History of CCSRE

The Stanford University Center for Comparative Studies in Race & Ethnicity (CCSRE) was established in 1996 when student activists and faculty researchers united to form the university’s most comprehensive race and ethnic studies program. In the more than 25 years since its founding, CCSRE has grown into a university-wide research and teaching center with affiliated faculty from across the university. CCSRE offers undergraduate degrees in Asian American, Chicana/o-Latino/a, Native American, Jewish, and Comparative Race Studies; a Ph.D. minor; 200+ courses; and multiple student fellowships. CCSRE also leads major research, training, and education on diverse topics including art, criminal justice, artificial intelligence, race and inequality.

CCSRE celebrated our 25th anniversary in 2021. To honor our history, we published a commemorative book that celebrates 25 years of the Center. CCSRE graduate fellow and doctoral student in history, Calvin Cheung-Miaw, wrote the text with care. He interviewed numerous students, faculty members, alums and others that played integral roles in the development of CCSRE. He examined dozens of sources in newspapers, newsletters and photo archives to produce this version of CCSRE’s history. We hope that it succeeds in capturing our mission which is to foster interdisciplinary education, research and community engagement with the goal of achieving racial equity. While this is not a definitive history of CCSRE, the book reflects some of the struggles and successes that we have had since our founding in 1996.