The purpose of this research circle is to examine the impact of multicultural discourse (from popular, academic and political sources) on the reality of multicultural/multiracial relationships. In particular we plan to focus on multicultural, mixed race couples and families as mini-models of racial intersections in multiracial/ multicultural societies. We center on the ways multicultural discourse envisions and impacts inter-racial/inter-cultural love and family formation. We believe that the answers lie at the intersections between material relations, discursive representations and culture/race studies.

We believe that this theme of racial/cultural mixing will serve to make more multidimensional a topic typically essentialized, and we anticipate the discussion and debates generated by the conference will result in a book challenging today's multicultural discourse on racial/cultural mixing. The conversation will serve as a foundation to influence educational discourse, policy and curriculums around issues of race and interrace.

To learn more, visit the About page.

This research circle has ended. Thank you to all our sponsors and participants.

Additional readings and resources are available at the Readings page.

Monday, April 18 in 494 Van Hise Hall at 5:30 PM

Print the black and white or color poster (PDF format).

Co-sponsors Global Studies, the International Institute, the Division of International Studies, Asian American Studies, Latin American, Caribbean and Iberian Studies, Chican@ & Latin@ Studies, the School of Journalism & Mass Communication, and the departments of History, Afro-American Studies, and Communication Arts present

A talk by Ralina Joseph: Transcending Blackness in the 21st Century, or How Can I Be Like Barack Obama?

As "postrace" is the buzzword of the new century, and Barack Obama has quickly become a poster child of the postrace, the question arises: must multiracial African Americans metaphorically transcend blackness in order to achieve success? This talk will critique the notion that mixed-race black subjects function as bridges offering safe passage to a third, interstitial, or hybridized space. I argue that a two-sided stereotype, comprised in the "new millennium mulatta" and the "exceptional multiracial," has arisen instead through a variety of mediated discourses.

Ralina Joseph is an Assistant Professor of Communication at the University of Washington. Her forthcoming book from Duke University Press entitled Transcending Blackness: Anti-Black Racism and African American Multiraciality from the New Milennium Mulatta to the Exceptional Multiracial investigates 1998-2008 era pop culture representations of multiracial African Americans.

For more information about the seminar, please contact one of the organizers:

Katarzyna Beilin. Associate Professor, Department of Spanish and Portuguese.

Michael C. Thornton. Professor, Department of Afro-American Studies.

Multiracial Tales and Multicultural Discourses is made possible by the generous support of Global Studies, the International Institute and the Division of International Studies.