Lateral is excited to announce a grant award from the Social Science Research Council to develop a new initiative of the journal. Building from Lateral Forums, The Cultural Constructions of Race and Racism Research Collective (CcRrrC) will host a trans-regional network of media makers, scholars, and activists working to help their communities identify and dismantle colorism and anti-Black racism. The project turns to local and regional media and popular culture as both archive and tool—an archive in which to trace culturally specific histories of representation; and a tool with which to raise awareness, mobilize, and inform. CcRrrC will prioritize perspectives grounded in local languages that are familiar with regional understandings of ethnicity, sect, religion, gender, and class—as well as race. The platform will host these perspectives in a transnational, comparative frame. CcRrrC builds from the understanding that white supremacy is a global phenomenon manifest in specific vernaculars. This work looks to support and sharpen tools available to communities as they combat colorism and anti-Black racism.
The CcRrrC platform, led by PI Dr. Rayya El Zein and technical lead Dr. Chris Alen Sula, will join a cohort of collaborative, open research projects in the SSRC’s new Research AMP program.
Get involved
With the support of the SSRC, we are excited to recruit paid positions to develop this work. Lateral seeks to engage more than a dozen editors, authors, archivists and other content-related contributions in short-term paid contracts, and up to three short-term paid interns. The bulk of the work is expected to take place between December 2022 and September 2023. Detailed descriptions of positions follow.
We are also seeking additional partners to deepen and sustain this project. Partners might contribute funds, research, technical capacity, network, or other resources at their disposal.
Email ccrrrc.lateral@gmail.com for inquiries related to open positions or potential partnerships/collaborations.
Regional Advisory Committees
Position type: Short-term freelance, no benefits
Compensation: Up to $2500, depending on contribution
Location: Global, remote
Lateral seeks expressions of interest for paid participation in regional advisory committees that will direct the development of the Cultural Constructions of Race and Racism Research Collective (CcRrrC), a new initiative funded by the Social Science Research Council and hosted by Lateral.
About Lateral
Lateral (ISSN 2469–4053) is the peer-reviewed, open access digital journal and production site of the Cultural Studies Association. Lateral is designed to foster experimentation and collaboration among cultural studies practitioners and researchers. It is committed to critical studies of culture that advance and extend the reach of cultural studies as a field and method of inquiry and as an intellectual/political project. The journal is currently published on a semiannual basis, fall and spring.
About CcRrrC
The CcRrrC will host a global network of media makers, scholars, and activists working with their communities as they identify and dismantle colorism and anti-Black racism. CcRrrC turns to local and regional media and popular culture as both archive and tool—an archive in which to trace culturally specific histories of representation; and a tool with which to raise awareness, mobilize, and inform. The idea for the platform came from the success of the Cultural Constructions of Race and Racism in the MENA/SWANA Forum (2021), and looks to expand this work by putting it into conversation with similar analysis in other regions. To that end, the platform will prioritize perspectives grounded in local languages that are familiar with regional understandings of ethnicity, sect, religion, gender, and class—as well as race. CcRrrC hosts these perspectives in a transnational, comparative frame. This work comes from an understanding that white supremacy is a global phenomenon that is manifest in specific vernaculars. The platform looks to support and sharpen tools available to communities as they combat colorism and anti-Black racism.
About the regional committees
CcRrrC will host two regional committees responsible to scope and commission original work and archive existing resources under the frame “cultural constructions of race and racism.” Each committee will have regional scope (e.g., Southeast Asia, the Caribbean, the Sahel, Central America, and others). Each committee will consist of two members and a chair. Committees will be responsible for commissioning authors, editing their work. Committees will work together to determine the scope of materials collected and archived as part of the collective research platform. They will also commission authors to produce original content.
- Chairs will lead committee work and liaise with the other committees and the project PI. Chairs will be offered a one-time honorarium of $2,500.
- Committee members will receive a one-time honoraria of $1,750.
- Commissioned authors will be compensated at the rate of $0.30–$0.40 per word.
Interests and qualifications
Regional committee chairs
- Interest in and commitment to anti-racism;
- Extensive sociocultural, historical, and/or political familiarity with a non-US or non-Western-European locale and the particular ways in which ethnicity, race, sect, class, and gender intersect;
- A track record of scholarly publishing, journalistic bylines, or community engagement on these subjects;
- Connections with local and regional networks of activists, organizers, journalists, as well as researchers whose work illuminates the particular ways in which race and racism are specifically manifested in that region as well as connected to global trends;
- Interest and ability to lead committee work to develop regional content;
- Interest and ability to act as primary contact with CcRrrC PI Dr. Rayya El Zein and CcRrrC technical lead Dr. Chris Alen Sula;
- Interest and ability to liaise with committees focused on other regions.
Regional committee members
- Interest in and commitment to anti-racism;
- Extensive sociocultural, historical, and/or political familiarity with a non-US or non-Western-European locale and the particular ways in which ethnicity, race, sect, class, and gender intersect;
- Appropriate linguistic fluency to facilitate such work;
- A track record of scholarly publishing, journalistic bylines, or community engagement on these subjects;
- Connections with local and regional networks of activists, organizers, journalists, as well as researchers whose work illuminates the particular ways in which race and racism are specifically manifested in that region as well as connected to global trends;
- Interest and ability to engage in collaborative committee work to develop regional content.
