The BCBP program is committed to equity and inclusion and anti-racism in our teaching, mentoring, advising and our research. As a program that draws from three different disciplines, we are collectively involved in a variety of initiatives and efforts to raise awareness about the ways that structural racism and other barriers influence how students experience STEM at Amherst. Together with our students, we seek to learn and grow as a community striving to make the STEM experience an inclusive and equitable one for all.
We are committed to ensuring that all BCBP students have the opportunity to engage and learn about issues of systemic racism, diversity, equity, and inclusion, or social justice as it pertains to science and scientific communities. For this reason, the requirements for completing the BCBP major include one course that engages with these topics.
Examples of existing courses that fulfill this requirement are listed here, and updated each spring for the upcoming academic year. Other courses not listed or offered in the Five Colleges can substitute with the approval of the chair of BCBP: ANTH/SWAG 209 or SOCI207 Feminist Perspective on Science and Medicine; Karkazis: Fall 2021 (no cap listed); ANTH 245 Medical Anthropology; Dole: Fall 2021 (30 students); SOCI/ESCI 226: Unequal Footprints on the Earth; Holleman: Fall 2021 (18 students); CHEM/SOCI 250: Being Human in STEM; Jaswal, Trapani: JTerm 2022 (50 students); AMST 234 Indigeneity and Science; Hamilton: Spring 2022 (18 students); AMST/BLST/SWAG-296: Black Women and Reproductive Justice in the African Diaspora; Jolly: Spring 2022 (20 students).
For other specific examples of efforts BCBP faculty and students are involved in across our departments, please visit: