Believe with us.

The name CRE2 was inspired by the imperative form of the verb creer in Spanish, cree, which means believe.

CRE2 brings the research force of Washington University to study how race and ethnicity are integral to the most complex and challenging issues of our time. We believe in field-defining research, innovative learning, and strategic engagement that will transform scholarship, policy, and clinical interventions where race and ethnicity are at the center. 

Research art

Believe in Research

We galvanize and incubate new research architectures and vocabularies, insurgent methodologies and practices, and novel interventions.

Learning art

Believe in Learning

We design next-generation learning opportunities and innovative environments that bring our community members together.

Community Art

Believe in Community

We cultivate the cross-campus hub where local, national, and global citizens and leaders can connect, collaborate, and believe together.


Featured Event

When: Thursday, October 12th, 2023

Time: 4:30pm

Where: Women’s Building Formal Lounge


Featured News

CRE² Welcomes Dr. Diana Parra Perez and Dr. Ila Sheren as Associate Directors

Diana Parra Perez, PT, MPH, PhD

Assistant Professor, Brown School

Dr. Diana Parra Perez, PT, MPH, PhD, is an Assistant Professor at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis. She is also an advanced yoga teacher and Mindfulness facilitator. Her research seeks to improve health equity and well-being of under-represented populations centered on Latinx immigrant communities by: a) developing and adapting inclusive, culturally-grounded physical activity, nutrition, social connectedness, and mindfulness programs; b) identifying effective dissemination and implementation strategies for community-based programs; and c) understanding how mindfulness and cultural humility can be used as tools for structural change and transformation at the organization and societal levels, addressing and reducing the impacts of racism, bias, and discrimination.

Ila Sheren, PhD

Associate Professor of Art History and Archeology 

Ila N. Sheren is an Associate Professor in the Department of Art History and Archaeology and serves as Director of Graduate Studies for the American Culture Studies program. Her research and teaching focuses on issues of contemporary art and politics, particularly those surrounding immigration, ecology, and Latinidad in the United States. Ila is the author of two books, Border Ecology: Art and Environmental Crisis at the Margins (2023) and Portable Borders: Performance Art and Politics on the U.S. Frontera since 1984 (2015). In addition, she is a faculty lead for the multidisciplinary project Moving Stories, part of the Incubator for Transdisciplinary Futures. Prior to arriving in St. Louis in 2013, Ila completed her Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and held a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Toronto. She has been part of CRE² since it was formed, serving on the Latinx | Latin American Research Steering Committee and later the CRE² Faculty Advisory Board.


Featured Research

CRE2 Faculty Affiliate Featured on the National Women’s History Exhibit on Black Feminism

CRE2 Faculty Affiliate, Marlon Bailey, has been featured on the National Women’s History Exhibit on Black Feminism that is at the MLK Memorial Library in Washington, DC as well as online. Watch a clip from his interview here.

CRE2 Graduate Affiliate Publishes in the Hispanic Review

CRE2 Graduate Affiliate, Juan Manuel Ramírez Velázquez‘s article “Sowing Wheat and Other Merits:The First “Black Conquistador” of the Mexican Field” was published in the Hispanic Review. Read it here.


Washington University Center for the Study of Race, Ethnicity & Equity is seeking an experienced Administrative Coordinator to manage strategic projects, direct communications and provide executive level support to the leadership team of the Center.

Learn more and apply here.