María Datel (she/ella), Senior Lecturer in Spanish, College of Arts & Sciences
I am looking forward to joining a community of educators across disciplines and continuing to learn about antiracist pedagogies while developing a 300-level Spanish course centered on indigenous perspectives, which are fundamental to our discussion of racism in Latin America. The colonial genocide was also an epistemicide, yet there are still 50 million indigenous peoples in Latin America whose knowledge production presents valuable alternatives to addressing contemporary issues, including climate change, food sovereignty, medical hegemony, and gender equity. I am grateful for the opportunity to explore this topic and connect with colleagues dedicated to furthering antiracist education.
Corinne DaCosta, Professor for Culture and Cuisine of the African Diaspora, Metropolitan College
Coming from a family of equity-focused educators who broke color barriers, it feels fitting that a higher education career focusing on antiracism would make my ancestors proud. With a background in vocational education, combining the knowledge of the body and mind with a lens of community and cooperation is at the forefront of my pedagogy. With this opportunity, my goals are to learn how antiracist techniques can be incorporated into the academic field and industry of gastronomy. In addition, I am grateful for the chance to gain more experience as an educator, be in the community and collaborate with other educators who pride themselves on the advancement of all people.
Ashley Davis, PhD, MSW, Clinical Associate Professor, School of Social Work
Through the fellowship, I will redesign a core course required of Master of Social Work students: SR 743 Social Work Research I. Historically and currently, research in the social sciences has been used as a tool to reinforce structural racism, which stands in opposition to the values of the social work profession. In this redesigned course, students will learn to consume and conduct research through an anti-racism lens. At each stage of the process, from forming questions to interpreting data, students will have opportunities to develop the knowledge and skills necessary to carry out research that promotes equity and empowerment.
Alexandra L. Dobie (she/her/hers), LICSW, APHSW-C, Instructor, General Internal Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine
Palliative care focuses on providing “whole person care” for those living with a serious illness, yet there continue to be barriers for patients — rooted in racism — to accessing and engaging in healthcare, including palliative care. I am interested in learning about and deconstructing how healthcare providers engage in clinical care of patients from an antiracist lens. I hope to empower healthcare providers to consider impacts of racism on patient care and how we might engage in antiracist practice in any clinical setting.
Daniel Doña, Senior Lecturer of Viola and Chair, Committee on Antiracism & DEIA, College of Fine Arts School of Music
Institutions that historically center on the study and performance of Classical music have long struggled to avoid tokenism and make changes related to DEIA issues that are more than surface-level acknowledgement of voices outside of the established Western canon. Courses need to be centered around critically engaging with musics of the past and present, from and beyond the Western art music canon, in classrooms and performances and ensuring that the voices of underrepresented composers, styles, performers, and cultures are provided adequate agency and support via curricular and administrative changes as they sit at the School of Music table. Adopting these approaches is central to the continued vitality of the School of Music.
Christina Michaud, Associate Director of English Language Learning, College of Arts & Sciences Writing Program
My goal is to transform WR 112, one of our foundational writing courses for multilingual students, which reaches over 600 international students each year in about 45 different sections. The opportunity this Fellowship provides comes at an exciting time for the Writing Program, which has just completed a focused search (the first of its kind in CAS), bringing on board five full-time lecturers in Fall 2022 with demonstrated expertise in antiracism and/or linguistic justice. Our entire program is thinking deeply about what it means to teach writing at BU through these twin lenses, and revising WR 112 is a key step in that process.
Melisa L. Osborne, PhD, Research Assistant Professor, Graduate Program in Bioinformatics, College of Arts & Sciences
Through the DAC Fellowship, I aim to redesign a core class in the Master’s Program in Bioinformatics—Biochemistry and Molecular Biology for Bioinformatics (ENG BF751)—to include units addressing racism in genetics, medicine, and bioinformatics and to incorporate strategies for inclusive pedagogy. My motivation to redesign this course has been driven by witnessing current events, particularly those of summer 2020 surrounding the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor and the Black Lives Matter movement, as well as my own experiences as a woman, mother, and career scientist. I am excited to engage with and learn from my co-fellows about practices and methods for building an inclusive and antiracist environment at BU.
Prasad Patil, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Biostatistics, School of Public Health
I hope to learn more about antiracist pedagogy as a means of exploring the history of race and racism in the field of biostatistics. From foundations in eugenics, to the interpretation of “Race” as a variable in statistical modeling, to the often-biased use of statistics in modern discourse on race, there are a wide range of topics concerning the treatment of race in biostatistics that are only recently receiving attention after decades of being ignored, overlooked, or forgotten. I wish to design a course overviewing these and other issues to inform and motivate future generations of conscientious data analysts, researchers, and citizens.
Tatiana Pontes (she/her/hers), PhD, Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Occupational Therapy, Sargent College of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences
My lived experience—as a mother of a disabled child, first-generation university graduate, woman with Brazilian citizenship living in the United States on a non-immigrant work visa, and person who has first-hand experience living with poverty during childhood—has increased my awareness of the systemic oppression and injustices that are experienced by equity-seeking individuals and communities. I have become conscious and passionate about social inequities and want to contribute to the solutions in creating a socially equitable and antiracist culture. I have begun to develop the tools to contribute to making important changes. The Designing Antiracism Curricula (DAC) Fellowship Program is a perfect opportunity to build those tools.
The Occupational Therapy Doctor Program is committed to preparing emerging clinicians to advocate for access, inclusion, equity, belongingness, pluralism, and social justice and demonstrate critical cultural consciousness. My goal is to make changes to our curriculum, fitting each course into an overarching antiracist curriculum plan, and creating a model antiracist educational program for similar OTD programs across the country.
Danielle Rousseau (she/her), PhD, LMHC, Assistant Professor of Psychology, Metropolitan College
My interest in antiracist pedagogy is rooted in my passion for educational approaches that are universally inclusive and trauma informed. I seek to design a course that is holistic, strength-based, and rooted in diverse pedagogical approaches. This course will serve undergraduate and graduate students exploring the work of antiracism as it exists at the intersection of justice – criminal justice, social justice, food justice, housing justice, restorative justice, and healing justice. The antiracist focus of this course will center topics relevant to applied social science work and the course will provide a foundation in antiracism for the programs of Metropolitan College’s Department of Applied Social Sciences.
Harriette Scott, EdD, Senior Lecturer, Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, Wheelock College of Education & Human Development
Recently, I heard someone say, “Intelligence can no longer be silent so ignorance can feel comfortable.” This topic interests me because I believe the frameworks can build bridges from history to the future. I want to be able to define, explain, and use antiracists content and frameworks in my courses, advising, committee work, reviewing graduate admissions applications, and serving and leading in and out of the classroom. Additionally, I hope to write, present, and facilitate conversations on antiracist frameworks and content.
Chun-Yi Sum, PhD, Lecturer, Division of Social Science, College of General Studies
I look forward to exploring antiracist curricular materials and pedagogical strategies for teaching a survey course on world history and civilization. I am committed to ensuring that students find their cultural values represented and respected in my classroom.
Daniel Sussman, PhD, Assistant Professor of Mathematics and Statistics, and Associate Director of Statistics Program, College of Arts & Sciences
Bringing a social justice lens to data science is crucial for students to understand and shape the impact they can make through data. As a DAC Fellow, I look forward to revising the course CAS MA 415/615 Data Science to incorporate in-depth case studies with antiracist themes, adopt antiracist pedagogical approaches, and enable students to access and use data for social good.
