I, Too, Am CofC

Show your support for diversity and inclusion through… Course Content Climate in your Department Classroom Dynamics Inclusive Learning Environments New Faculty Orientation August 19, 2015 Facilitators: Kristi Brian, Deanna Caveny-Noecker Conseula Francis

Self-Assessment  Identify your own strengths and challenges.  Jot down factors affecting confidence levels.  Ask questions to increase your confidence levels!

“Best Practices” Scenarios based on C of C Student Experiences

Scenario #1 “Getting off topic” Be willing to get “off topic” around matters of discrimination. Thank the student for giving you the opportunity to see the impact of your actions. No academic discipline is without its flaws. Emphasize how we have learned from our mistakes and biases within our fields. Affirm the student for his willingness to educate his peers. Ask student for his permission to address this situation next class period to give the subject the time it deserves. Acknowledge the student when you do this.

Scenario #2 “Mis-gendering hurts” Ask ALL students for pronoun preferences on the first day of class ask and explain why you are doing this. Respond to s from transgender students about name and pronoun changes. Accept that gender dysphoria and transphobia are real. THANK the student for talking to you about their transition and honor their requests. Ask the student if they would like to make other requests of you regarding how to handle related matters in class. Don’t say: I just don’t do well when it come to pronouns or the transgender thing. Meet more trans people and support their rights. Always assume you have LGBTQQAIP students. Become a Safe Zone Ally.

Scenario #3 “Triggering Language” You are responsible for making your classroom environment safe and respectful for all students. Language reflects and shapes culture. Interventions take courage and you will make mistakes. Be vulnerable and receptive rather than defensive when a student calls your attention to your oversights on “triggering” or problematic language.

Scenario #4 “Conflict as Opportunity” Recognize and attend to identity differences. Stereotype threat is real! Dr. Claude Steele on Stereotype Threat Reducing Stereotype Threat. Org Don’t miss opportunities to make productive learning experiences out of conflict. Don’t miss out on opportunities to address coded language or to set higher classroom standards around inclusive language. Social Psychologist Dr. Claude Steele Whistling Vivaldi: How Stereotypes Affect us and What We Can Do

“When I walk in late and the professor asks, ‘Why are you guys always late?’ It makes me feel like I have been stereotyped.” (experience of African American student) “I know my points are just as strong as those voiced by male students, but the professor practically ignores my contribution or doesn’t even call on me. I think it’s because of my gender.” (experience of female student in predominantly male discipline )

“I’m not okay with professors who allow ableist language in their classrooms….” “ I understand why the lesbian in my literature class dropped the class. The professor made more than one comment about how homosexuality was perceived as unnatural in her country, but didn’t go on to explain the impact of that cultural assumption.”

“It’s hard to adjust… coming from a predominantly Black high school to a campus in which I am often the only African American in the class.” “To have to sit through lectures and images about racial stereotyping when I am the only racial minority in the class is really awkward.” What our students tell us…

Mitigate Stereotype Threat Establish trust through explicit support for people of all identities Consider Visual and Content Cues Emphasize your confidence in students’ capabilities Highlight the success of underrepresented students and colleagues (through lectures, videos, photos) Emphasize an incremental view of ability

Other Resources to Consider The Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture 125 Bull Street

CofC Student Demographics Spring 2015 Women 63% Men 38% White 80% African American 7% Hispanic or Latino/a 4% Asian 2% Native American less than 1% Multiple Ethnic Identities 3%

Instructional Faculty Total number 949 Identify as minorities % Women % Men %

“Students –especially but not exclusively white students –arrive in our college classrooms with predictable cultural baggage. Prepared by virtually every element of the society in which we live, they come ready to accept white authority, intelligence and rightness while discounting the views and experiences of people of color.” Maureen T. Reddy --Professor of English “Smashing the Rules of Racial Standing” From Race in the College Classroom (Book available in Diversity Education Resource Center)