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Although any faculty member can be attentive to pedagogy and how to set up an inclusive classroom environment, some courses can make their course content more explicitly multicultural. Ideally, this means more than just a one-day “add-on” or token “nod to diversity” so that diversity is “infused” into the course at its foundation.
As you are redesigning a course, keep in mind that you can:
- Share with students how recent scholarship – perhaps about gender, race, sexual identity, global perspectives, etc. – may have changed your field of study in recent years.
- Think about the opportunities your course content offers in terms of topics to be covered, types of case studies or examples used, application of theories, evidence, readings and authors, and the types of thinking you want to encourage.
- Investigate what leaders in your discipline/field are doing to infuse diversity into their curriculum. If you’re serious about redesigning your course, check out the Diversity Infusion Project.
More tips can be found on the Curriculum Design for Inclusive Classrooms webpage.
Inclusive Classrooms is a faculty resource project spearheaded by Associate Director of the Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning Mary Jo Festle. This project was created out of a research-based recognition that students perform better if they feel they “belong.” For more ideas and resources on how to foster inclusive classrooms in regards to both content and pedagogy, as well as to read about what other faculty are doing and student experiences visit the Inclusive Classrooms website.
Image by Flickr user London Permaculture / Creative Commons licensed BY-NC-SA 2.0
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