School of Sociology and Social Policy

Research on ethnicity and racism at Leeds covers a range of areas, including housing, media, higher education, nationalism and Muslim identities.

Directed by Ian Law, the Centre for Ethnicity and Racism Studies, an interdisciplinary grouping of over sixty staff, practitioners, and postgraduate students, is the base for much of this research.

Significant empirical projects include Yasmin Hussain and Paul Bagguley's Joseph Rowntree Foundation and British Academy funded research on the 2001 urban 'riots' and on The Impact of the London Bombings on local communities in Leeds and Dewsbury.

The Centre is a European leader in race and housing and Malcolm Harrison led the establishment of a new International Research Network on Housing, Ethnicity and Policy (IRNHEP) in 2006. Rodanthi Tzanelli, who joined the School in 2007, brings expertise in constructions of national identity and belonging.

The Centre has played a major role in research on institutional racism in higher education, and co-organised a major international conference on Racism, Postcolonialism and Europe (2006) with the Institute for Postcolonial Studies.

Researchers work closely with policy makers, minority communities and practitioners across the voluntary sector and government.

The Centre for Racism and Ethnicity also runs MA programmes in Racism and Ethnicity Studies.