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Teaching and Learning for Social Impact

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Incorporating a Racial Equity Lens 63 plain 2021-06-07T09:42:46-07:00
This summer, hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the streets to protest the murders of Black Americans. While the Black Lives Matter movement has been building for years, many have said that this moment feels different. As David Cunningham articulated in a conversation with Hedy Lee and Geoff Ward, "this is a time of great challenge, but it's also a space within which we can double down on this mission to say that it's impossible to think about a vibrant university moving forward that doesn't engage these pressing issues in a way that's relevant to students and relevant to the community and relevant to all of us as we work together." The following resources can support you as you consider how to incorporate a racial equity lens to your course.
In my intro neuroscience class this semester I provided a reading assignment about systemic racism in neuroscience. I’m sharing here a very long thread about this experience, what I learned & some of the responses from students. There were approximately 98 students enrolled. 1/13
— Serafine Laboratory (@SerafineLab) December 16, 2020
Curated Course Structures and Components
- Full Courses & Syllabi
  - #blacklivesmatter library, teaching, activism, and community resource list has a syllabus section among other resources
  - This University of St. Thomas library guide includes links to topical syllabi from the Minnesota Uprising Syllabus to #Immigration Syllabus and more
- Assignments & Lesson Plans
  - Setting the Tone: This step is essential for courses that will include conversations about equity. This Michigan LSA, Getting Started with Inclusive Teaching includes activities for creating guidelines for discussion, welcoming the use of gender pronouns and other markers of identity, and engaging other best practices.
  - Teaching about Race in the US:
    Project READY, Module 2: History of Race and Racism This is a fully developed online module, after which, learners will be able to "Describe how and why the concept of race was developed. Explain how the concept of race was applied throughout history in ways that advantaged white people and disadvantaged people of color and Native people. Outline how historical advantages and disadvantages based on race have accumulated to create and maintain the racial inequities we observe today. Connect historical events and trends to your own personal and family history.
    National Museum of African American History and Culture, Talking About Race Also has fully developed materials, including definitions, videos, reflection questions, etc. for educators who care about their "students' racial consciousness and want to develop their racial awareness."
    Racial Equity Tools offers tools, research, tips, curricula and ideas for people who want to increase their own understanding and to help those working toward justice at every level – in systems, organizations, communities and the culture at large.
- Other Resources
  - Michigan LSA, Incorporating Language About Gender-Based Violence and Sexual Abuse Into Your Course Syllabus
  - ACUE Inclusive Teaching Practices Toolkit includes "10 inclusive teaching practices that can be immediately put to use to benefit both faculty and their students."
  - Center for Teaching and Learning Inclusive Teaching and Learning Page
Curated Relevant Content
Read
- Tuitt, F., Haynes, C., Steward, S. (2018). Transforming the Classroom at Traditionally White Institutions to Make Black Lives Matter. To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development, 37(1).
- Thurber, A., Harbin, M.B., & Bandy, J. (2019). Teaching Race: Pedagogy and Practice. Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching. Retrieved [8/23/2020].
- Cole, C.E. Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy in Higher Education: Teaching so That Black Lives Matter. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, vol. 36, no. 8, 2017, pp. 736–750.
- Patton, L. D. (2016). Race, equity, and the learning environment: The global relevance of critical and inclusive pedagogies in Higher Education. Stylus Publishing, LLC. (available as a WashU electronic resource)
- Brookfield, S. D. (2015). The skillful teacher: On technique, trust, and responsiveness in the classroom. John Wiley & Sons. (available in the WashU library)
- Ginsberg, M. B., & Wlodkowski, R. J. (2009). Diversity and motivation: Culturally responsive teaching in college. John Wiley & Sons. (available in the WashU library)
- Hales, K. G. (2020). Signaling Inclusivity in Undergraduate Biology Courses through Deliberate Framing of Genetics Topics Relevant to Gender Identity, Disability, and Race. CBE—Life Sciences Education, 19(2), es2.
- Sue, D. W. (2016). Race talk and the conspiracy of silence: Understanding and facilitating difficult dialogues on race. John Wiley & Sons.
Listen
- 1619 Project Podcast
Watch
- Whose Streets? (available in the WashU library)
- Race: The Power of an Illusion (available in the WashU library)
Experience
- Check out more opportunities to learn and engage at the Academy for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Linking Academic and Community Learning 45 plain 2020-09-22T13:34:59-07:00
Overview
Read: Principles of Good Practice
Watch: Ready, Set, Engage! Principles and Practice of Community Engagement
Relevance
Read: Articles about CETL in different disciplines
Reflection
Read: Principles of Reflection
Create: Reflection Assignments
- On this site from the University of Puget Sound you will find:
  - Sample Assignments from a range of disciplines
  - A Design Checklist
  - Reflection Types such as group dialogues, directed writing, and more
  - Reflection models Note: Kolb’s model is sometimes summarized as What, So What, Now What. You can also find specific reflection questions for different reflection models here.
- The Center for Civic Reflection provides reflection questions for a range of topics (e.g. Crisis and Conflict, Power and Privilege)
- Indiana University Bloomington provides reflection questions on service-learning courses
Equity Centered Community Engagement
(Theories to Inform Practices)
Critical Service-Learning
Read: Traditional vs. Critical Service-Learning: Engaging the literature to Differentiate Two Models
Listen: Interview with Tania Mitchell.
Discussion of Critical Service-Learning from 21:55 to 42:50.
Decolonizing Service-Learning
Read: From Critical to Decolonizing Service-Learning: Limits and Possibilities of Social Justice-Based Approaches to Community Service-Learning
Watch: Webinar on Decolonizing Service Learning
Epistemic Justice in Community Engagement
Read: A Brief Guide to Epistemic Injustice/Justice
Watch: How to Facilitate an Exploration of Epistemic Justice & Community Engagement Through Stories
Building in the Election 38 plain 2020-09-04T11:18:55-07:00
The youth voter turnout rate consistently falls below national averages. Students at Washington University are no exception. One best practice for addressing this disparity is integrating election content into classrooms.

