The University of Chicago has initiated a five-year project to study race relations problems, train leaders in the field and develop a general educational program dealing with its varied aspects, Chancellor Robert M. Hutchins announced during the week-end. The project will be financed by a $150,000 grant from the Carnegie Corporation and the Rockefeller Foundation.
The major objectives include research to develop and test theories concerning race relations and to build a scientific basis for policies and methods of operation in the field, the introduction of information concerning minority problems into general and adult educational curricula and the providing of advanced training for leaders in the field. It will also establish a system for cooperation between universities and other institutions doing research on the same problem and will initiate pilot programs in the latest techniques in solving inter-racial problems.
A special committee of six members of the University’s faculty has been named to develop the program. Headed by Prof. Louis Wirth, of the Department of Sociology, the committee is composed of other key educators in the social sciences. Prof. Wirth, commenting on the program, declared that race relations and minority problems are a “critical aspect” of democracy in this country today, warning that if they are not understood and effectively treated “they will furnish a formidable threat to social progress.”
It was revealed that cooperating with the university committee are the American Council on Race Relations, a national service agency for organizations in the field, and three other groups now operating at the University. They are: the Industrial Relations Center, which deals with labor relations; the Communications Center, which studies mass media of communication and analyzes public opinion; and the Committee on Human Development, which studies the behavior of children, youth and adults. In addition many other groups throughout the country will cooperate.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
