The ICR delivers advanced research on global questions concerning racism, with a commitment to engaging in the study of all racisms, including antisemitism. Since the 1960s, scholarship on racism has concentrated on individual countries or regions, as well as particular fields of prejudice at the expense of others. In contrast, the ICR is dedicated to providing global perspectives regarding a plurality of racisms, from Judeophobia to Romaphobia.
Edge Hill University has an extensive history of racism studies and antiracism, beginning half a century ago. PKC Millins, Edge Hill’s Principal from 1964 to 1979, was at the forefront of national efforts to use education as a means of improving race relations. As late as the 1990s, Edge Hill was the only UK institution to deliver an undergraduate degree in race and ethnic relations. Alumni of that programme include the Head of the International Slavery Museum, Dr Richard Benjamin, a member of the ICR’s Advisory Board. In 2010, Edge Hill established ErRS, the Ethnicity, Race, and Racism Seminar, the work of which led to the foundation of the ICR in the summer of 2019.
In collaboration with international partners, the ICR delivers research projects and fora that provide new insights on racisms for academic, civil society, and policy communities. Activities include the PKC Millins lecture, the ICR annual conference and civil society workshop, seminar series, and ongoing research projects, including a partnership with the European University Institute in Florence on the multimedia magazine, MONITOR Global Intelligence on Racism.
The Centre brings together social scientists, historians, education experts, and media scholars. It is supported by an international advisory board composed of academics and culture professionals in Europe, North America, and Australia.
Image: ‘Whole world- land and oceans’, Visible Earth, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center (2002).