Connecting students’ area of studies to relevant policies and political platforms and emphasizing the importance of voting as a response to material learned in the classroom has been proven to increase student voter turnout. In addition, students face numerous procedural barriers to voting.

Many students have never voted before and must navigate various processes, deadlines, and forms in order to successfully vote on Election Day. Including voter education as part of the classroom education experience will address many of these barriers and equip students with the information necessary to complete the steps needed to vote in a timely and accurate manner. Given the University’s interest in increasing the voter turnout rate among its students, adding elections content to courses is crucial.
Curated Course Structures and Components
- Full Courses and Syllabi
  - Project Pericles syllabus repository
- Assignments and Lesson Plans
- Other materials
  - Gephardt Institute for Civic and Community Engagement Faculty Voter Engagement Resource This webpage has been curated especially for Washington University faculty. It includes election resources to add to courses, including syllabus language, PowerPoint slides, Canvas announcements, and more.
Curated Relevant Content
Read
Articles about integrating voter engagement into courses
General Reading
- Institute for Democracy and Higher Education Election Imperatives 2020 Note faculty-specific strategies on pages 8 and 9.
- Making Sense of... The Vote by Mail Conversation
- Block the Vote: Voter Suppression in 2020
Listen
- Young Activists Pour Energy Into Protests, But What About the Election?
- Vote! The Podcast
Watch
- Suppressed 2020: The Fight to Vote
- The Power of the Youth Vote
Experience
- Volunteer at the on-campus polling location
- Engage Democracy events – The Gephardt Institute for Civic and Community Engagement will be hosting civic education events throughout the semester. These will include events that discuss important policy issues, how the pandemic is affecting the vote, and more.
- Become an academic voter engagement hub – Some WashU academic departments have been trained on voter registration and voter engagement strategies to better help the students in their department turn out to vote. If you are interested in having some members of your department trained, please contact Lindsay Gassman, Voter Engagement Fellow, at lindsaygassman@wustl.edu.
- Be a poll worker. Please note that this activity has heightened risk at this time. The Gephardt Institute is not encouraging this for students this year.
Credits
Linsday Gassman
Voter Engagement Fellow
lindsay.gassman@wustl.edu

Theresa Kouo
Assistant Director for Civic Engagement Education
theresa.kouo@wustl.edu