Designing Antiracism Curricula Fellowship Program

What is the DAC Fellowship Program?

The Designing Antiracism Curricula (DAC) Fellowship Program brings together Boston University educators to focus on the development of antiracism undergraduate and graduate courses. DAC fellows will have the opportunity to design or redesign their own courses in order to integrate antiracism frameworks and perspectives, while collaborating with colleagues in a supportive teaching and learning community.

Who is organizing the DAC Fellows program?

The DAC fellows program is organized by a core group comprised of Kaylene Stevens, Program Director, Social Studies Education and Clinical Assistant Professor, Wheelock School of Education & Human Development; Priya Garg, Associate Dean for Medical Education at the Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine and Assistant Professor of Pediatrics; Deb Breen, Director, Center for Teaching & Learning (CTL); and Annabelle Estera, Assistant Director of Training and Workshops, BU D&I. The core group will invite other faculty and students to provide input into reviewing applications as well as the design and/or delivery of the program. The group is supported by a communications team from BU D&I. 

What will the experience of a DAC fellow look like?

DAC fellows are part of a cohort that meets monthly throughout the academic year, beginning in September and ending in May. Each month, they engage in a course design or redesign process led by the DAC Fellowship planning team and invited guests. Even though each Fellow is working on their own course design project, the process of doing so is collaborative and supported by their cohort members and the planning team. 

Fellows are expected to complete 5-10 hours of independent work between each monthly meeting. The amount of work between sessions varies throughout the year. 

Who can apply?

All Boston University educators who can fulfill the goals of the DAC Fellowship program are eligible to apply. That is, applicants should demonstrate a commitment to the development of antiracism curricula, be able to confirm that their new or revised course has departmental or program support and be prepared to share their work with colleagues within DAC and more broadly to cultivate and extend conversations about antiracism teaching.

What are DAC Fellows expected to do?

Participants will be asked to commit to monthly meetings with their DAC colleagues to discuss readings, and share pedagogical approaches and ideas for developing or revising courses. In addition, there will be 5-10 hours of work outside of these meetings each month as fellows work on their own courses. Fellows will also be expected to share their knowledge and materials with a broader audience, both inside and beyond BU, as a way to extend and support ongoing conversations about antiracism teaching.

How can I find out more about the application process?

You may reach out to BU D&I at odi@bu.edu with any questions.

Dr. Linda Afifi obtained her MA and PhD. in Anatomy and Neurobiology at Boston University Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine where she is now an Assistant Professor. Dr. Afifi’s teaching repertoire includes gross anatomy, advanced clinical anatomy, histology, and neuroscience for 1st year and senior medical or graduate students. Outside of teaching, academic activities for Dr. Afifi include graduate student advising, mentoring, curricular development, and anatomical/clinical research. Dr. Afifi’s career interests expand beyond academia and as a result she obtained a Master’s in Clinical Mental Health Counseling and is currently a mental health therapist who treats children and adults. Psychoeducation is a major component of Dr. Afifi’s practice, and she is passionate about utilizing her background in neuroscience and education to empower one’s understanding of the physiological and neurological components of mental health.

Dr. Gregory Benoit (Dr. GB) is a lecturer in math education at Boston University Wheelock College of Education & Human Development as well as the assistant director for the Earl Center for Learning & Innovation. He uses his experiences as a graduate of, and former teacher in, the Boston Public Schools as an anchor for his research in understanding and designing expansive mathematical spaces that nurture strong positive mathematics identities for both teachers and students. With a strong commitment to creativity, equity, and justice, Dr. Benoit critically examines mathematics popular culture artifacts and designs digital simulations and other practice spaces that center the culturally responsive teaching of mathematics. His research interests also include gamification and game-based learning in mathematics.

Before joining BU Wheelock, Dr. Benoit was the senior professional development math coordinator at the Center for the Professional Education of Teachers (CPET) at Columbia University, where he created mathematical professional development responsive to the respective needs and values of the students, teachers and school. Dr. Benoit also served as the co director of MathQuest at the Institute of Play, an interdisciplinary professional development aimed at supporting mathematics educators in employing principles of game design in planning and instruction.

Dr. Foley earned her BS in Psychobiology from Simmons College. She then received her PhD in Neuroscience from Tufts University. As a graduate student in the lab of Dr. Philip Haydon, Dr. Foley focused her research on the function of astrocytes in normal and abnormal physiology. After her PhD, Dr. Foley was a post-doctoral fellow at Harvard Medical School, working in the lab of Dr. Gary Yellen. She investigated how genetic manipulation of cellular metabolism confers seizure protection in mouse models of epilepsy.

