Diversity, Equity & Inclusion at CGS
CGS believes that the cultural and social diversity of our faculty, staff, and students is vitally important to the distinction and excellence of our college, and we support BU’s institutional commitment to ensuring that BU is inclusive, equitable, diverse, and a place where all constituents can thrive.
The sections below highlight some of the work CGS is currently doing to advance this mission.
DEI Committee And Members
CGS created the CGS Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Committee in Fall 2021 to support diverse faculty, staff, and students, build a community, explore ideas, and provide programming around DEI initiatives and work at CGS. The committee is constituted annually with advisors and faculty and is co-chaired by the Dean and Associate Dean. The current committee members are: Davida Pines (Associate Dean), Ilda Hanxhari, Joellen Masters, Natalie McKnight (Dean), Joshua Pederson, Chun-Yi Sum, Adam Sweeting, Meg Tyler, and Aaron Worth.
Emerging Scholars Program
CGS was awarded funding from the BU Diversity and Inclusion’s Emerging Scholars Program for two Emerging Scholars Symposia hosted virtually in February and November 2021. The Emerging Scholars Symposia brought together underrepresented minority scholars who specialize in teaching diverse texts to offer CGS faculty resources and strategies for their own teaching.
DEI Speakers
The Stanley P. Stone Distinguished Lecture Series has hosted speakers who embody diversity and promote diversity, equity and inclusion:
Jacqueline Patterson, Founder and Executive Director of the Chisholm Legacy Project: A Resource Hub for Black Frontline Climate Justice Leadership and former Senior Director of the NAACP Environmental and Climate Justice Program delivered A Conversation on Climate Justice Webinar, March 21, 2023.
Cliff Albright of Black Voters Matter, February 10, 2022.
Emily Bernard, author of Black Is the Body: Stories from My Grandmother’s Time, My Mother’s Time, and Mine, March 11, 2021.
Common Ground Committee
The Common Ground Committee was founded by alumnus Jonathon Levin to foster difficult conversations across differences. The committee is chaired by the Dean and includes faculty, advisors, and students. The Fall 2022 and Spring 2023 committee members are: Matthew Bae, Thomas Finan, Ilda Hanxhari, Shawn Lynch, John Mackey, and Davida Pines, plus about 12 students. The Common Ground committee has sponsored an implicit bias workshop, numerous presentations and discussions on racial and ethnic stereotyping and bias, and presenters such as Roosevelt Montas, who spoke in March 2023 on the benefits of a general education curriculum for him as a recent immigrant to the U.S. It has also hosted two conversations on National and Global Citizenship, with CGS Social Science faculty members Chun-Yi Sum and Shawn Lynch.