The Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Race

What The Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Race does

The Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Race (CSER) is Columbia University's main interdisciplinary academic center for the study of ethnicity, race, and indigeneity, housed at 420 Hamilton Hall on Columbia's Morningside Heights campus. Founded in 1999 following decades of student activism (notably the 1966 Hunger Strike and 1996 Ethnic Studies Protests), CSER operates as a non-profit academic unit under Columbia's Graduate School of Arts and Sciences with a small staff of 6 and a lean faculty roster spanning core, affiliated, and lecturer roles.

CSER's core academic offerings are an undergraduate major (27+ points) and newly launched minor (20 points) in Ethnicity and Race Studies, the M.A. program in American Studies (the only such graduate degree in American Studies housed within an Ethnic Studies center at Columbia), a Departmental Honors track, study abroad programs, and a student-run journal (Roots Journal). The M.A. program allows students to design interdisciplinary curricula drawing from across Columbia's course catalog and culminates in a thesis of approximately 12,000 words; the program also offers a BA/MA Option for accelerated entry. Faculty include Claudio Lomnitz (elected to Mexico's Colegio Nacional), Frances Negrón-Muntaner, and David Henry Hwang.

CSER's funding is institutionally integrated into Columbia University's budget. Direct programmatic revenue flows include tuition routed through Columbia GSAS and Columbia College, and the Fiducia Fund, which provides at least $20,000 annually to 5 selected Fiducia Fellows. The center supplements academic delivery with a public events calendar (lectures, conferences, workshops), a Mailchimp newsletter, and active social channels (Instagram, Twitter, Facebook), and pursues co-presented programming with peer Columbia units (ISERP, MESAAS, BCRW, the Heyman Center, the Asian American Initiative) and external cultural partners.

Name

The Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Race

Legal name

The Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Race

Website

https://cser.columbia.edu

Company type

Private

Founded year

1999

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

CSER is Columbia University's interdisciplinary academic center for the study of ethnicity, race, and indigeneity, offering undergraduate majors/minors and an M.A. in American Studies, serving Columbia College and GSAS students through courses, theses, and events.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Higher Education / Ethnic Studies Academic Programs

NAICS

Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (6113), Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (541720)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYEDAHACAA

General Liberal Arts Colleges

Education/Higher Education (Colleges & Universities)/Liberal Arts Colleges

SECONDARYEDAHACAM

Great Books/Core Curriculum Liberal Arts Colleges

Education/Higher Education (Colleges & Universities)/Liberal Arts Colleges

Keywords

• Ethnic studies programs
• Interdisciplinary academic research
• Higher education curriculum
• Race and ethnicity scholarship
• American studies graduate degree

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Others

Revenue model

1. Tuition and Fees: Revenue from tuition charged to graduate and undergraduate students enrolled in CSER courses and programs.
2. Fiducia Fellowships: Annual Fiducia Fund provides $20,000+ fellowships to 5 selected Fiducia Fellows, demonstrating institutional funding support.
3. University Funding: Core operational funding from Columbia University as an interdisciplinary academic center.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

CSER is Columbia University's main interdisciplinary academic center offering an M.A. Program in American Studies and undergraduate major and minor programs in Ethnicity and Race Studies. The center delivers interdisciplinary curriculum covering critical race theory, performance theory, histories of community activism, and comparative ethnic studies, supported by thesis research, faculty advisement, study abroad opportunities, and public lectures and events.

Product overview

The Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Race (CSER) is Columbia University's main interdisciplinary space for the study of ethnicity, race, and indigeneity. It operates as an academic center offering an M.A. Program in American Studies, an undergraduate major and minor in Ethnicity and Race Studies, Departmental Honors Program, and various educational initiatives including study abroad programs, student publications (Roots Journal), and a newsletter. The center provides a flexible interdisciplinary framework for examining culture, power, hierarchy, social identities, and political communities through courses, thesis research, and community events.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• M.A. Program in American Studies A graduate degree program in American Studies housed within an Ethnic Studies center, unique as the only such program in American Studies at Columbia. Students design their own curriculum from across Columbia's course offerings and complete a final thesis under faculty advisement.
• Minor in Ethnicity and Race Studies An undergraduate minor requiring a minimum of 20 points, featuring core courses in comparative ethnic studies and colonization/decolonization, with specialization tracks in Asian American Studies, Comparative Ethnic Studies, Latino/a Studies, Native American/Indigenous Studies, or individualized study.
• Major in Ethnicity and Race Studies

