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History

CIRA began in early 2001 as an idea for a small-scale project within the Department of Anthropology at UNC-CH. Initial funding for the project was secured from the Schwab Foundation and the idea was presented and discussed at Anthropology meetings in Atlanta, Georgia, in Merida, Yucatan, Mexico, and informally among networks of community activists working in North Carolina, nationally, and in Latin America.

Since then, the idea has developed into a vision and a network involving researchers from Cultural Studies, Geography, and Education, as well as anthropologists from research institutions in Chiapas, Mexico and Austin, Texas.

In June 2005, a planning conference was held in Chapel Hill, bringing together over sixty university- and community-based activists for two days of meetings to work out potential strengths and weaknesses of CIRA and generate recommendations for going forward.

Download PDF of conference paper >>

"The Center for Integrating Research and Action: An Experimental Public Anthropology"