Presenters: Bailey Flanigan, Sara McAllister, Catalina Vajiac

This workshop originates from a student-led, grassroots effort at the Carnegie Melon University Computer Science Department to instate a mandatory course for first-year PhD students focused on improving the climate and making academia more just. The course covers topics including implicit bias, equity, privilege, microaggressions, systemic inequality, bias in technology, and allyship. We secured approval to run a pilot course in Spring 2021 for all first-year PhD students. After positive feedback from pilot attendees, we are now developing a semester-long version of the course. In this workshop, participants will learn (1) the results of this pilot (via course evaluation data), within a broader discussion of the viability of mandating anti-bias learning in an academic setting; (2) how we developed and evaluated the curriculum; (3) how to utilize our open-source curriculum materials to replicate our efforts; and (4) the strategies we have used to overcome challenges such as securing approval for this initiative in our department, engaging students with different interests and backgrounds, fostering participation in a mandatory setting, ensuring that in-class discussions remain safe spaces that spark critical thinking, and, importantly, developing and running the course in a way that lifts up marginalized voices without putting added burden on marginalized groups. Finally, we discuss our upcoming work on collecting more data and extending this initiative to other departments and universities.

Register

If you require an accommodation to participate in this event, please contact the Office for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion at diversity@pitt.edu by July 21

This workshop is a part of the 2021 Diversity Forum.