Partners in Curriculum Diversification
Working with you to explore the possibilities
Classroom Evolution
Traditional academic spaces and curricula were designed for a very limited group of people. Because of this, our most foundational models and institutional structures are also very limited—even counterproductive—in representing and connecting to a broadening student base.
Curriculum diversification seeks to fulfill the role of universities in developing critical thinkers and global citizens who can be a force for confronting the inequities of larger society that are precisely manifested in the traditional curricula and pedagogy utilized for centuries. We are excited about this challenge, and we are here to work with you in expanding and diversifying the content, approach, and pedagogy of the UIndy curriculum, across all departments and areas.
Whether you are already involved or new to it, curriculum diversification is an ongoing process with both long- and short-term possibilities. Ultimately, the goal is to make you a more effective teacher for more students, while at the same time growing the university as a whole. Our purpose is to provide peer support, collaborative thinking, institutional structures, and learning resources.
DIVERSIFY YOUR COURSE(S)
Allow us to help you explore the possibilities—and flexibility—of your classroom’s impact, whether virtual or in-person.
We'll work with you to conduct an Inclusion Assessment and Reflection in order to enhance your students' academic journeys through a more culturally inclusive curriculum.
CONSULTATION MEETING
Please reach out today by completing the Curriculum Diversification Request form to set up your one-hour consultation with one of our partners. You will receive an email with the next steps and further instructions to get your course(s) on the way to greater diversification.
FIVE THINGS TO START DOING RIGHT NOW
- Share your pronouns in your syllabus, email signature, and any other place where you identify yourself (name tags, Zoom screen name, website profile, and so on).
- Learn your students’ pronouns and names. Allow students discreet opportunities to express their personal pronouns and what name they wish to be called; make sure you learn to pronounce their names correctly.
- Share resources students can access if they experience bias, both at the university and classroom level (e.g., yourself, the department chair, Counseling Center, Office of Inclusive Excellence and Retention Strategy, Services for Students with Disabilities, etc.) Consider adding these resources to your course websites and/or syllabi.
- Express your own identities (casually or more formally), as appropriate, whether through words, dress, decorations, etc. This can include your own preferred learning styles. Do this in a way that assumes the context of a diverse, multi-cultural society, in order to create an environment in which the students understand that everyone’s identity is a legitimate and relevant part of the classroom.
- Watch one video, or listen to one podcast, or read one selection from the Resources list below.
Contact Us
Office of Inclusive Excellence and Retention Strategy
Schwitzer Student Center, 201
317-791-5612
oie@uindy.edu
PARTNERS
The Inclusive Excellence Strategic Leadership Coalition is made up of faculty and staff representatives from every area of campus. The following people are members of the Partners in Curriculum Diversification sub-committee:
Mason Burns
Current Role: Assistant Professor, Department of Psychological Sciences
Personal Pronouns: he/him/his
Academic Studies: B.S. Psychology, M.S. Social Psychology, Ph.D. Social Psychology
317-791-7321
burnsmd@uindy.edu
My research interests surround the study of stereotyping, prejudice, and prejudice reduction. I have published his research in peer-reviewed psychology journals and textbooks focusing on implicit bias reduction, the self-regulation of prejudice, and interpersonal confrontation as interventions to reduce the experience and expression of bias. More recently, I have also conducted research on prejudice and bias from the targets’ perspective. Namely, research investigating African Americans’ perceptions of Whites’ prejudices and White allies against racism. Read more about Mason Burns' work.
I also incorporate my interests and expertise in the psychological study of prejudice and prejudice reduction in the classroom. For instance, I teach a readings course in the psychology department dedicated to the psychological study of prejudice reduction. Finally, I am also the co-chair of the College of Behavioral Sciences’ Diversity Committee.
Francine Carter
Current Role: Assistant Professor, Phylis Lan Lin Department of Social Work
Personal Pronouns: she/her/hers
Academic Studies: Bachelor of Social Work (BSW), Master of Social Work (MSW), Professional Certified Coach (PCC), Energy Leadership Master Practitioner (ELI-MP), Certified Professional Coach (CPC)
317-788-3344
carterf@uindy.edu
The Social Work Code of Ethics and Social Work Standards of Cultural Competence requires our profession to pay attention and develop an increased awareness of diversity in our personal lives and in our professional duties through our service, advocacy, and education. As the world changes, so do we and it is imperative to continue to examine and challenge the curriculum, our teaching, and ourselves to remain relevant.
Eileen Mah
Current Role: Assistant Professor, Music
Personal Pronouns: she/her/hers
Academic Studies: B.A. in Music and Classical Languages (Latin and Greek); Master of Music in French Horn, Doctor of Arts in Musicology
317-788-2109
mahe@uindy.edu
I currently teach a First-Year Seminar called “Masks,” which explores reasons for and ramifications of purposely taking on alternate identities, in a variety of contexts. This class is specifically designed to address issues of diversity by focusing on the components of diversity, i.e., identities—how they come to be, how they interact, and so on. This is a multi-disciplinary class that draws on music, writing, literary theory, history, and sociology.
I also teach a four-semester sequence of Music History for music majors. Diversifying this class involves the related concept of “decolonizing”—examining how the Eurocentric assumptions behind the term “Music History” and “Classical Music” are and are not valid or useful, and examining the diverse and marginalized elements of music history even within a Eurocentric context. I have chosen to gradually integrate these things in all parts of the four-semester sequence, rather than as a separate class, and it is all very much a work in progress.
I have changed the name of our intro-level GenEd music class from “Introduction to Music” to “History of Western Classical Music,” again, to honor its validity as a class, but name it for what it is. I have also designed new intro-level classes that do aim to cover more inclusive definitions of music, and I have redesigned our “Music in World Cultures” class to be less tokenizing, less assuming of Western perspective, and again, more self-reflective about identity and relationship to other identities. In the long term, I would like to work with the other sub-areas in my department (Music Education, Music Therapy, and Music Performance), to increase the study of music through a cultural lens in all our degree concentrations.
I love multidisciplinary approaches to education and to life, and I look forward to stretching my own thinking by helping disciplines other than my own take on diversification of curriculum--particularly disciplines in which the connections are less obvious but no less important.
Leah Milne
Current Role: Assistant Professor of English, Multicultural American Literature, English graduate program director, Ethnic Studies minor program director
Personal Pronouns: she/her/hers
Academic Studies: BA in English, MA in English, Ph.D. in American Literature
317-788-6163
milnel@uindy.edu
Part of the work I have done in this effort is to lead students in open examinations of the history of these fields by answering questions that provide context: Why, for example, is modernism often taught as separate from or adjacent to the Harlem Renaissance despite their many overlaps in time and preoccupations? Why do we generally know so little about the diverse nationalities, languages, religions, and cultures that make up Native American literature? How did multiethnic literature evolve as a field, and what do its origins have to do with a group of US college students in the 1960s?
Within the English department, I helped to promote a reassessment of our curriculum and courses with an eye to diversity. I have also worked with colleagues in cross-disciplinary efforts that include FYS courses such as a collaboration on poverty and wealth for the Honors program, and the creation of UIndy’s Ethnic Studies minor. Find out more about the Leah Milne's courses.