Empower Future Leaders
UALR’s primary constituents are its students. As a metropolitan university in the state’s capital, UALR attracts a diverse student population in terms of gender, age, socioeconomic status, race and national origin. The campus will continue to have a significant number of international students representing a variety of ethnicities and benefit from having such diversity constitute the organizational culture.
The Institute feels an obligation to integrate its work with student opportunities to engage in scholarship, research, and service. The Institute is enriched by these interactions, while students increase their understanding of race and the role it has and does play particularly in American life, as well as in the state and local community.
To make an online donation, please go to the the UALR donations page. In the ‘please designate my gift to’ field, make sure to scroll down and select Institute on Race and Ethnicity.
IRE works to expand opportunities in this area, including exploring the feasibility of establishing an academic major in Race and Ethnic Studies or African American studies. Additionally, we will intensify outreach efforts to engage more K-12 students through programming and community initiatives.
Below are giving opportunities designed to improve the learning experience of UALR students. Meaningful opportunities related to race and ethnicity will help better prepare them to compete in the diverse global workforce. Through these and future programs, we encourage students to think critically about issues such as poverty, labor, education, and economic development and how they relate to their future roles as doctors, nurses, engineers, graphic artists, media professionals, and more.
Support student-focused programs
Internships – The Institute provides real work experience opportunities to UALR students through our internship program. For example, thanks to a grant from the Arkansas Humanities Council and the National Endowment for the Humanities, two students were hired to help create a website devoted to sharing information about the civil rights movement in Arkansas, arkansascivilrightsheritage.org.
Curricular/academic programs – The UALR History Department and the Institute on Race and Ethnicity offers a Minor in Race and Ethnicity to undergraduate students. The minor includes six hours of required coursework, Introduction to Race and Ethnicity taught by Dr. Michael R. Twyman, Institute director, and the History of Race and Ethnicity in the United States.
Additional student opportunities include research projects, service learning opportunities, Civil Rights Immersion Tours, graduate assistantships, and formal and informal discussion groups.
