John Nicholas Brown Center for Advanced Study
Systemic Racism and Resilience Project
A multifaceted suite of innovative research, teaching and learning tools.
Systemic Racism and Resilience Project
A multifaceted suite of innovative research, teaching and learning tools.
Conceptualized and directed by Brown University Professor Tricia Rose with support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Systemic Racism and Resilience Project (SRRP) is a multifaceted suite of research, teaching and learning tools committed to deepening the understanding of systemic racism and to the exploration of the resilience and creativity of African American culture and community as vital resources for cultural and social transformation.
All SRRP initiatives emphasize dialogical, learner-centered, and constructivist pedagogies that prioritize discovery learning, narrative complexity, and multi-perspectival thinking.
Published Research: Metaracism
The SRRP builds upon years of research and teaching on systemic racism and Black lived experience. It led to the publication of Professor Tricia Rose’s book Metaracism: How Systemic Racism Devastates Black Lives–and How We Break Free (Basic Books, 2024).
The book presents an invaluable new account of what systemic racism actually is, how it works, and how we can fight back. Rose reveals how an array of policies and practices in the most significant areas in our society—from housing to education to criminal justice—interconnect in dynamic ways that produce metaracism: devastating outcomes that are far worse than any single policy could create.
“A brilliant guide to a systemic malady that cannot be denied.”
“The most definitive and comprehensive treatment of systemic racism we have from the academy for the larger culture.”
Undergraduate Teaching and Learning: “Systemic Racism and Modes of Resilience”
Introduced to the Brown curriculum in Spring 2024, “Systemic Racism and Modes of Resilience” is a team-taught course collaboratively developed by Professor Tricia Rose and Professor Andre Willis. The course challenges Brown undergraduates to examine not only how systemic racism works but moreover how African American culture has established and maintains powerful modes of resilience: sustained forms of collective care, knowledge-building and profound creativity.
Students’ engagement with this complex, affective material is enhanced through explorations of the Way Outta No Way digital learning platform and the collaborative board game, “More Tales from the East Side”.
“This course will transform the way you view the world.”
Want to learn more?
Sign up to receive the latest SRRP updates, inspirations from the culture, and opportunities to contribute to the work.
Digital Learning Platform: Way Outta No Way
Way Outta No Way (WONW) is a highly accessible, narrative-driven digital learning platform designed to deepen student and public understanding of a broader national pattern of interlocking systems of oppression alongside the enduring legacies of African American resilience. It exposes the often obscured drivers of systemic racism while also asserting the cultural, social and intellectual power of Black life.
“The approach you’re taking is unique and has the potential to move the collective IQ in a different way.”
WONW is pedagogically grounded in the evidence-based assertion that complex ideas are most effectively understood through narrative and interactive (“engaged”) learning modalities. The platform’s combination of appealing aesthetics and resonant character stories propel learners’ curiosity; further knowledge is gained through non-linear exploration of the connections between human lived experience and an extensive archive of rigorous, interdisciplinary research and media.
“The whole thing brought systemic racism to a much more emotional and personal level than I had previously experienced. It resonated very deeply and in new ways.”
Collaborative Board Game: “More Tales from the East Side”
“More Tales from the East Side” is an SRRP original collaborative board game designed in partnership with experts from the Sheridan Center for Teaching and Learning.
At once grounded in and expanding on the resonant character narratives and scholarly research on the Way Outta No Way digital learning platform, “More Tales from the East Side” adds a vital experiential dimension to group learning. The game empowers players to inhabit the lives of the intergenerational Murphy family, their neighbors and other community members, igniting new avenues for engagement with complex subjects and emotions in a supportive, cooperative setting.
“More Tales from the East Side” game components include playing board, character avatars, Facilitators Guide and more.
"The game made the weight of the interconnections between the practices and policies of systemic racism working against the characters feel so much more intense. It was so different to experience those interconnections in a simulated context."
Learning Through Connection and Curiosity
Together, SRRP teaching and learning tools aim to cultivate intellectual curiosity. Given this, the project supports connectivity and engagement through a range of pedagogical approaches. SRRP contributes to the broader educational mission of the University by emphasizing lived experience and the resilience of the human spirit.
Want to learn more?
Sign up to receive the latest SRRP updates, inspirations from the culture, and opportunities to contribute to the work.
Questions?
Send an email: victoria_hood@brown.edu.