly, or grassroots focus through its Diversity Challenge conference.
The 2025 Diversity Challenge will center graduate students and it will be virtual. The theme is "Intersectional Approaches to the Study of Race and Racism: Implications for Psychological Research, Training, and Practice."
2025 Biennial Diversity Challenge Graduate Student Conference:
Intersectional Approaches to the Study of Race and Racism: Implications for Psychological Research, Training, and Practice
Saturday, November 15, 2025 | 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. EST
How race and racism intersect with other aspects of personal identity and societal oppression is an important area of inquiry for psychology. As such, this year's听Diversity听Challenge Graduate Student听Conference听will allow听conference听participants the opportunity to present and engage with听conference听speakers on a range of topics that reflect the intersectional nature of race and racism.
Headlined by Keynote Speaker Dr. Jioni Lewis, this virtual听conference听will provide students the space to share research theorizing on intersectionality and recommendations for practice and policy that reflect intersections of race and racism with gender, disability, social class, sexual identity, and religion. In addition, the mentoring panels will allow students to connect with scholars in the field to discuss the navigation of race and racism in an increasingly intolerant environment.
Call for Proposals
The ISRC is delighted to provide an opportunity for graduate students to present their work and engage in discussion, mentoring, and community with experienced scholars conducting race and racism-related research. This conference will be free and held virtually via Zoom.
We are inviting submissions of proposals for poster presentations, individual research papers, and symposia focused on intersectionality and recommendations for practice and policy that reflect intersections of race and racism with gender, disability, social class, sexual identity, and religion. The symposia proposals should represent a collection of 3 presentations centered on a unifying theme and can comprise both research and conceptual presentations.
Please submit your proposal via this 听no later than September 1, 2025.
When submitting your proposal, please include the following in separate documents:
- Cover page with Presenters and Affiliation
- Overview of presentation
- 300 words maximum for posters and individual paper presentations
- 500 words maximum for symposia including a brief description of each individual presentation
The proposals will be submitted to an anonymous peer review process and notifications of acceptanceswill be issued by September 15, 2025.
Conference Schedule
Note: The complete fall 2025 conference schedule will be released closer to the event. Below is our schedule from last year's conference for your reference.听
Friday, September 13, 2024
Program At-a-Glance
| 8:30 - 9:00 a.m. | 听 听 Check-in and refreshments |
| 9:00 - 9:15 a.m. | 听 听 Overview of Conference 听 听 Alex L. Pieterse,听Director, Institute for the Study of Race and Culture, and Associate Professor, Boston College |
| 9:15 - 10:45 a.m. | 听 听 Keynote Address and Discussion: "Walking the Talk: Integrating Anti-Racism into Psychological Science"* 听 听 Chard茅e Gal谩n,听Assistant Professor, The Pennsylvania State University |
| 11:00 - 12:30 p.m. | 听 听 Paper Presentations
|
| 12:30 - 1:30 p.m. | 听 听 Lunch (provided) and Networking听 |
| 1:30 - 3:00 p.m. | 听 听听Plenary and Symposia: "Critical Race Theory and Quantitative Methods: An Introduction to QuantCrit"* 听 听 Concurrent Symposia:
|
| 3:30 - 5:00 p.m. | 听 听听"Anti-Racism Interventions in Psychology"* 听 听 Jude C茅nat,听Associate Professor and Director of the Vulnerability, Trauma, Resilience & Culture Research Lab, University of Ottawa |
| 6:00 - 7:30 p.m. | 听 听听Poster Presentations, Social Hour, and Live Entertainment |
*Presentations marked with an asterisk are available for CE credits.
Saturday, September 14, 2024
Program At-a-Glance
| 8:15 - 8:45 a.m. | 听 听 Check-in and light breakfast |
| 8:45 - 10:15 a.m. | 听 听 Symposium: "Navigating Shadows: Racism and Policing in the Lives of Black Emerging Adults in the U.S."* 听 听 Concurrent Symposia
|
| 10:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. | 听 听 Keynote Presentation and Response: "White Logic and White Methods - Racism and the Construction of Knowledge"* 听 听 Eduardo Bonilla-Silva,听James B. Duke Distinguished Professor of Sociology, Duke University 听 听 Helen A. Neville,听Professor, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign |
| 12:30 - 1:30 p.m. | 听 听 Lunch (provided) |
| 1:30 - 3:00 p.m. | 听 听 Paper Presentations
|
| 3:15 - 4:45 p.m. | 听 听 Plenary Address: "Decolonizing Psychology Training"* 听 听 Amy L. Reynolds,听Professor, University at Buffalo |
| 4:45 - 5:00 p.m. | 听 听 Concluding Comments 听 听 Alex L. Pieterse,听Director, Institute for the Study of Race and Culture, and Associate Professor, Boston College |
*Presentations marked with an asterisk are available for CE credits.
