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Franklin Diversity Leadership |
In Fall 2021, I was chosen to participate in the 2021-23 cohort of the Franklin Diversity Fellows (formerly known as the Administrative Fellows in Diversity Leadership). This opportunity is coordinated by Dr. Jean Martin-Williams, Associate Dean in Franklin College, and I am joined in this venture by Dr. Carolyn Medine, Professor of Religion and Director of the Institute of African American Studies. I am honoured, and quite frankly humbled, to have been selected and look forward to engaging and productive experience learning about about DEI initiatives at UGA and in the broader academic community.
Over the last year, we've been working on a number of projects, including the following:
- Franklin Diversity and Inclusion Excellence Plan: We're particularly proud of this one, and I encourage everyone to read the entire proposal. This is a multi-year plan that seeks to provide support for DEI-related initiatives among faculty, students, and staff in Franklin College. It's intended to also articulate with the broader initiatives supported by the UGA Office of Institutional Diversity.
- For the last two years, we've also hosted the (now annual) Reflections on Race Workshop. Dean Martin-Williams has been critical in making this event happen, and it appears that it will be staple of our DEI offerings moving forward. The participants of the first workshop (held in May 2022) now serve on Franklin's Inclusive Excellence Faculty Committee.
- There are a number of other DEI-related opportunities for faculty and students at UGA that are available throughout the year.
For anyone interested in reading more on DEI-related topics, I strongly recommend the following titles:
- Ahmed, Sara. 2012. On Being Included: Racism and Diversity in Instituational Life. Durham and London: Duke University Press.
- Dolmage, Jay Timothy. 2017. Academic Ableism: Disability and Higher Education. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.