Currently, Dr. Foley is the Graduate Program Director for the MS (Vesalius) and PhD Programs in Anatomy & Neurobiology. She is the course director for Professional Skills, Special Topics in Neurophysiology, and co-director for Methods in Neuroscience. She also lectures in Graduate Histology, Embryology, and Gross Anatomy courses.

Dr. Foley is driven to improve the quality of graduate education through structured courses and thoughtful program assessment. She is passionate about increasing opportunities to students from underrepresented groups that may be at a disadvantage. To this end, Dr. Foley serves as the co-chair for the Anatomy & Neurobiology DEIJ committee. In her role as director of the MS and PhD graduate programs in Anatomy & Neurobiology, Dr. Foley appreciates that she has the power and the responsibility to provide quality education to students from all backgrounds, and to be especially inclusive and supportive of those who need it most.

I am from the Port of Los Angeles, where I got an early start in marine science education from the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium and San Pedro Marine Science Magnet. I received my B.S. from University of California, Santa Barbara in Aquatic Biology in 2013. I received my Ph.D. in Biology from Boston University with Dr. Pete Buston in 2023. My research aimed to enhance our understanding of fish population persistence through the framework of marine metapopulation dynamics. I investigated the reproductive ecology and dispersal ecology of two emerging model systems in marine fish ecology and evolution: the neon goby Elacatinus lori from Belize and the orange anemonefish Amphiprion percula in Papua New Guinea. As a PhD. student, I was a Teaching Fellow for 13 different courses, mostly within BU’s Marine Program in the “Marine Semester”, an immersive research experience of various, experiential learning courses in which undergraduates perform independent research projects.

Currently, I am a Postdoctoral Associate Teaching Scholar with the Biology Department under the mentorship of Dr. Kathryn Spilios and Dr. Kale Hartmann. As I continue to teach, I am also conducting research on the impact and reach of experiential learning for undergraduate marine education. My research aims to identify effective learning strategies that may improve equity and inclusion within marine science.

Dr. Cristina Gago is an Assistant Professor of Community Health Sciences at the Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH). Cristina is a population health researcher with a focus on public health approaches to address inequities in diet quality and food environments for young children and parents living in poverty. Prior to joining BUSPH in 2023, she trained as a postdoctoral fellow at NYU Langone’s Institute for Excellence in Health Equity, where her research centered around the evaluation of health behavior change interventions in the context of a large, Brooklyn-based federally qualified health center. Prior to that, she earned her PhD at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, where she examined key facilitators and barriers WIC and Head Start parents face in accessing healthful nutrition and health promotion resources for young children.

Anna Henchman is an Associate Professor of English at Boston University who specializes in 19th-century British literature, science, and perception. Her first book, The Starry Sky Within: Astronomy and the Reach of the Mind in Victorian Literature revealed links between stellar astronomy and vertiginous shifts in narrative scale and point of view in writers like Alfred Tennyson, George Eliot and Thomas Hardy. She’s currently working on two book-length projects: first a book on Coral for Reaktion Book’s Series on Animals and a book entitled “Tiny Creatures and the Boundaries of Being that explores the role invertebrates like worms, snails and sea-squirts play within the 19th-century British imagination. She teaches courses on conceptions of time, on animals, on children’s literature, and on the life and work of Audre Lorde. Between 2017 and 2023 she co-created and co-taught a course for  BU’s Kilachand Honors College on “Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Climate Change ” that focused on time and ecological justice. 

Dr. Amml Hussein, Ed.D., MSW, is a leader in social work education, celebrated for her unique skillset as a civic science communicator and mental health clinician. She is dedicated to trauma-informed practice, racial equity, and social justice, leveraging emergent technologies to meet the unique needs of marginalized communities and promote trauma healing.

As a national leader in civic science communications, Dr. Hussein excels in building public trust and sharing stories that dispel misinformation and accurately represent real-life experiences. In a climate of mistrust towards the scientific community, she takes her responsibility to build trust with communities seriously, serving not only as an activist and advocate but also as a participating ally. 

At the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE), Dr. Hussein leads innovative initiatives that enhance student engagement in translational research, connecting research, practice, and policy. Her dedication to improving research teaching methods and applying innovation fosters experiential learning and student participation. Her work on the Assessment Institute exemplifies her commitment to educational excellence and social justice, providing educators and practitioners with advanced tools for effective teaching and evaluation.