Mentor Panelists
Dr. Jasmin Brooks Stephens 鈥� University of California, Berkley
Dr. Lisa A. Suzuki 鈥� New York University
Dr. Shawn C. T. Jones 鈥� Virginia Commonwealth University
Dr. Tyler Lefevor 鈥� Utah State University
Dr. Germ谩n A. Cadenas鈥� Rutgers University
Dr. Cristal铆s Capielo Rosario鈥� Arizona State University
Dr. Enrique W. Neblett, Jr 鈥� University of Michigan
Dr. Brian TaeHyuk Keum鈥� University of California, Berkley
Dr. Gayle Morse 鈥� Russell Sage College
Dr. Lillian Polanco-Roman, New York University
“As a result of attending the conference, my thinking about the ways gender, race and ethnic identity develop among women and girls and its psychological outcomes has deepened in complexity and understanding.”
Past Events
Toward an Anti-Racist Psychological Science: Epistemic and Methodological Considerations
September 13 & 14, 2024
Boston College
The 2024 Diversity Challenge Conference explored approaches to dismantling the dominance of Whiteness in psychological science, as well as elevating additional racial and cultural perspectives on psychological constructs and research methodologies. The conference was held in-person at Boston College.
Race and Racism in Psychological Science: Considerations for Emerging Scholars
November 11, 2023
Online via Zoom
This opportunity focused on showcasing the work of Graduate students as they presented their work and received valuable mentorship from esteemed scholars in this field. Attendees contributed to the production and dissemination of impactful research on race and racism. This conference was free and open to graduate students.听
The 2022 Diversity Challenge focused on strategies and interventions designed to facilitate healing from racial trauma and will address racial trauma from multiple perspectives. Presentations focused on multigenerational trauma, healing through storytelling, utilization of research as a tool for empowerment and liberation, understanding the effects of racial trauma on academic performance, and surviving and thriving in the midst of ongoing racially traumatic experiences. The conference welcomed nationally recognized experts sharing their perspectives, insights, and research, and heard from graduate students during the poster presentation session.
Events over the past years have highlighted the ongoing and urgent need to address the harmful effects of racism and to be more vigilant in our efforts focused on both intervening and preventing the traumatic effects of race and racism.
The 20th anniversary of ISPRC and Diversity Challenge theme was 鈥淕oodbye 鈥業sms,鈥� Hello Future.鈥� Racism, racialized ethnocentricity, and xenophobia have spread their tentacles of oppression in virtually every domain in U.S. society as well as other countries. Over the years, communities of Diversity Challengers have convened to share their scholarship, mental health interventions, educational strategies, social justice community advocacy, or their encouragement to foster our shared efforts to move toward a mutual goal of ending racial and ethnic cultural oppression in whatever forms they occur.听听
Diversity Challenge 2017 - A Look Back
The ISPRC wishes to extend our gratitude to all presenters and participants who attended the 2017 Diversity Challenge: "Race, Culture, and Criminal Justice throughout the Lifespan."听 Over 100 presentations, including Invited Panels, Workshops, Symposia, Individual Presentations and Posters, helped to bring together scholars, educators, mental health practitioners and others to share ideas, research, and conversation about this important and timely topic.听 Below are some images from the two-day interactive conference.听
Theme History
2001 听听How to Survive Teaching Courses on Race and Culture
2002 听听How to Keep High-Stakes Tests from Making People Mentally Ill
2003 听听30+ Years of Racial Identity Theory: What Do We Know? And How Does It Help Us
2004 听听Making Race and Culture Matter in Community-Focused Interventions
2005 听听Making Race and Culture Work in the World of Work
2006 听听Do Immigrants Catch or Carry Race and Culture
2007 听听Race and Culture Intersections in Scientific Research and Mental Health Service Delivery for Children, Adolescents, and Families
2008 听听Race, Culture, and Trauma
2009 听听Racial Identity and Cultural Factors in Treatment, Research, and Policy
2010 听听Race and Culture in Teaching, Training, and Supervision
2011 听听Intersections of Race or Ethnic Culture with Gender or Sexual Orientation
2012 听听What to Do about Race and Culture and Violence
2013 听听Intersections of Race, Culture, and Health and Mental Health
2014 听听Racial or Ethnic Discrimination Across the Lifespan
2015 听听Race, Culture, and Social Justice
2016 听听Race, Culture, and Educating our Youths: Developing People Not Widgets