The Equitable ITP/IMA group is generating resources around teaching practices that emphasize equity and racial justice. We’d like to encourage you to take an active stance in thinking about equitable and just practices in your classroom culture and pedagogy.
Some basic guidelines include:
- Take the time to look at the diversity of voices represented within your syllabus (readings, example work, guests, critics). Your syllabus should prioritize including perspectives from non-dominant identities. The Equitable Syllabus Project is an excellent resource for help with developing your syllabus.
- At the beginning of the semester, take time to set the tone of the class by reviewing Code of Conduct, and perhaps expanding on portions relevant to your specific course, or invite your students to co-create a group agreement. Here is an abridged CoC slide deck and an example intake form you can use!
- Make a concerted effort to create a welcoming and nurturing environment, especially for your students with non-dominant identities. Make room for difficult conversations. Consider “calling in” versus “calling out”.
- If you feel out of your depth in addressing a conversation or conflict, it is best to acknowledge that, and reach out for external support.
- Consider what biases you carry, and that students are coming from all kinds of backgrounds, including racial, national, religious, economic, educational, learning ability, health, family circumstances, and so on. Avoid making assumptions about your students.
- Whenever possible, encourage explicit discussion about the cultural context and social impact of the technology and/or subjects covered in your course.
For further questions, ideas, or comments, please reach out to equitable@itp.nyu.edu and a member of the working group will get back to you.
Other Tisch & NYU Resources
A wealth of resources, including information on how to facilitate difficult conversations and how to recognize, prevent, and respond to microaggressions, are available through the NYU Office of Global Inclusion and Diversity and through the Tisch webpage on Diversity. You should also familiarize yourself with the – Incident Response Guide for Staff and the NYU Bias Response line.