Congratulations to Chris DeSante and his co-author on their award for best paper by an emerging scholar.
Career Stage Awards
An award for the best paper, regardless of field or topic, by a scholar or scholars who has or have received the terminal degree(s) within six years of the year in which the paper was presented.
“Fear, Institutionalized Racism, and Empathy: The Underlying Dimensions of Whites’ Racial Attitudes”
Christopher D. DeSante, Indiana University
Candis Watts Smith, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
Award Committee: Jacqueline Demeritt, University of North Texas (Chair); Suzanne M. Robbins, University of Florida; and Bilal Dabir Sekou, University of Hartford
Commendation from the Committee: This year’s Best Paper by an Emerging Scholar Award goes to Christopher DeSante and Candis Smith for their paper “Fear, Institutionalized Racism, and Empathy: The Underlying Dimensions of Whites’ Racial Attitudes.” In their research, DeSante and Smith argue that racial attitudes are multidimensional. They suggest that two dimensions underlie how Whites think about race in contemporary American politics. One is cognitive: an awareness of systemic racial bias against non-Whites. The other is emotional, depending on feelings towards racial minorities. They validate the simultaneity of cognitive beliefs and emotional reactions with new and exciting survey data. The selection committee was impressed by both the ambition and potential impact of DeSante and Smith’s work, and look forward to seeing it published, cited, and engaged in the future.
The College of Arts