4 minute read
Realizing Our Strategic Vision
Realizing Our Strategic Vision Strengthening Inclusive Academic Excellence
LIFT SU Goal 3 aims to realize the strategic vision of hiring and retaining faculty and staff from a range of diverse backgrounds. To broaden the diversity of SU’s professoriate, the Office of Diversity and Inclusion partners with the Provost and other academic leaders to support innovative and inclusive curriculum development, cultivate spaces for growth and community and empower inclusive search processes. Through these efforts, we seek to advance inclusive academic excellence and elevate the intellectual vitality of our community.
Advertisement
Pursuing Inclusive Excellence in Hiring Workshops
In the 2021 academic year, the Office of Diversity and Inclusion hosted multiple Pursuing Inclusive Excellence in Hiring workshops with Dr. Mary James, Dean for Institutional Diversity and the A.A. Knowlton Professor of Physics at Reed College. The workshops feature approaches for holistic and transformative thinking in executing searches incorporating inclusive practices. These hiring workshops were curated and offered to campus stakeholders responsible for hiring tenure-track faculty, new college deans and university leadership.
Affinity Group Sessions
Pursuing inclusive academic excellence in the classroom with Associate Professor, Francisco Guerrero, Fine Arts.
LIFT SU Writes, a pilot initiative created a dedicated space for BIPOC faculty to work on scholarly endeavors and build community.
In partnership with the Center for Faculty Development, the office co-sponsored 14 tenure-track faculty of color affinity group sessions over the past two academic years. These groups provide space for the collective exploration of the impact of race, power and privilege in the academic life of colleagues immersed in teaching, scholarship and service at pre-tenure stages of their career. This professional development opportunity aims to empower tenure-track faculty of color to build community, share experiences and pursue their academic life with more confidence and agency.
LIFT SU Writes — Pilot Initiative
In fall 2021, the office launched a pilot initiative— LIFT SU Writes, which included quarterly writing retreats and weekly Write-on-Sites. Led and facilitated by Professor Angelique M. Davis and in partnership with the Center for Faculty Development, these writing sessions provided opportunities for BIPOC faculty to work on their scholarship and grow productive strategies while in community with colleagues. Since the fall of 2021, three writing retreats and 21 Write-on-Site sessions were convened.
Angelique M. Davis Professor, Political Science
A pilot initiative on Anti-Racist Education was launched in the summer of 2021 in partnership with the Office of the Provost, the Office of Sponsored Projects and the Office of Diversity and Inclusion. This initiative was designed to encourage innovation and strengthen anti-racism literacy as a key feature of our approach to Jesuit education. With a $30,000 investment from the Office of the Provost, 10 grants were awarded to faculty to pursue anti-racist educational practices in their teaching.
To deepen the impact of this program for our entire learning community, cohort members presented their learnings, anti-racist pedagogical practices and curricular impact with the campus community at virtual Lightning Talks. These Lightning Talks were co-hosted with the Lemieux Library and McGoldrick Learning Commons and attended by 51 community members.
k
Recordings and slides from each talk are available on Seattle University’s ScholarWorks here (Feb. 2021) and here (Feb. 2022)
Exploring Inclusive Pedagogy
The Office of Diversity and Inclusion continued its commitment to helping our faculty explore inclusive pedagogy. In partnership with the Center of Faculty Development, the office co-sponsored the Transparent Design in Learning and Teaching (TILT) initiative in higher education. The three-part series focused on two texts, Bell Hooks’ Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom and Edna Chun’s and Alvin Evan’s The Department Chair as Transformative Diversity Leader: Building Inclusive Learning Environments in Higher Education. In addition, the Center for Jesuit Education, Center for Faculty Development and Office for Diversity and Inclusion co-sponsor an annual Ignatian Pedagogy Series, exploring Ignatian pedagogical principles with a clear focus on inclusivity.
Fireside Chats
In December 2021, the Office of Diversity and Inclusion launched LIFT SU BIPOC Faculty Fireside Chats in partnership with the offices of the President and Provost. The fireside chats were created to hold space for self-identified BIPOC faculty to discuss their unique experiences, including opportunities to empower their academic lives.
The Wismer Professor is selected by a faculty committee and serves as an intellectual leader, modeling academic excellence through a scholarly agenda focused on intersectional feminism including gender, sexuality, race and class. Professor Dean Spade was appointed the 2021-2023 recipient of the Wismer Professorship for Gender and Diversity Studies. Professor Spade’s appointment bears significance as collaborative efforts take shape across campus to reignite inclusive excellence and renew our sense of community in the wake of the global pandemic.
Clinical Professor Estella C. Williams presented with Associated Professor Anne Farina, Creating a Workshop for MSW Students: Building Resilience Against the Impacts of Racialized Trauma on Learning.
Associate Professor of Economics Erin Vernon presented, Addressing Racial and Ethnic Disparities in End-of-Life Care, at Lightning Talks 2021.
Fireside Chats 4
TOTAL GATHERINGS Building relationships to empower thriving Learn more about our partnerships and fireside chats here
Dean Spade's latest book, Mutual Aid: Building Solidarity During This Crisis (and the Next) was published in 2020.
