Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Resources

Whitesupremacyculture.info: This Tema Jon Okun’s latest work interrogating whiteness and white supremacy culture.

DismantlingRacism.org: This is an excellent resource with materials for dismantling racism where you are – from a UNCG Alum (Dr. Tema Jon Okun) and other activist and colleagues. 

The Charlottesville Syllabus: Link to the ongoing syllabus project, in response to white supremacist protests in Charlottesville (2017), which is intended to aggregate resources for conversations about the recent and distant history of racial violence in the US.

Black, Indigenous and People of Color Mental Health Resource Guide (received from the North American Society for the Sociology of Sport list serv)

The Anti-Racist Educator

The Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute

Black Lives Matter Resource Site (UNCG Libraries)

Anti-Racism Resource Guides (UNCG Libraries)

Pedagogical Resources for Handling Difficult Dialogues 

Inclusive Course Design Worksheet

Inclusive Classroom Syllabus

Developing Community Agreements in Your Course

Dialogue, Discussion, and Debate: Knowing the Difference

Facilitating Dialogue Online

Identifying and Addressing “Hot Moments” and Attending to Intent and Impact

Common Teaching Strategies for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Work

Worksheet to conduct an Inclusive Classroom SWOT Analysis

Example of the Ladder of Inference 

Loteria Humana Worksheet is an activity that gets students thinking about where they have privilege, where they have cultural wealth, and what does that mean for the classroom.

Matrix of Oppression Worksheet – As you begin thinking about your teaching, consider completing the Matrix of Oppression Worksheet adapted from Patricia Hill Collins.

Office of Intercultural Engagement Gender Diversity Resource Toolkit

Pride Month Resource Site (UNCG Libraries)

Resources from Campuses Leading This Work

Perceived Challenges Worksheet – Thinking through potential challenges to an inclusive classroom.

Inclusive Strategies Reflection Worksheet – Checklist of inclusive classroom practices adapted by the CRLT at Michigan from Linse & Weinstein 2015

Setting the Tone for an Inclusive Classroom – Five guidelines from the CRLT at Michigan for establishing a welcoming learning environment

Responding to Microaggressions Online

The following resources were aggregated for UNCG’s Indigenous Pedagogy Workshop by UNCG students. Feel free to review the following sites, articles, and chapters from edited volumes that address various elements of indigenous experience and ways of knowing.

Red Pedagogy: Native American Social and Political Thought by Sandy Grande

Indian Country Today Site

Why Land Acknowledgments Matter: A guide to indigenous land acknowledgment

Native Land Digital Map: Native-Land.ca

Project 562 – national photography project dedicated to photographing over 562 federally recognized tribes in The United States

Stop Talking: Indigenous Ways of Teaching and Learning and Difficult Dialogues in Higher Education (Merculieff & Roderick 2013)

Relearning the Star Stories of Indigenous Peoples (Taylor 2019)

Healing: the stories of academic success and barriers faced by Lumbee tribal young adults (Locklear 2017)

“Do you live in a Teepee? Do you have Running Water?” The harrowing Experiences of American Indians in North Carolina’s Urban K-12 Schools (Hunt, Locklear, Bullard, & Pacheco 2020)

Under the Rattlesnake: Cherokee Health and Resiliency (Lefler & Belt 2009) – UNCG Library E-book (requires UNCG login credentials) or (you can purchase a copy here on amazon.)

Introduction: Coloniality of power and de-colonial thinking (Mignolo 2007)

Nourishing the Learning Spirit: Living Our Way to New Thinking (Battiste 2010) or visit ERIC

Naturalizing Indigenous Knowledge with Eurocentric Education (Battiste & Youngblood Henderson 2000)

Indigenous Concepts of Education: Toward elevating humanity for all learners (Van Wyk & Adeniji-Neill, eds. 2014)

Red Pedagogy in TEACH BOLDLY! (Grande 2010) or visit JSTOR

Handbook of Critical and Indigenous Methodologies (Denzin, Lincoln, Tuhiwai Smith, eds. 2014) – find the full book at Sage Publications

Grande. Red Pedagogy: The Un-Methodology or visit Sage Publications site

Cajete. Seven Orientations for the Development of Indigenous Science or visit Sage Publications site

Kincheloe & Steinberg. Indigenous Knowledges in Education: Complexities, Dangers, and Profound Benefits or visit Sage Publications site

Tips for Working with Students Who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing from University of Texas

Handbook for Working with Students Who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing from University of Maryland

Expectations and Tips from UC-Santa Cruz

Lasell College, Student created Tumblr on Ramadan 

Islamic Center at NYU resource on Ramadan support (pdf)

University of Richmond, Religious Holiday Calendar and Information

These resources were created by students in Communication Studies.

Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Podcast Series

Helping International Students Succeed (from the CST Communication in the Classroom Series)

Students with Visible Disabilities and the Ways That We Respond (from the CST Communication in the Classroom Series)

As we return to campus, in what will be varied ways, we need to keep in mind that we all have been experiencing sustained events that are having and have had physical and/or emotional harm. Dealing with health and economic concerns around COVID-19 and the fight for justice that is taking place (i.e., police brutality against people of color, systemic racism, white privilege) are ongoing traumas that we have to face. All are going to take up space in your course, and it is important to have the background and tools you need to best support your students.

