Raj Ghoshal

My research has addressed four main areas. My most recent research uses large-scale survey methods to study American racial conceptualization: what are the grounds Americans use for thinking of themselves or others as White, Black, multiracial, Hispanic, Middle Eastern, or part of other groups? That is, is "race" a function of our ancestry, our self-identification, our physical appearance, in-group acceptance, other-identification (racialization), or some mix of these? Are some racial group members--for instance, if they face less discrimination, have mixed ancestry, or dis-identify themselves with the group--less "part of a race" than others, or are all members of a group equally part of it? Or can race be both categorical and continuous? How do these decisions vary based on context, on who is being classified, and on who is classifying? The goal of this research is NOT to establish a "correct" logic of racial conceptualization, since no such correct logic exists. Rather, it is to understand both change and constancy in America's racial system, with an eye toward eliminating racial hierarchy and injustice.

Other topics of past or present research I have published on, and which continue to interest me, include: (1) Current US racial inequality and discrimination; (2) Memorialization of historic racial violence; (3) Pedagogy, especially around civic engagement and active learning.