State of Democracy Lecture ~ Racial Mobility: Dynamics of Race and Inequality in the US on Oct 28

Aliya Saperstein to give State of Democracy Lecture at Maxwell School on Friday

Maxwell School of Syracuse University: State of Democracy Lecture Series
Friday, October 28 at 4:00 PM
Maxwell Auditorium
(Not in the area? Please join us via Maxwell’s UStream) 

Aliya Saperstein
Racial Mobility: The Dynamics of Race and Inequality in the United States

What is it that you know when you know someone’s race? Discussing the specifics makes many Americans uncomfortable, and there is little agreement on what researchers are trying to measure – skin color, ancestry, geography, culture, identity – with those race boxes we regularly ask people to check on forms and in surveys. Nevertheless, most studies of inequality in the United States assume that a person’s race is an input into our stratification system: a static, individual attribute that is ascribed at birth and helps to explain who accrues advantages or disadvantages throughout life. Professor Saperstein’s work demonstrates instead that race is both multi-dimensional and malleable: how Americans see racial difference has been shaped by centuries of discrimination and inequality, so a person’s race does not simply pre-date their upward or downward mobility; how we perceive each other and identify ourselves is also a result of those experiences.

Aliya Saperstein is an assistant professor of sociology at Stanford University whose research focuses on the conceptualization and measurement of race/ethnicity and sex/gender, and their consequences for understanding social inequality. Her work has earned recognition from academic journals, research centers, and professional associations in sociology and demography, including the 2016 Early Achievement Award from the Population Association of America. Saperstein, a former Visiting Scholar at the Russell Sage Foundation, is currently completing a book manuscript on Racial Mobility.

The Maxwell School’s State of Democracy Lecture Series
The State of Democracy Lecture Series is a centerpiece of the Maxwell School’s public event offerings, sponsored through the Alan K. Campbell Public Affairs Institute. It is dedicated to providing a forum for meaningful discussions of pressing public issues—both current and long-standing—which cut across disciplinary boundaries. The series enables the intellectual exploration of real-world challenges and fosters continuing discussion and debate, which is at the heart of meaningful democratic citizenship.

While there are several lectures each year, we are extremely fortunate to have one lecture per year sponsored by the Norman M. and Marsha Lee Berkman Fund.  Norman M. Berkman is a graduate of Syracuse University (’57 ) in Political Science. His wife, Marsha Lee, graduated from Northwestern University. They firmly believe that the State of Democracy Lecture Series that they sponsor serves as a valuable link in the political discourse between the university and the community and fosters understanding of significant contemporary issues.

All events begin at 4:00 in the Maxwell Auditorium and are followed by an open reception at 5:30, unless otherwise noted.  2016-17 Lecture Schedule (Videos also available for prior series lectures at this link)