Quantifiable outcome

• 26% of graduates pursue PhD programs at institutions including Columbia, Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Brown, NYU, USC, UMass, Fordham
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers9 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Columbia University and Slavery ProjectcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 29 April 2026Partnership with the Department of History to present events on slavery, Columbia University's involvement, and reparative justice. Organized the lecture 'Slavery, Columbia University & the Livingstons' exploring intertwined histories through genealogical research.
• Asian American Initiative at Columbia UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 29 April 2026Co-presenting events including 'The Arts and Asian America – David Henry Hwang' and 'The Incompatibilities Between Generative AI and Art'. Initiative aims to make Asian American experiences central to understanding America.
• Barnard Center for Research on Women (BCRW)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 29 April 2026Partnership for the event 'Why AI Needs Feminism: From Campus Surveillance to Global Conflicts' examining algorithmic surveillance and feminist approaches to technology.
• Society of Fellows and Heyman Center for the HumanitiescoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 29 April 2026Co-presenting 'Activist Readings of Capital' examining colonial capitalism, race, and class in Marx's work.
• ISERP (Institute for Social and Economic Research and Policy)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 23 April 2026Co-presenting the Interdisciplinary Graduate Seminar Series on 'Blackness Across Geographies' focusing on formulations of Blackness in local and global power relations.
• MESAAS (Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 23 April 2026Co-presenting the 2026 Graduate Conference '(Re)Tracing Land' analyzing connections between land, jurisdiction, migration, innovation, and resistance.
• Rare Book & Manuscript LibraryminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Columbia's Rare Book & Manuscript Library for the course 'Archives of Possibility' teaching archival preservation and knowledge production.
• Latinos Urbanos Book ClubminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHosting literary events including 'Last Night in Brooklyn' with Xochitl González, in partnership with Department of Latin American and Iberian Cultures and Casa Hispánica.
• Asian American Studies Working GroupcoreOthersGraduate student-led forum established Spring 2023 for collective readings and workshopping research in Asian American studies. Open to MA and PhD students.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• NYU Department of Social and Cultural Analysis: NYU's department offering concentrations in race, ethnicity, gender, and urban studies at both undergraduate and graduate levels. Comparable to CSER in delivering interdisciplinary social science training, though in an urban private-university setting.
• UCLA Asian American Studies Center: UCLA's established center for Asian American research and education, offering academic programs, community research, and publications. Directly comparable to CSER's specialized ethnic studies tracks and community-engaged programming, though at a much larger public-university scale.
• UC Berkeley Department of Ethnic Studies: The pioneering U.S. ethnic studies department, offering undergraduate and graduate programs in race, ethnicity, and indigenous studies at a top public research university. Directly comparable to CSER's mission and curriculum in comparative ethnic studies, though operating at a much larger scale and with a public-university model.
• Princeton University Department of African American Studies: Princeton's interdisciplinary department offering certificates and thesis options focused on African American history, culture, and politics. Comparable to CSER as an Ivy League academic unit delivering race-focused interdisciplinary training, with a narrower thematic focus.
• University of Michigan Department of American Culture: Michigan's longstanding department covering race, ethnicity, gender, and American cultural studies with both undergraduate and graduate tracks. Directly comparable to CSER in combining American Studies with ethnic/racial analysis in a research-university setting.
• Yale University Ethnicity, Race, and Migration (ERM): Yale's interdisciplinary program examining ethnicity, race, and migration through humanities and social sciences. A direct peer offering comparable undergraduate and graduate training to CSER within a peer Ivy League institution.
• Stanford Center for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity (CCSRE): Stanford's interdisciplinary hub for race and ethnicity scholarship, hosting affiliated faculty and offering programming across multiple schools. Closely parallel to CSER's model of housing an interdisciplinary academic center within a private Ivy-equivalent research university.
• Brown University Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America (CSREA): Brown's interdisciplinary center dedicated to scholarship on race and ethnicity in America. Comparable to CSER in being an Ivy League, privately-funded academic unit focused on race/ethnicity studies, though CSERA operates more as a research/policy center than a degree-granting program.

Regional players

• CUNY Hunter College - CENTRO de Estudios Puertorriqueños: A CUNY-based research center focused on the Puerto Rican diaspora in the U.S., located in New York City. Regionally comparable to CSER (both NYC-based) and thematically aligned in ethnic studies scholarship, though CUNY is a public university system and CENTRO is more archive/policy-oriented.

Emerging players

• Harvard University Committee on Degrees in History and Literature: Harvard's interdisciplinary undergraduate concentration combining historical and literary approaches, with growing focus on race and empire. Comparable to CSER in emphasizing interdisciplinary humanities training at a peer Ivy League institution, though not exclusively focused on ethnicity and race.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/CSERColumbia
• Facebookfacebook.com/csercolumbia
• Instagraminstagram.com/columbiacser
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-center-for-the-study-of-ethnicity-and-race

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about The Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Race