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Inaugural leader named for new center on race, ethnicity study

July 01, 2005

For immediate release - July 1, 2005 Contact: Nina Lentini (860) 439-2505; nina.lentini@conncoll.edu

Connecticut College names inaugural leader for new center on race, ethnicity study

NEW LONDON, Conn. - David Kyuman Kim, visiting assistant professor of religious studies, has been named the inaugural director of Connecticut College's newly formed Center for the Comparative Study of Race and Ethnicity (CCSRE), the college's sixth academic center.

Kim, who has also taught at Brown University, holds masters of divinity and doctor of theology degrees from Harvard University Divinity School. His manuscript, "Melancholic Freedom: Regenerating Agency and the Revolution of the Spirit," is under review. He is co-founder of the program unit on Asian North American Religions, Cultures, and Society of the American Academy of Religion and was co-advisor to the Harvard Ethnic Study Action Committee, a group of undergraduates promoting the study of race and ethnicity at Harvard. 

"David will bring to this role deep intellectual and administrative expertise in the comparative study of race and ethnicity, particularly in Asian American Studies," said Fran Hoffmann, Connecticut College dean of the faculty. "I look forward to working with David and the center's steering committee in this first year of its operations, as we chart its course for the future and seek the financial support needed to reach its aspirations."

Among Kim's publications are the essays "Enchanting Diasporas: Asian Americans, Religion, and Race" and "The Promise of Religion for the Critical Consciousness of Asian American Conceptions of the Self." 

The CCSRE will be the College's intellectual home and think tank for the critical examination of issues of diversity and pluralism, with a particular focus on comparative approaches to exploring questions of race and ethnicity. Through faculty and student colloquia and forums, as well as guest lectures, the CCSRE will develop curricular and teaching initiatives to integrate scholarship on race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender/gender identity and religion throughout the academic programs of the College.

Ranked among the most selective private liberal arts colleges in the nation, Connecticut College enrolls 1,900 men and women from 46 states and 40 countries. The college is known for putting the liberal arts into action through interdisciplinary studies, international programs, funded internships, student-faculty research and service learning. Founded in 1911, the college operates under an 83-year-old honor code. The college is located at 270 Mohegan Ave, New London, about two hours by car from Boston and New York. The 750-acre campus is an arboretum overlooking Long Island Sound. For more information, visit www.connecticutcollege.edu.

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Editors: A photograph of David Kim, who lives in Providence, is available at www.conncoll.edu. Click on "Media."

For media inquiries contact: Amy Martin (860) 439-2526; a.martin@conncoll.edu