Beyond 2024: Envisioning Just Futures & Equitable Democracy—A Creative Scholarly Showcase

In the first public event for the Center for Racial Justice and Equitable Futures, faculty and students from across the University came together to creatively showcase research and art, build community, and be inspired to imagine a better future.

Beyond 2024: Envisioning Just Futures and Equitable Democracy, hosted by the Center for Racial Justice and Equitable Futures, took place on November 14, 2024 at Robinson Lecture Hall. The centerpiece of the event was a scholarly showcase of research, art, and performance. Faculty panelists included Riché Richardson, Professor of Africana Studies (A&S), Derek Chang, associate professor of History (A&S), and Jeffrey Palmer, associate professor of Performing and Media Arts (A&S).

The faculty showcase was followed by a discussion with students from the center’s first cohort of Racial Justice student fellows. The student discussion will be moderated by Neil Lewis, Jr.’13, Nancy and Peter Meinig Family Investigator in the Life Sciences and Associate Professor of Communication (CALS).

“We are at an important crossroad; one that will shape the future of society,” Lewis said. “This is a moment for our communities—at Cornell and beyond—to come and think together about what it would take to build and maintain a truly equitable and just society.”

Beyond 2024 offered an invaluable opportunity to listen, learn, and engage with ideas that are at the heart of democratic practice in the United States and around the world.