Race and Ethnicity Commons^™

Archives Of The Future, Ka Oskar Ly

Masters Theses

Archives Of The Future is a practice-based thesis that invokes the archive and the future as simultaneous.

This research insists on the recentering of HMong Indigeneity and its own rooted traditions of HMong Queerness and HMong Feminism as ancestral knowledge systems.

They are the medicine. To recover their cosmological capacity is to traverse centuries of systematic eradication by empires and patriarchy.

I treat artistic making, community encounter, memory, and materials as equally valid ways of knowing and as collaborators. Field research from 2020 to 2026 moves through kinship and artisan teachings. It spans Southeast Asia, France, the United States, and …

For The Time Beings, Tori Hong

Masters Theses

For the Time Beings is a socially engaged installation and artist book exploring the material consequences and future possibilities of sociocultural time theories. Time, in the West, is typically associated with Newtonian linearity, while in the East, time theory relies on Buddhist principles. These epistemologies reinforce hierarchical and patriarchal structures. Centered on Indigenous Asian and Asian American perspectives, For the Time Beings challenges dominant ideologies of existing in time and space.

For nearly a year, I’ve burned handwritten prayers on new and full moons. The ashes of these prayers are incorporated into reverential drawings of chosen ancestors, made with charcoal …

Liquid Border, Yingfan Jia

Masters Theses

A River is a mighty and constantly-evolving force, leaving behind an intricately designed and constantly changing system. Not just a river, the Rio Grande stretches all the way from Colorado before intersecting with the US-Mexico Border in southern Texas - a point where the powerful forces of nature now merge with a clearly-defined political boundary. The outcome of this is a unique ecological niche, which may often go unnoticed despite its distinctiveness.

Texas is famous for its farms and ranches, and the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas was once an agricultural hub. However, urbanization and the depletion of water …

Material Encounters: Making Memory Beyond The Mind, Ariel Wills

Masters Theses

Can acts of making carry the memories of our embeddedness within the world? This thesis explores how making things can nurture a sense of kinship that cuts across the organic and inorganic, erasing the distinction between living and dead, material and spiritual. Through handwork such as art-making, sewing, knitting, cooking, woodworking, and beyond, the burden of remembering and of archiving is shared across human and non-human bodies, cultivated through practices of making, and through the materials themselves. By recounting the stories of my family’s experience as Jewish immigrants in the United States, I aim to reveal how their domestic practices …

President Somerson Announces Action Plan For Social Equity, Risd President, Rosanne Somerson, Risd Archives

Racial Justice

President Rosanne Somerson's announcement of an Action Plan for Social Equity at RISD.

2020 Risd Bi+Poc Student Demands For Racial Equity & Inclusion, Risd Anti-Racism Coalition (Risdarc), Risd Archives

Racial Justice

RISD Anti-Racism Coalition (risdARC) demands document presented to the RISD Community, July, 2020.

Center For Social Equity + Inclusion Action Plan, Center For Social Equity & Inclusion, Rosanne Somerson, Rene Watkins Payne

Center for Social Equity & Inclusion Action Plan

Art and design have far-reaching capacities for generating shared language and connecting people and communities. The creative forms we study at RISD are powerful means for conveying ideas and shaping experiences across habituated boundaries. Today we see those forms resonate more than ever before in the multilingual, culturally heterogeneous, digitally interconnected spaces around the globe. In fact, the democratization of communications media has made it possible for long marginalized voices to join and substantively transform our public discourses. The resulting body of critical knowledge has focused attention on interlocking systems of privilege and disenfranchisement entrenched throughout our social institutions, including …

The Waiting Room Photo Shoot, Black Artists And Designers (Baad), Risd Archives

Racial Justice

Photos of The Waiting Room event participants with spa face masks and sliced cucumbers.

Opening text reads: Welcome to THE BAADEST Waiting Room, founded on May 3, 2017 in response to the blatant disrespect, and lethargic responses to BAAD's list of demands and the hours of free labor that SEA committee members volunteered in order to create concrete recommendations for the school to implement. We occupy this space as a display of discontent, disobedience, and radical self care in an institution that demands constant physical production. We demand that President Rosanne Somerson and administration members end the RISD cycle of …

Letter To Risd Community, Black Artists And Designers (Baad), Malaika Temba, Qualeasha Wood, Risd Archives

Racial Justice

Black Artists and Designers (BAAD) Letter to the RISD Community January, 2017.

No, You're Wrong., Graphic Design Department, Risd Archives

Racial Justice

Student led campaign to discuss biases encountered during RISD critiques. "Let's Crit Crit" slogan.

Black Lives Matter, Graphic Design Department, Risd Archives

Racial Justice

Black Lives Matter print poster displayed on campus.

The Waiting Room, Black Artists And Designers (Baad), Risd Archives

Racial Justice

The Waiting Room facebook event description.

Text reads: Join us at our pop up spa for a full day of healing. In reaction to institutional neglect following last years "Not Your Token" Protest and Teach-In, and lack of response to RISD's SEA recommendations, we will open up for a day of self care on the 4th floor of Prov Wash as we massage the supremacy out of our institution. We'll have some treats for yall so wear and bring whatever you need (homework too!) to be your best, comfortable self.

This spa cannot treat afflictions of: racism, class differences, supremacy, …

The Waiting Room, Black Artists And Designers (Baad), Risd Archives

Racial Justice

The Waiting Room event poster.

Text Reads: Welcome to THE BAADEST Waiting Room, founded on May 3, 2017 in response to the blatant disrespect, and lethargic responses to BAAD's list of demands and the hours of free labor that SEA committee members volunteered in order to create concrete recommendations for the school to implement. We occupy this space as a display of discontent, disobedience, and radical self care in an institution that demands constant physical production. We demand that President Rosanne Somerson and administration members end the RISD cycle of two-faced bullshitting and back-stabbing. If we do not receive a …

The Waiting Room, Black Artists And Designers (Baad), Risd Archives

Racial Justice

The Waiting Room event poster.

It's Risd. Get Used To It., Graphic Design Department, Risd Archives

Racial Justice

Student led campaign to discuss biases encountered during RISD critiques. "Let's Crit Crit" slogan.

Social Equities That Don't Exist Yet., Project Lets, Risd Archives

Racial Justice

Poster for Social Equities that Don't Exists Yet, an unbiased conversation sponsored by the RISD chapter of Project LETS (Let's Erase The Stigma). Project LETS is a mental health advocacy group as well as a peer support network, dedicated to erasing the stigma around mental health and talking about mental health issues, especially as it relates to the RISD experience.

Black Lives Matter Free Community Printing Event, As220, Risd Archives

Racial Justice

Poster promoting Black Lives Matter free printing event hosted by Providence artist collective AS220, displayed on campus.

Not Your Token, Black Artists And Designers (Baad), Risd Archives

Racial Justice

Poster for Not Your Token protest organized by RISD BAAD (Black Artists And Designers), held April 6, 2016 in Market Square, Providence, RI.

Text Reads:

Not Your Token

It is not our job to educate you.
But we will demand to be listened to.
Who does this "progressive" institution represent?
When 'western' education is the only thing of value.
Equality does not equal equity.
Our identities and experiences cannot be bought.
We are more than a statistic.
We are more than a data point.
We are more than loose change.
We are people with a desire to learn;
And we …

Community Is Stronger Than Hate

Racial Justice

Community is Stronger Than Hate poster displayed on campus.

Black Lives Matter

Racial Justice

Black Lives Matter print poster displayed on campus.

We Demand, Black Artists And Designers (Baad), Risd Archives

Racial Justice

We Demand poster. Demands focused on racial justice made by RISD students to the administration in 2016.

Racism Is Not Normal, Misogyny Is Not Normal, Fraud Is Not Normal, Dwri Letterpress, Risd Archives

Racial Justice

Letterpress printed poster created by Providence-based artist DWRI Letterpress displayed on campus.

"This Is The City This Is The World This Is A Small School: Diversity And The Risd Population," Mixed Media, Vol. 1, No. 3, April 22,1996, Students Of Risd, Risd Archives

RISD Students and Institutional Governance

Article from the Mixed Media, Vol. 1, No. 3, April 22,1996 student newspaper.

Minority Dean Job Description 1972, Talbot Rantoul, Risd Archives

RISD Students and Institutional Governance

Minority Dean job description.

Directions In The Work Of Black American Artists | Barry Gaither, Barry Gaither, Maurice Burns, Risd Archives

Racial Justice

Poster using the three colors of the Pan-African flag, showing portrait omage of Dr. Barry Gaither, Curator for the Museumof the National Center of African American Artists. Derivation of previous poster (May 5 1970). May 4, 1970 was the date of the Kent State University campus shootings, where 4 anti-war protestors were shot and killed by the Ohio National Guard. RISD, as well as campuses across the U.S., shut down as students went on strike in protest of the Kent State killings. It is likely that the May 5 lecture was canceled and rescheduled for October 20, 1970 [see May …

Coalition Of Minority Students, Concerned Students, And Concerned Professional Staff Meeting With Trustees' Executive Committee May 12, 1970, Coalition Of Minority Studemts, Concerned Students, And Concerned Professional Staff, Risd Archives

RISD Students and Institutional Governance

Coalition's request and administration's reponse regarding meeting with the Trustees' Executive Committee, May 13, 1970.

President Rantoul Letter To Trustees Regarding Concerned Students May 7, 1970, Talbot Rantoul, Risd Archives

RISD Students and Institutional Governance

President Rantoul Letter to Trustees Regarding Concerned Students.

Directions In The Work Of Black American Artists | Barry Gaither, Barry Gaither, Maurice Burns, Risd Archives

Racial Justice

Poster using the three colors of the Pan-African flag, showing portrait omage of Dr. Barry Gaither, Curator for the Museumof the National Center of African American Artists. May 4, 1970 was the date of the Kent State University campus shootings, where 4 anti-war protestors were shot and killed by the Ohio National Guard. RISD, as well as campuses across the U.S., shut down as students went on strike in protest of the Kent State killings. It is likely that the May 5 lecture was canceled and rescheduled for the fall [see October 20, 1970 poster for same lecture].

Text reads: …

Administration Response To Position Paper May 1,1970, Talbot Rantoul, Risd Archives

RISD Students and Institutional Governance

RISD President memo responding to student demands.

Student Response To President Rantoul's Statement Regarding The Demands For More Financial Aid April 16, 1970, Students Of Risd, Risd Archives

RISD Students and Institutional Governance

Student Response to President Rantoul's Statement Regarding the Demands for More Financial Aid including the proposal to form a Student-Faculty senate.