Center for Studying Structures of Race
The Center for Studying Structures of Race (CSSR) was formed to provide thoughtful, creative and innovative responses to the problems of race in local, national and international contexts. The name intentionally invokes the physical structures on and around the Roanoke College campus that reveal histories and legacies of slavery and institutional racism, including campus buildings constructed by enslaved workers, a former slave quarters and a Confederate monument, while also emphasizing the necessity of examining forms of structural racism from an interdisciplinary perspective. The CSSR attempts to both expand and complicate the ways in which we teach, research and learn about race, creates a space for unique and experiential student learning activities, and works to establish connections with the broader community.
Annual Theme
Each year, CSSR shapes its work around a theme designed to challenge us to think deeply about questions from a new perspective. In 2024-2025, it asks audiences to join it in reflecting on a statement:
Forget Me Not
What do we remember? Where do we encounter our individual and collective memories? How do we make space for that which is forgotten? Learn more.
NEWS
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Years of research and collaboration have contributed to a memorial sculpture that recognizes and honors the role of enslaved laborers at Roanoke College. The college dedicated the memorial during a campus ceremony on April 4.
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Clover Archer devoted months of research to a new exhibit co-sponsored by the Center for Studying Structures of Race and Olin Hall Galleries.
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The sculpture, “Authors and Architects” by Sandy Williams IV, was selected in partnership with Creative Time and will be situated on campus to memorialize enslaved people connected to Roanoke College history.
