CCIE was established in 2005 as part of a Canada Research Chair.  It operates a cultural studies research centre that focuses on exploring various facets of and developments in the comprehensive issue of identity and its educational implications in local and international cultural contexts. Located in the Faculty of Education, with Handel Kashope Wright and André Elias Mazawi as co-directors, the CCIE is a collaborative, cultural studies glocal praxis centre. It emphasizes utilizing cultural studies and related discourses in the promotion of local cultural and activist work as well as collaborative research undertaken at the local, national and global levels.