Center for Teaching & Learning Anti-Racist Pedagogy Conversation Series

Anti-racism is not an outcome, it’s a commitment.”
—Pawan Dhingra

These conversations were co-hosted by the Faculty Equity and Inclusion Officers and the Center for Teaching and Learning; they were co-facilitated by faculty and instructional staff. While the facilitators had resources available and some level of expertise on the topics, these conversations were intended to focus on cooperative learning and problem-solving as opposed to being presentational in nature.

• February 25th, Building an anti-racist classroom
  • Facilitators: Allen Hart (Psychology), Pawan Dhingra (American Studies), Riley Caldwell-O'Keefe (CTL), Pawan Dhingra (FEIO/American Studies), Allen Hart (FEIO/Psychology)
  • Resources (Log in to your Amherst account to view):
    • Inclusive, Antiracist, Decolonization Syllabus Strategy Table [AC Center for Teaching and Learning document]
  • • Tuitt, F., Haynes, C. & Stewart, S. (2018) Transforming the classroom at traditionally white institutions to make black lives matter. To Improve the Academy, 37(1).

     

• March 11th, Building an anti-racist classroom: Continuing the conversation
  • Facilitators: Alana Kumbier (Research and Instruction Librarian), Kristen Luschen (American Studies), Sara Smith (R&I)
  • Resources (Log in to your Amherst account to view):
    
    • Handout from The Racial Healing Handbook: Practical Activities to Help You Challenge Privilege, Confront Systemic Racism and Engage in Collective Healing by Anneliese A. Singh
    • Key Ideas from Kishimoto and Singh
    • Kishimoto, K. (2018). Anti-racist pedagogy: from faculty’s self-reflection to organizing within and beyond the classroom. Race, Ethnicity & Education, 21:4, 540-554. https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2016.1248824

• March 25th, Anti-Racist Strategies for providing feedback to your students
  • Facilitators: Kristen Brookes (Writing Center), Chris Durr (Chemistry)
  • Resources (Log in to your Amherst account to view): 
    • 4 Tips for Responding to Multilingual Student Writing
    • Bose, D. (2020) Wise feedback: using constructive feedback to motivate learners. EDvice Exchange: Center for the Advancement of Teaching. 
    • Cohen, G., Steele, C., & Ross, L. (1999) The mentor’s dilemma: providing critical feedback across the racial divide. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 25(10), 1302-1318. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167299258011
    • Mohan, J. (2020, August) Beyond just: toward an antiracist writing pedagogy at Macalester. [Note: suggested reading pp. 1-3, 6-7, 8-17. Focuses on avoiding racist pedagogy, especially that associated with “standard” American English and conventions of academic writing. Implications extend beyond writing to questions of “rigor” and college readiness, as well as to academic conventions more broadly.]

• April 8th, Navigating academic integrity with an anti-racist mindset
  • Facilitators: Allen Hart (Psychology, FEIO), Corey Michalos (Community Standards)
  • Resources (Log in to your Amherst account to view):
    • Amherst College Community Standards
    • Brown University's Harriet W. Sheridan Center for Teaching and Learning. (n.d.). Inclusive practices for addressing academic integrity. retrieved April 6, 2021, from https://www.brown.edu/sheridan/teaching-learning-resources/inclusive-teaching/academic-integrity
    • Eaton, S. E. (2020). Race-based data in student conduct: A Call to action. University of Calgary. http://hdl.handle.net/1880/112157
    • Strategies for Academic Integrity During Remote Learning  [Amherst College Center for Teaching and Learning document]

• April 22nd, Building inclusive and anti-racist curricular pathways
  • Facilitators: Sarah Bunnell (CTL), Riley Caldwell-O'Keefe (CTL), Rhonda Cobham-Sander (Black Studies, English, Latinx and Latin American Studies), Sheila Jaswal (Chemistry), Joe Trapani (Biology, Neuroscience)
  • Resources (Log in to your Amherst account to view):
    • Building an Inclusive Syllabus [Amherst College Center for Teaching and Learning document]
    • Chat from 4/22/21 Conversation
    • McNair, T.B. (2016). The time is now: committing to equity and inclusive excellence. Diversity and Democracy, 19(1). https://www.aacu.org/diversitydemocracy/2016/winter/mcnair
    • Montgomery, B.L. (2020). Planting equity: using what we know to cultivate growth as a plant biology community. The Plant Cell, 32, 3372-3375. https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.20.00589
    • Rubric for moving toward equity for Black students 

• May 6th, Anti-racist approaches to gathering, interpreting, and responding to student feedback
  • Facilitators: Allen Hart (Psychology), Pawan Dhingra (American Studies), Riley Caldwell-O'Keefe (CTL), Leah Schmalzbauer (American Studeies/Sociology), Marc Edwards (Biology)

  • Reflection: As a way to engage with some recent student feedback, please take a look at the Black Student Union demands. You can find information about and related to these demands in several places including:

    • July 2020 #ReclaimAmherst (The Amherst Student article)
    • Amherst College BSU Facebook page (Including April 2021 demands)
    • April 2021 Black Minds Matter student walkout (The Amherst Student article)
    • Amherst BSU Instagram 

    We encourage you to take a few moments to reflect on the following questions before we meet. How do you normally engage and integrate student feedback in your teaching? Reviewing the Tuitt et al reading and Kishimoto (or Kishimoto key take-aways) from earlier conversations in this series, how might you integrate anti-racist and equity-minded thinking and practices in your approach to gathering and responding to student feedback?