Dr. Hussein is deeply committed to decolonizing curricula and developing communities of practice that create space for discussing emergent technologies and their application to teaching. Her projects actively engage student scholars in the translational research process and policy development, ensuring that education and practice remain responsive to societal needs.

Serving on multi-disciplinary review panels for the National Science Foundation and elected as Vice Chair for ARNOVA’s Teaching Section, Dr. Hussein’s visionary leadership continues to shape the future of social work education and research. Her work addresses complex challenges while prioritizing the needs and healing of marginalized communities.

Dr. Khan (she/her) is a licensed Clinical Psychologist and a Clinical Associate Professor at the Boston University School of Medicine / Boston Medical Center (BU/BMC). She is additionally the Training Director of the Center for Multicultural Training in Psychology, and the Director for the Center for Multicultural Mental Health at BU/BMC. She is also the Co-Chair for the DEI Committee at BMC, the Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Council at BU, and the Diversity Champion for the Department of Psychiatry at BMC. Her expertise is in the domain of multiculturalism, diversity, equity and social justice. Her clinical outlook is informed by Psychodynamic and Postcolonial theoretical frameworks. Her specialty training is in Trauma: Individual trauma, group/community-based trauma, disaster related trauma, immigration, refugee and postcolonial trauma. As such, Dr. Khan has been conducting the Family Support Center, focused on serving the behavioral health needs of pandemic patients and their families at BMC. She was recently the Director of Behavioral Health and Resiliency Services at the Massachusetts Resiliency Center, serving the survivors of the Boston Marathon Bombings. She has also served as a behavioral health responder following local, national, and international disasters: following 9/11 in NY, Springfield tornadoes, floods in Pakistan and earthquake in Pakistan, earthquake in Haiti, Tsunami in Japan, school shooting in Peshawar, Afghani refugees in DC, and Rohingyan refugees in Bangladesh. She has presented at conferences and conducted trainings, workshops and seminars, locally, nationally, and internationally on the topics of multicultural clinical practice, multivariate aspects of identity development, matters of conflict resolution, cross-cultural communication, and cultural humility/awareness. She is a principal investigator on several federal grants and has worked towards promoting multicultural training initiatives and crisis intervention work. She is an active member of several committees within the APA Division of Psychoanalysis (39). She additionally serves on the Disaster Behavioral Health Advisory Committee of the Massachusetts DMH. She is a recipient of several awards, most recently including the “Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility Award” for her numerous DEI efforts in making spaces for difficult conversations, “Rising to the Occasion Award” for her work during the pandemic, the “Humanitarian Service Award” for her work with the Rohingyan Refugees in Bangladesh; the “Service Appreciation Award” for her work following the Boston Marathon Tragedy; and an “Outstanding service award” by the U. S. Attorney’s Office for services provided during the Tsarnaev trail. She is of Pakistani American descent and as a Muslim raised on three different continents, she is conversant in seven languages.

Rachel Meade is a Lecturer in the Department of Political Science at Boston University. Her research examines why people support populist social movements, media, and politicians in the US and Argentina. She was a participant in the 2022-23 BU Inclusive Pedagogy Institute, where she worked with colleagues to implement classroom community building teaching goals.

Alexis Peri is an Associate Professor of History, specializing in Russian, Soviet, Cold-War, and women’s history. She has published The War Within: Diaries from the Siege of Leningrad (Harvard University Press, 2017) as well as articles in Kritika, The Russian Review, and Diplomatic History. Her new book: Dear Unknown Friend: The Remarkable Correspondence between American and Soviet Women, comes out with Harvard University Press in October 2024. Peri teaches courses on Soviet, Russian, American, and wartime history, and she is the recipient of the Gitner Family Family Prize for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, conferred by the History Department in in 2019, and the Metcalf Award for Teaching Excellence, conferred by Boston University in 2024.

Joshua Robinson is an archaeologist with research interests in the paleoecological context of Plio-Pleistocene biological and behavioral adaptations of the human lineage. His primary research is focused on understanding the Middle to the Later Stone Age transition in sub-Saharan Africa through the reconstruction of social and exchange networks. He has conducted fieldwork and museum research across eastern and southern Africa, including in Kenya, Ethiopia, Zambia, and South Africa. In addition to studying Middle and Later Stone Age archaeology, Josh is a senior member of the Ledi-Geraru Paleoanthropology Research Project investigating the origins of the genus Homo in Ethiopia. As a Lecturer in the Archaeology Program, he teaches the large introductory course – AR100: Great Discoveries in Archaeology – and upper-level courses on environmental archaeology and archaeological methods.

