The Institute for the Study and Promotion of Race and Culture (ISPRC) was founded in 2000 at Boston College, under the direction of Dr. Janet E. Helms, to promote the assets and address the societal conflicts associated with race or culture in theory and research, mental health practice, education, business, and society at large.

Diversity Challenge 2012 - Another Success!

ISPRC hosted presentations from multiple disciplines that seek to address violence from individual, community, or structural frameworks with an emphasis on racial ando/or ethnic cultural perspectives.  In an attempt to discover how best to recognize, treat, and eradicate violence and its consequences, we encouraged researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and educators to advance the focus on violence by (1) sharing efforts to increase advocacy research, practice, and policies that promote awareness; (2) illustrating the importance of acknowledging violence in a variety of domains; (3) investigating the psychological, health, and/or educational impacts of violence at the personal, institutional, or cultural levels; and (4) highlighting educational programs, support groups, and networks that facilitate collaboration among allies to better serve diverse communities.

Please view our session Abstracts from 2012 Diversity Challenge: What to Do About Race and Culture and Violence.  We welcome you to view some scenes from this year's enlightening conference.

This year's Diversity Challenge, "Intersections of Race, Culture, and Health or Mental Health" will take place October 18-19, 2013 at Boston College.

A Tribute to Kelsey Rennebohm

An Advocate, A classmate, A friend

The ISPRC and the University offer our thoughts and prayers to the family and classmates of Kelsey Rennebohm, a graduate student in the Lynch School of Education and a Jeremiah E. Burke School Advocate, who died after she was struck by a vehicle on Huntington Avenue in Boston on Friday night, June 1.

She is truly a soul that the ISPRC Team, the University, and community will deeply miss. Though this has been such a tragic and difficult time, we remain inspired by the legacy she left, and the lives she touched, including our own.

Learn more about some of the Institute's current projects, events, and initiatives by reading our current newsletter.  We are particularly proud of our advocacy program at the Jeremiah Burke High School in Dorchester, MA.  This pilot program matched BC Master's in Mental Health Counseling students with high school students to help provide each student with a voice and to help them to identity barriers to their success  This is the second year of our successful program; read more about it on pages 4-5 of our newsletter.

Dr. Janet E. Helms was cited as a witness against the inappropriate use of promotional tests in the Supreme Court's ruling in the case of Ricci v. DeStafano.  Click here for more information.

Are you interested in using one or more of Dr. Helms' Racial Identity Scales?  View the new Racial Identity Scales Catalog.  Visit the newly organized Huentity website for more information about Racial Identity Scales.