On October 17, 2024, CSDE Director Sara Curran was honored to give the Samuel E. Kelly Distinguished Faculty Lecture entitled “Past, Present, and Future Demographic Diversity in the U.S. and Washington.”  The talk was hosted by the Samuel E. Kelly Ethnic Cultural Center.  Curran was introduced by CSDE Trainees Courtney Allen and CSDE alumna Dr. Aasli Nur.  In the talk, Curran discussed the idea of “to be counted is to be seen”, which is often taken for granted as foundational for democracy. The lecture discussed past and present ways in which demographic diversity has been measured and why, and also the intersectional complexities of measuring demographic diversity. Curran presents the history, politics, and statistics of changing demographic diversity in the U.S. and in Washington State, providing some perspectives on the implications of those dynamics. Dr. Curran also discussed some of the upcoming changes for observing demographic diversity in the future. You can view the lecture here.

Learn more about Samuel E. Kelly and his distinguished career at UW at this link.