Our thought is first to run this study group as a series of electronic seminar-style conversations, with participants leading discussions on racial division and integration from the perspective of their own academic disciplines. The final edited volume will seek to incorporate research insights gained in this conversation to take a rigorous look at racial integration from the perspective of several academic disciplines, and lay out proposals for measures to further racial integration at various policy and civil society levels.

Representative topics for both the research seminar and the edited volume might include the role of the military, public schools, public architecture, and mass transport in structuring spaces in which racial mixing takes place; urban studies research into trends in neighborhood integration and division in the nation's principal metroplitan areas; policy studies analysing unintended consequences of development and zoning measures on integration; and explorations of the economic incentives confronting concerned actors. We also plan to run our website, to be titled Hands Across Our City, as an online resource for conference papers, works in progress, and other research on race and racial integration.

We would be quite eager to hear from researchers and academics who might have suggestions or research to share, or who would be interested in joining us in our project.