Commissioned authors
- Interest in and commitment to anti-racism;
- Extensive sociocultural, historical, and/or political familiarity with a non-US or non-Western-European locale and the particular ways in which ethnicity, race, sect, class, and gender intersect;
- Appropriate linguistic fluency to facilitate such work;
- Authors will have first-hand experience with writing, community conversation, or organizing, around race and related issues in their locale, demonstrated through a record of community engagement or written or multi-media work.
To apply
Expressions of interest will be accepted via the submission form through December 2, 2022. Please upload a CV with your responses. Qualified candidates will be contacted for an informal Zoom call starting in late November. Decisions will be announced mid-December. Work will take place between approximately January and September 2023. If you have questions or concerns before or after you apply, direct inquiries to Rayya El Zein at ccrrrc.lateral@gmail.com.
Please share widely and don’t hesitate to apply!
Internships
Position type: Short-term freelance, no benefits
Compensation: Up to $6,000 over appox. 6 months (estimated 10 hours/week starting December 2022 and concluding fall 2023) – multiple smaller positions possible
Location: NYC preferred, or remote US/Eastern time
With support of the Social Science Research Council, Lateral is hiring one or more part-time, short-term interns for the Cultural Constructions of Race and Racism Research Collective (CcRrrC), a new initiative at the journal, to assist with:
- developing support materials for open source tools,
- visual identity and graphic design, and/or
- communications and social media strategy.
About Lateral
Lateral (ISSN 2469–4053) is the peer-reviewed, open access digital journal and production site of the Cultural Studies Association. Lateral is designed to foster experimentation and collaboration among cultural studies practitioners and researchers. It is committed to critical studies of culture that advance and extend the reach of cultural studies as a field and method of inquiry and as an intellectual/political project. The journal is currently published on a semiannual basis, fall and spring.
About the CcRrrC
The Cultural Constructions of Race and Racism Research Collective (CcRrrC) will host a global network of media makers, scholars, and activists working with their communities as they identify and dismantle colorism and anti-Black racism. CcRrrC turns to local and regional media and popular culture as both archive and tool—an archive in which to trace culturally specific histories of representation; and a tool with which to raise awareness, mobilize, and inform. The idea for the platform came from the success of the Cultural Constructions of Race and Racism in the MENA/SWANA Forum (2021), and looks to expand this work by putting it into conversation with similar analysis in other regions. To that end, the platform will prioritize perspectives grounded in local languages that are familiar with regional understandings of ethnicity, sect, religion, gender, and class—as well as race. CcRrrC hosts these perspectives in a transnational, comparative frame. This work comes from an understanding that white supremacy is a global phenomenon that is manifest in specific vernaculars. The platform looks to support and sharpen tools available to communities as they combat colorism and anti-Black racism.
Responsibilities
The Intern(s) will work under the direction of Dr. Chris Alen Sula, Lateral Co-Editor and Interim Associate Provost and Visiting Associate Professor at Pratt Institute, to:
- Develop support materials for regional chairs using the CcRrrC site (approximately $1000 for up to 40 hours between December 2022 and February 2023)
- Curate user-friendly resources related to WordPress, PressForward, and Zotero
- Create walkthroughs/guides for regional chairs using these platform
- Meet individually with research chairs to train them on platforms
- Familiarity with open source tools preferred
- Create visual identity and graphic assets for CcRrrC (approximately $1000 for up to 40 hours between December 2022 and February 2023)
- Create visual identity for CcRrrC with applications/variations for regional groups
- Develop visual identity guidelines
- Produce specific visual assets for website and social media based
- Experience in graphic design preferred
- Craft and implement communications and social media strategy (approximately $4000 for up to 160 hours between December 2022 and fall 2023, with an emphasis in the late spring and summer)
- Assist with recruitment of authors and reach/awareness in specific regions
- Develop strategy for publishing content, with specific timelines
- Plan, prepare, and integrate social media posts for Lateral Twitter and Instagram accounts
- Experience with communications and social media strategy preferred
Applications will be considered for one or more of these areas based on relevant experience and interest. We are open to applicants who might work in all three areas, as well as those that wish to only work in one or two.
Interests and qualifications
- Commitment to and interest in anti-racism
- Familiarity with WordPress, PressForward, and Zotero (for support position)
- Experience in graphic design (for visual position)
- Experience in communications and social media (for communications position)
- Background or interest in publishing, digital humanities, open access, and digital scholarship
- Interest in cultural studies and project themes
To apply
The application portal will remain open until November 7, 2022. Interviews will be scheduled for November. Final decisions will be communicated by December 2022. Work for the technical support material role could begin in December. If you have questions or concerns before or after you apply, please email ccrrrc.lateral@gmail.com.
We’re looking to hire quickly. Please share widely and don’t hesitate to apply!