DEI in Academics

Faculty Updates

In the fall of 2021, Bard College welcomed the most diverse cadre of faculty to its classrooms in the history of the institution. One-third of tenure-track faculty appointed over the past five years identify as Black, Hispanic, and/or Indigenous. This aligns with the Office of the Dean of the College’s introduction of inclusive search workshops and, by faculty action, adoption of training for all faculty search committee members. Student participants in faculty searches also receive this training as part of their work in the recruitment process.

Training

The Center for Faculty and Curricular Development, the Office of the Dean of the College, and working groups in the four academic divisions have all focused on creating well-attended seminars and retreats on inclusive pedagogy, inclusive syllabi, “call-in culture,” and in-service trainings for navigating difficult conversations and sensitive readings.

Inclusion Challenge

The Office of the Dean of the College, in collaboration with the Lifetime Learning Institute, has funded more than $10,000 in Academic Inclusion Grants this semester. These grants are intended to support work in academic programs that advances the goals of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Projects range from speaker series to interdivisional workshops to funding for student participation in cultural events in New York City and elsewhere. Recently funded projects were in Anthropology, Arabic, Architecture, Dance, History, Literature, Middle Eastern Studies, Photography, Theater and Performance, and Written Arts/Experimental Humanities.

Undergraduate Opportunities

This year, Bard undergraduates will be able to take part in workshops to address practices of antiracism in the art world, interdisciplinary conferences, internships, Inclusion Fellow initiatives, and alumni/ae networking opportunities. Inclusion Libraries curated by students and faculty together are being established in Architecture and Photography. The Social Studies Division has launched a Racial Justice Course Cluster to “concentrate and coordinate curricular offerings having to do with equity, racial justice, and social power.” Students can register for these spring offerings in December; courses from across the divisions will be available. Social Studies is hosting a “Decolonizing the Curriculum” workshop to interrogate curricula as well as teaching methods.

DEI Statements for Academic Programs and Divisions

Academic programs and divisions have created DEI statements for their programs and for course syllabi, which have also been posted on program websites. Director of Inclusive Pedagogy and Curriculum Michael Sadowski has worked with individuals and with program-level working groups to support this process. Student groups in Photography, Studio Arts, and Theater and Performance are in dialogue with faculty and the dean of inclusive excellence about critical efforts to transform teaching and learning as well as equity/access to materials, equipment, resources, and opportunities, especially in the Division of the Arts. The student-led SCALE Project has been a leader in examining the role and impact of socioeconomic status and class at Bard and, along with Council for Inclusive Excellence (CIE), represents a powerful site for communication and connection among students, staff, and faculty dedicated to rethinking access to all educational opportunities at the College.

New Courses

The College also plans to expand curricular offerings next semester that deal explicitly with issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion in Photography, Art History and Visual Culture, and Human Rights, which will offer a new seminar Disability Rights, Chronic Life with CCS writer, artist, and theorist Evan Calder Williams; Race, Health, and Inequality: A Global Perspective with Vice President Dumaine Williams; Law of Police with Professor Peter Rosenblum; and Civil Rights v. Human Rights with Professor Kwame Holmes.

Bard's Membership in the National Center for Faculty Diversity and Development

Bard is in its third year of institutional membership with the NCFDD (National Center for Faculty Diversity and Development). NCFDD focuses on professional development and external mentoring for all faculty to ensure their success. NCFDD was founded by women scholars of color and is attentive to addressing the need for research and career support encountered by faculty of color through boot camps and writing challenges. Recent Bard faculty participants in the NCFDD Faculty Success Program include: Stefan Mendez-Diez (Mathematics); Omar Cheta (Middle Eastern Studies and Historical Studies); and Heather Bennett (Biology). Bard has also supported one post-tenure Pathfinders participant, Cathy Collins (Biology).

Photo by Karl Rabe

In the Classroom

Our curriculum encourages students to deepen their understanding of diversity, equity, and inclusion through the Difference and Justice distribution requirement and Engaged Liberal Arts and Sciences courses, as well as programs of study that create space for historically marginalized voices in the academy, including:

Students in the Inclusion at Bard course present their research on Matthew McDuffie, Class of 1889, at a new placard near the chapel honoring his life and work, as Professor Myra Young Armstead (far left) looks on.

Course Spotlight

Inclusion at Bard, Taught by Professor Myra Young Armstead
The nation's colleges and universities have served as stepping stones, remediating racial inequalities by providing pathways toward upward mobility for people of color. At the same time, recent revelations of the link between elite American institutions and slavery highlight their role in reproducing racial and other social hierarchies. Inclusion at Bard, an Engaged Liberal Arts and Sciences course offering, explores how these contradictory dynamics manifested themselves at Bard College. Student research into the founders and alumni/ae of Bard College culminated in the creation and dedication of new signage on campus that encourages critical reflection on Bard’s history.

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