Mission Statement
The Center for Intersectionality and Social Policy Studies functions as a research entity and a site for intellectual dialogue and collaboration for academics who are committed to analyzing the dynamics of complex inequity and stratification, as well as to policy and legal advocacy. Our mission is to explicate, reveal, analyze, and intervene in systems of racial, economic, gender, disability, ethno-religious, age-based, and sexual subordination that generate population vulnerability, limit opportunities for legal or social redress, and contribute to collective failures to recognize and confront intersectional harm.
Our activities fall into three overlapping areas:
- Research: We sponsor collaborative research networks in five topical areas, host a "methods core" for scholars across disciplines, and are committed to building interdisciplinary research partnerships to engender grant-funded research.
- Dialogue: We sponsor a range of events and activities designed to facilitate conversation between leading and emerging scholars in the field of intersectional studies
- Policy Analysis and Advocacy: We are invested in tracking, analyzing, and engaging in direct advocacy to improve or critically intervene in law and policy in multiple areas, including civil rights, education, international development, health, and criminal justice.
At Columbia University, we are located within the Law School. We are also affiliated with the Institute for Social and Economic Research and Policy. In the areas of policy advocacy and community outreach, we work collaboratively with the African American Policy Forum and with a range of community partners and nongovernmental organizations in the areas of civil rights, human rights, racial justice, gender equity, and youth advocacy.
