The interdisciplinary Social Differences, Social Justice cluster places Syracuse University scholars at the center of national and global discussions of social differences. By attending to racial, ethnic, indigenous, LGBT and gender identities; understandings of culture; ability; and disability, the cluster is centered on the pursuit of just futures.
In recent years, racial, sexual and economic inequalities have dominated the headlines. Politicians have had to address issues of structural racism and sexual inequality. Terms like “white privilege” have entered the mainstream through the work of scholars from across the academy. Technology has both contributed to and provided new means to understand and challenge inequality. Syracuse University is uniquely positioned to influence these important conversations. We are geographically located in a significant place of historic change, home to movements for indigenous peoples, women, African Americans, and disability rights that continue to shape American and global struggles for equality.
This history is reflected in the University’s continued commitment to diversity and inclusion that is reflected in scholarship and teaching in African American Studies, Composition and Cultural Rhetoric, Art and Music Histories, LGBT Studies, Native American and Indigenous Studies, Women’s and Gender Studies, as well as in units and departments across campus.
The cluster is divided into four main thematic and overlapping areas: Structures of Social Inequality; Art, Expression, and Resistance; Differences in a Digital World; and Historical and Global Transformations.
Recent Notable Publications and Presentations
- William Robert authored "Unbridled: Studying Religion In Performance," to be published by University of Chicago Press in Feb. 2022.
- Gwendolyn Pough Ph.D. recently co-edited a special issue of the journal Peitho: Journal of the Coalition of Feminist Scholars in the History of Rhetoric & Composition. Special Issue: On Race, Feminism and Rhetoric. Co-edited with Stephanie Jones. Volume 23 Number 4 (2021).
- Jamie Lyn Perry had the following paper published: Perry, J. L. (2021). "Work team diversity: Refocusing through the lens of team power and status." Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 15(12), e12646.
- On Sept. 27, 2021, Carol Faulkner presented on her book "Lucretia Mott's Heresy: Abolition and Women's Rights in 19th Century America" to an audience of 150 French teachers studying for their national teacher certification exam as preparation for the exam's question on "Women's Right to Vote in the United States, 1776-1965."
- Kristen Barnes, Reframing Housing: Incorporating Public Law Principles into Private Law, 31 Duke Journal of Comparative and International Law 91 (2021)
- Kristen Barnes, The Pieces of Housing Integration, 70 Case W. L. Rev. 717 (2020)
Primary Contacts
Patrick W. Berry
Marcelle Haddix
Gretchen Purser
Kira Reed
Danielle Smith
Cluster Hires
Kristen Barnes
Francisca Kumavie
Hector Rendon
Rachael Goodwin
Warrick Moses
Alicia Hatcher
Aaron Luedtke
Renate Chancellor
This cluster includes more than 30 affiliated faculty from the College of Arts and Sciences, Martin J. Whitman School of Management, College of Law, College of Engineering and Computer Science, School of Information Sciences and College of Visual and Performing Arts.