[3] The Institute sponsors academic research projects in the areas of education, race, migration, language, literature, history, economics, women's issues, politics, youth, cultural identity, sports, performance and visual arts.
It was officially approved by the Board of Trustees at its February 22, 1994 meeting, and soon became an integral component of the City University of New York.
[3] Since its inception, the institute has sponsored more than 80 conferences and symposia on diverse topics in various disciplines, bringing scholars at different stages of their careers to exchange knowledge and ideas on various aspects of the Dominican experience.
[3] In 1997, Dr. Ramona Hernandez, speaking at Columbia University, pointed out the continuing demographic changes of the Dominican Americans, especially its increasing population and poverty.
In its possession it has articles, newspaper clippings, master and doctoral dissertations, documentaries, audio-cassettes, conference papers and others on a variety of topics including culture, history, literature, politics, and sociology.