These interdisciplinary programs share certain important affinities:

• Conceptual frameworks for understanding diverse communities, their histories and contemporary expressions, the structural challenges they face, and the contributions they offer to the fabric of American society;
• A commitment to working for social justice and equality of treatment across differences;
• A record of working collaboratively within communities—in service projects as well as participatory research;
• An understanding that social systems are interconnected in perpetuating institutional oppression and dominate group privilege.
• A conviction that interdisciplinary analysis and community experience are essential to addressing real world problems.
• Individually, the programs focus on the particular issues and sectors of society that define their curriculum, programming, and outreach.