Anti-Racist Pedagogy Learning Community: Call For Faculty Proposals

The program is open to all full-time UC San Diego Academic Senate faculty members and Unit 18 Lecturers with an interest in learning about the historical roots of educational inequity, examining their teaching practices through a racial equity lens, and enacting anti-racist practices in their class, department, or program through a project of their own design. Non-senate faculty educators in the School of Medicine are also eligible. All School of Medicine applicants should be engaged in direct classroom or clinical teaching with medical learners and propose projects with a focus on enhancing these training activities. Successful School of Medicine faculty applicants will be supported by the T. Denny Sanford Institute for Empathy and Compassion’s Center for Empathy and Compassion Training in Medical Education and will be named Sanford Anti-Racist Pedagogy Faculty Fellows. These Sanford Fellows will participate in additional activities sponsored by the Center for Empathy and Compassion Training in Medical Education, including formal presentation of their project outcomes, which will be detailed upon acceptance.

Interested applicants are encouraged to reflect on the application questions, and answer questions as honest and authentic as possible. The selection team seeks not for the "perfect" applicant; instead, for applicants with varying experiences with anti-racist work and those eager to learn from the program.

To be considered for the 2023-2024 Teaching + Learning Commons Engaged Teaching Changemaker Fellows Anti-Racist Pedagogy Learning Community, please submit an online application by Sunday, November 27, 2022. Selected faculty will be notified by Friday, December 9, 2022. The application form includes the following: 

• Your interest in and the importance of joining anti-racist pedagogy
• Strengths you would bring to the learning community
• What you hope to gain from participating in the learning community
• What support you might anticipate as a participant of the learning community
• Describe why you think some students struggle in your classroom
• Level of exposure to anti-racist pedagogy
• How you and your department/unit would benefit from your participation 
• Description of a proposed anti-racist pedagogy project with the following information: 
  • Summary and rationale of proposed project, including project goals and/or specific learning outcomes
  • Potential impact on student learning
  • Potential challenges you foresee this project may encounter 
• Describe how the project addresses anti-Blackness and advances anti-racism efforts on campus or in your department.
• Statement of commitment to fully participate as described.
• Letter from your Department Chair or Dean confirming support for your application, project, and participation in the CFF-ARPLC required meetings and events.

Access the application now.

Please submit application or program questions to Carolyn Sandoval, Associate Director, Teaching + Learning Commons and Director, Engaged Teaching Hub at c2sandoval@ucsd.edu and Karina M. Viaud, Associate Director of Engaged Teaching Hub at kviaud@ucsd.edu.

A $5,000 fellowship award will be provided to grantees for discretionary use for activities such as professional development, course development, research, and implementation costs that could include curriculum materials, course or project-related travel, and/or undergraduate or graduate student ARPLC project-related support. 

Applicants are asked to provide a proposed budget for how they plan to use the funds. Once transferred, funds will be administered by the faculty member's departmental fiscal contact.

The learning community curriculum is grounded in the work of scholars of color and is designed to deepen participants’ understanding and practice of anti-racist pedagogy. The curriculum is focused on three main goals:

• Unpack the historical roots of educational inequity: What is the historical context of anti-Black racism locally and in U.S. education? How does systemic racism contribute to educational outcomes seen today, particularly at UC San Diego?

• Understand our personal relationships with anti-Black racism and white supremacy: How has our socialization in a racist society contributed (in conscious and unconscious ways) to our identities as people and our choices as educators?

• Enact anti-racist pedagogy in our classes and roles as educators: How can we create classroom experiences that challenge racist ideologies and begin to dismantle existing structures of oppression? What actions will we take to support the well-being of Black, Latinx, Indigenous, and minoritized students at UC San Diego?

With a shared sense of purpose and mutual support, our goals are to work together in community to:

• Acknowledge, unlearn, and move against racism in higher education structures and practices that impact the educational experiences of students of color, particularly Black students.
• Build a social justice learning community dedicated to supporting the academic success and well-being of students of color. 
• Support faculty and graduate student educators dedicated to anti-racist work and strengthen a campus culture that supports racial equity.
• Enhance empathy and compassion in the context of education, particularly as it applies to building inclusive and equitable classroom environments.

Note: Schedule is subject to minor changes.

Blakeney, A. M. (2005). Antiracist pedagogy: Definition, theory, and professional development. Journal of Curriculum and Pedagogy, 2(1), 119-132. https://doi.org/10.1080/15505170.2005.10411532