#becauseofirise

#becauseofirise 

The Interdisciplinary Research Institute for the Study of (In)Equality (IRISE) was established ten years ago by the University of Denver to serve as the intellectual home for faculty and student to engage in the development of cutting-edge interdisciplinary research on issues of inequality, social justice, and inclusivity.  Originally an “incubator” to bring together diverse DU faculty, students, and staff to work on collaborative research, scholarship, and creative work, IRISE has expanded the university’s ability to work at the intersections between and within historically minoritized communities to effectuate meaningful community inclusion and spur positive outcomes toward racial equity in Colorado and the Rocky Mountain West.   

IRISE 2.0 Graphic for DU Impact 2025 planning: Creating New Pathways, Partnerships, and Practices in the Collaborative Efforts to Gain Ground for Racial Equality and Equity in Colorado and the Rocky Mountain West.

In its support of over 20 postdoctoral fellows, its marshaling of resources for many of its larger body of 68 affiliated faculty to engage in impactful community engaged projects, the growth of its R.A.G.E. podcast, and the related support of students to be scholars and inequality practitioners in their own right, IRISE has worked to transform the terms and conditions in which higher education conducts and deploys research, scholarship, and creative works towards a greater public good.    

For the remainder of 2023, we will be using this blog (and the IRISE bi-monthly newsletter) to highlight key moments in the past, present, and future of IRISE. In these spaces, we will revisit some our past impact as well as future vision for the institute.  Grounded in critical theory, these retro-prospective postings will demonstrate IRISE’s commitment towards meaningful praxis in four interrelated and dynamic areas:

Scholarship & Creative Works

Policy & Practice

Curriculum & Teaching

Leadership & Development

Together, IRISE has and will continue to prepare DU faculty, postdoctoral fellows, and students to engage critically and work meaningfully with Colorado’s communities of color.   It has provided pathways to break down barriers and bring into creative dialogue researchers, community stakeholders, and civic leaders who might otherwise not share the same networks or resources, but are equally committed to confronting the challenges of institutional and systemic inequity Colorado’s minoritized communities.  And, it has allowed DU and its community partners to directly engage policy makers and civil society representatives around the racialized and interconnected dimensions of inequity and injustice in Colorado.  

Join us regularly in Spring and Fall of 2023 as we profile some of the amazing humans who have done such incredible and impactful work.  And in the process, help us spread the word that #becauseofirise, the work of higher education will never be the same.   

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