The Center for Race and Public Education in the South (CRPES) seeks to support research and scholarship on a variety of issues that lie at the intersection of race, education, and schooling in the southern United States. Social scientists have largely ignored the education of youths in the South, resulting in a lack of understanding of academic performance of students in this region. In addition, education in the South has historically been viewed as substandard due to regional stereotypes and a history of segregated education. Yet, the South was the epicenter of the civil rights movement that brought about greater democracy for all citizens, especially in the area of education. In addition, the South is considered by some scholars, as the birthplace of public education and the home of most Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), which have produced an extraordinary number of leaders across education, business, medicine, and the sciences. Indeed, the South is a place of great complexity, paradox, and promise. CRPES leans into the potential and promise of the South as a prominent location of culture, education, and history in U.S. society. CRPES also keeps in mind that the South is not a monolithic region, but it is a diverse cultural and geographical region.
CRPES recognizes research that has implications for a range of student populations in contemporary US schools, the role of STEM education in effecting students’ academic, social, and civic outcomes, and the role of public K-16 educational institutions in the South. CRPES also explores the schooling experiences of students from transnational backgrounds.
