The Supreme Court’s ruling in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, is one of the most significant legal decisions of the twentieth century. In declaring that “separate but equal has no place in the field of public education,” the Court paved the way for the desegregation of American society.

To commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the decision, Hood College will host “Looking Back, Moving Forward: The Unfinished Business of Brown v. Board of Education,” a national conference examining the Brown decision, its legacy, and the challenges confronting the United States to redeem the promise of equality for all citizens.

The Program Committee invites proposals for individual papers, panels, workshops, and presentations that explore the Brown decision and its impact on American society, culture, and education. In particular, we seek submissions from historians, sociologists, psychologists, educational policy specialists, urban education experts, civil rights activists, administrators, legal and Constitutional scholars, on any of theme related to the Brown decision, including: Thurgood Marshall, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, and the legal strategy;the legal, political, and social legacy of the decision;teaching Brown in the classroom; Brown II; What Brown should have said; the state of education today;the impact of Brown on educational policy; busing and other remedies for segregation;minority achievement since Brown;the resegregation of the nation’s schools;the complexity of race and education in the United States.

The conference will be held March 18-21, 2004, on the Hood College campus.