Emory plans to shine a spotlight on its own history of race relations, as a five-year research project to investigate Emory's past gets under way.

One of the university's largest research initiatives in recent years, the Transforming Community Project - subtitled Race at Emory: Recovering Our Past, Building the Future - is set to examine Emory's role in slavery, segregation, integration and the civil rights movement.

"The goal is to get the Emory University community into a conversation about race," said Leslie Harris, associate professor of history and African American studies and chair of the department of African American studies.

Harris singled out the controversy surrounding a white anthropology professor's use of the phrase "six n-----s in a woodpile" two years ago as an example of the kind of contentious racial discussion she wants to avoid.

"Everyone gets in a lather," she said. "It's not a good time to talk."

Harris founded the project last year with Cox Professor of Journalism Catherine Manegold, who is currently on leave writing a book.

Manegold said she has been interested in race relations since childhood.

"Like other universities, Emory has had, in some period of its life, racial strife problems on campus," she said. "[The project] stems from hard times, put simply."

On Wednesday, the project's steering committee - an assortment of administrators, staff and faculty from across the university - selected Vice President and Deputy to the President Gary Hauk to take Manegold's place as co-chair of the committee while she works on her book.

Hauk said he became involved in the project because of his long-standing interest in Emory history.

He has given historic walking tours of campus and written a book, A Legacy of Heart and Mind: Emory since 1836.

Harris said Emory is uniquely positioned to study race relations because of its status as a top-tier research university in Atlanta, the birthplace of both Lester Maddox - the segregationist former governor of Georgia - and civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.

"We have a particular opportunity and perhaps a particular responsibility," Harris said. "It's almost cliched; it's so overdetermined."

Faculty, students and staff working on the project convened at a retreat last semester and hammered out an outline and preliminary timeline.

Year one, beginning this fall, is to involve a series of Community Dialogues during which faculty, staff, alumni, trustees, students and others will gather to discuss definitions of race and identify research methods.

Participants in the Community Dialogues will read articles and books, watch movies and share their own experiences concerning racial issues, Harris said.

Years two and three will be devoted primarily to research, including examining university archives and conducting interviews with Emory faculty, staff, students and alumni.

Harris said she hopes that students will be the "main engine" driving the research.

Once the research is completed, the final two years of the project will consist of reflection, analysis and the development of recommendations for addressing contemporary and future racial issues at Emory.

Manegold said it is important to approach the inquiry with an open mind rather than set preconceptions.

"This is not about an instant, snap evaluation," she said.

Hauk said he hopes the project will accomplish two things.

First, he said he wants to illuminate the "complexity" of Emory's racial history, both the positive and the negative.

"And the second thing is I hope the project will live up to its name, that it will truly be transformative," he said.

- Administration reporter Susan McMillan can be reached at susan@emorywheel.com.