University of Missouri Board of Curators approves new degrees and the naming of the Michael A. Middleton Center for Race, Citizenship, and Justice
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
The University of Missouri Board of Curators voted Thursday to name the new Center for Race, Citizenship and Justice at the University of Missouri-Columbia after former interim UM System President Michael A. Middleton. The center will promote diverse research and engagement in critical conversations about race, citizenship and justice.
“The core mission of our four UM System universities is to engage in the research and scholarship that improves the lives of our students, betters our communities and advances the state of Missouri,” board chair Julia Brncic said. “The Michael A. Middleton Center for Race, Citizenship, and Justice will provide a valuable forum where critical state and national issues can be discussed and debated thoughtfully from all perspectives and politics.”
“The Middleton Center will build on Mizzou’s commitment to creating a more inclusive, diverse and equitable community by exploring complex issues in a setting that is respectful to all,” Choi said. “The important work of this center will contribute to the discourse on difficult topics at all four of our universities.”
Stephanie Shonekan, associate dean of the MU College of Arts and Science, and S. David Mitchell, associate dean for academic affairs in the MU School of Law, will lead the center. The center, which will serve all UM universities, will also have a partnership with the State Historical Society of Missouri.
“We have created a place with a focus on interdisciplinary scholarship where we can explore the nuances and complexities of race, citizenship and justice,” Mitchell said. “This is a great opportunity for us to lead by engaging in intellectual discourse and critical analysis that will challenge our students, faculty, staff and community at large.”
“As a land-grant institution, the university is well-positioned to help our students and faculty think through how the status of race has evolved and where it’s going in the future.” Shonekan said. “I look forward to having reasoned, generative conversations with scholars across campus and beyond about how race, culture and history are interwoven in American history and the American experience.”
In other business, the curators approved the creation of two new degree programs: a Master of Arts in Defense and Strategic Studies at the University of Missouri-Columbia and a Master of Science degree in Supply Chain Analytics at the University of Missouri-St. Louis.