Keep in mind, not all students (or faculty and staff) experienced these events in the same way. Some of us had support networks; some of us did not. Some of us had direct experiences with the issues; some of us had tangential experiences. Some of us had compounding situations (e.g., returning to unsafe or uncertain situations). The reality is our learning environments have changed and will continue to change.

What does this mean for my teaching?

The truth is that our students have had their lives uprooted, and this can lead to hopelessness, loneliness, fear, overwhelming emotions, depression, anxiety… see where this is going? These emotions will take up space in our learning environments. We need to think about how we approach our students and each other as we move forward.

The Research

While we do not know specifically how COVID-19 or current events will impact the learning experience, there is plenty of research on how trauma can inform teaching. The area of Trauma Informed Teaching and Learning has a wealth of resources available. Here are the basics:

What should you prepare for?

1. There will be unexpected responses (Minahan, 2019).  Trauma manifests in a number of ways – but specifically, this can mean that students do not respond to your teaching, prompts, or even their peers in ways we have come to expect. Take a breath and do not take any of it personally.
2. Students will have a different understanding of relationship-building and closeness (Carello, nd; Imad, 2020; Minahan, 2019). The physical environment has changed and our students’ relationship to how we interact in physical spaces has had to evolve. So, whether you teach online or face-to-face, keep in mind that you may have to set clear guidelines for how students engage with you and others. You may need to purposefully build in team- or relationship-building activities early in the course, and you will want to define what appropriate communication looks like.  Here is a resource with a few ways to start.
3. Students have grown to expect the unexpected (Imad, 2020; Minahan, 2019). Therefore, consistency and predictability will be paramount for students to feel comfortable and supported. You must be clear with students about decisions you make (upfront) to help them prepare for major changes to the course and the learning experience. Explaining why you are making a change can help a student process and respond in a calm manner. 
4. Students may need you to provide hope (Imad, 2020; Minahan, 2019). This is essential – hope has an important and valuable role to play in learning. Feeling hopeless in out-of-class situations can lead to feeling hopeless or unsure in the learning space. It is important that you reinforce the potential you see in each student, providing them with aspirational wealth (Yosso, 2005).  Remind students that learning is lifelong and that they are building skills for living in an evolving world.
5. Remember that we are part of a global community. Keeping in mind that everyone is experiencing trauma in different ways, we also must remember that we are part of a global campus. We have students (and faculty/staff) who are closely connected to and affected by what is occurring across the US and the world. Do not assume that every student has experienced/been experiencing these events in the same way. Also, do not assume that every student has the same context regarding these events.

What you should NOT do:

1. Do NOT force a response: Sometimes in our attempts to help students heal, we create assignments and activities that require students to reflect on what has happened. This also makes students relive the trauma. Eventually, we may get to a place where having students address these reflections head on is okay – but right now, and for the immediate future, do not put students in the position of reliving trauma even for learning’s sake. Students will need time to unpack and heal from what is happening – so be very careful and intentional about how you address these issues in class.
2. But, do NOT ignore these traumas: This is a fine line – we also cannot ignore what is happening. We live in a society with unjust systems and systemic biases that shape our lives. It is important that we equip our students with the skills and knowledge to address these issues head on. 

What you should do:

1. Examine your own place in this: No matter your identity or background, these events have affected you. You need to take stock of that. Regarding the events surrounding the murder of George Floyd specifically, you need to understand your own positionality in regards to systems of oppression. If you are in a majority dominant position (white, cisgendered, heterosexual, etc.), consider taking an implicit bias evaluator (there are a number of them) – it really does help to understand your own blindspots in this work. Here is one from Project Implicit or one from Tolerance.org.
2. Be aware that higher education is a major reproducer of White Supremacy/Power-over Culture (Okun): This can be hard to hear, but it is a fact. The Colonial Matrix of Power (Mignolo & Walsh, 2018) reminds us that a colonizer’s aim is to undermine and invalidate diverse ways of knowing – by establishing a specific way for information to be considered valid or scholarly. This process then leads to the current practice of reproducing White Supremacy/Power-over Culture (e.g., worship of the written word, belief in objectivity, right to comfort, etc.). Visit Whitesupremacyculture.info or DismantlingRacism.org or  ShowingUpForRacialJustice.org to see a fuller list. 
3. Diversify your sources: Many of us use “traditional” texts from our disciplines. Now is the time to make a conscious and concerted effort to change it up and bring in diverse voices. If your discipline is heavily dominated with white, male voices in the foundations, think about how you help students see other scholars in the field at every stage. The power of students seeing themselves or others like them as experts is significant always – but essential right now. 
4. Explore (or re-explore) work on Inclusive and Culturally-Responsive pedagogies: UNCG offers an Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Institute regularly, but there are a number of ways to expand your understanding of inclusive teaching. Visit the Teaching Innovations Office to look at our onDemand resources, join a literary circle around these topics, or seek out your School or College’s EDI Committee or Council. If you need help finding a colleague to talk to around these issues, contact Laura Pipe in the TIO (lmpipe@uncg.edu). We can connect you to a full network of colleagues doing this work – and doing it in meaningful ways.

Links to articles for reference:

Trauma-Informed Teaching Strategies – ASCD

What is Trauma-Informed Teaching? – University of Buffalo

Hope Matter – Inside Higher Ed