About
Mission
The Thompson Center is committed to advancing scholarship, pedagogy, and public discourse around issues of racialized identities, ethnicities, and cultures with faculty, students, artists, and alumni. Originally founded as the Initiative on Race and Resilience, the Thompson Center strives to become a significant voice in global research and scholarship regarding the historical and contemporary interplay of race, culture, and ethnicity.
Led by Notre Dame's College of Arts and Letters with additional support from the Office of the Provost, the Frazier Thompson Center for Research on Race and Culture serves as the site at which a community of scholars, teachers, students, artists, and community organizers gathers to develop and advance their respective projects, exchange ideas, and celebrate the expressive cultures of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) communities.
Global in scope and comparative and interdisciplinary in critical approach, the Frazier Thompson Center for Research on Race and Culture promotes multiracial collaboration, qualitative and quantitative methodologies, and inclusive pedagogy.
Areas of Focus
The Frazier Thompson Center for Research on Race and Culture organizes its work around two foci:
About Frazier Thompson
Born in Philadelphia, Frazier Thompson first came to Notre Dame through the U.S. Navy’s V-12 training program during World War II. After 22 months of military service, he enrolled as a full-time student at the University and became its first Black graduate in 1947. A sprinter on the track and field team, he also was the first Black athlete to earn a Notre Dame monogram. He worked for NASA and the U.S. Postal Service and died in 1991.