Hongyun Sun currently serves as a senior lecturer in Chinese in the Department of World Languages and Literatures at Boston University and as a Board Director of the New England Chinese Language Teachers Association. Before joining BU, she taught at Bowdoin College (2006-2008) and Harvard University (2008-2015).

Throughout her career, Ms. Sun has passionately dedicated herself to fostering an educational environment where students transcend mere language acquisition to develop profound intercultural competence. By engaging students in language learning experiences, she equips them with the skills and insights necessary for a successful and culturally enriched future. She has received the Harvard University Certificate of Teaching Excellence (2008-2015) and the Boston University Award for Distinction in First-Year Undergraduate Education (2020). Additionally, she is a co-author of the intermediate Chinese textbook “Expressive Chinese” (Cheng & Tsui, 2021).

Carmen Torre Pérez is a lecturer of Spanish in the Romance Studies department. She holds a PhD in Hispanic studies and, as a teacher and scholar, strives to bring decolonial and diverse perspectives to the forefront. She is a music enthusiast and is particularly interested in the study of underground and pop music cultures in Latin America, from punk to reggaeton.

Dr. Whitney earned a Ph.D. in Anatomy and Neurobiology from Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine. Working under the guidance of Dr. Gene Blatt and Dr. Thomas Kemper, Dr. Whitney’s research focused on the neuropathology of autism. Currently, Dr. Whitney dedicates a significant portion of her time to formal teaching and student advising across multiple schools, including the Goldman School of Dental Medicine (GSDM), Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine (CAMed), and various Graduate Medical Sciences (GMS) Programs. At GSDM, she has served as the Course Director for Anatomical Science-I (histology, neuroanatomy) and has been actively involved in Anatomical Sciences-II (gross anatomy, embryology) since 2005. At CAMed, she has contributed to the gross anatomy component of the curriculum through lectures and hands-on instruction in the gross anatomy laboratory.

Within the Department of Anatomy & Neurobiology, Dr. Whitney has been an active member of the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice committee since its establishment in 2020. In 2023, she assumed a leadership role as co-chair, collaborating closely with her counterpart to spearhead efforts in cultivating an inclusive environment within the department. Dr. Whitney actively participates in various subcommittees, including the Inclusive Curriculum and Learning Subcommittee, Community Engagement Subcommittee, and Black History Month Subcommittee. She has a strong interest in inclusive pedagogy; she completed the Inclusive STEM Teaching Project Course in 2021 and looks forward to furthering this important work through the Designing Antiracism Curricula Fellowship

John Weinstein joined the faculty of the physician assistant program in 2017. Prior to joining the program he was a global health researcher at the University of California, San Francisco. He has experience teaching in undergraduate and graduate programs on a wide variety of topics including biostatistics, epidemiology, research study design, and global health economics.  

John serves as the Director of Research for the Physician Assistant Program where he develops and implements the program’s research curriculum, mentors students and faculty on their research projects, and is responsible for all program assessment, ensuring it meets accreditation standards and program goals, as well as identifying areas in need of improvement. He has used his role to promote health equity and anti-racism within the program, such as eliminating the use of admissions metrics that have been found to be racially biased. Additionally, John has created and facilitating the Equity, Vitality, and Inclusion (EVI) discussion group; founded and chairs the Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Committee; continues to perform research in global health; and serves on the board of two NGOs, one serving African immigrants locally and one improving health equity in Malawi.

This fellowship will allow for the redesign the Introduction to Research course to better
address issues of racial health inequity. Biomedical research has a long history of being a tool of racial inequity: originating from imperialism and racism; taking advantage of the vulnerable in society; and being used to create, defend, and maintain systems and structures of racism. However, it also provides the tools to uncover and dismantle inequities in health due to race. Additionally, most of the PA program curriculum – pathophysiology, pharmacology, disease risk factors, standards of clinical practice, etc – originates from clinical research findings and, thus, learning to apply a critical and antiracist lens through my course will carry over to other coursework and clinical practice, amplifying the effect.

Maria Bobroff

Lecturer in French, College of Arts & Sciences

Kelly Bylica

Assistant Professor of Music Education, College of Fine Arts

Leslie Dietiker

Associate Professor of Teaching & Learning, Wheelock College of Education and Human Development

Bruno Guaraná

Master Lecturer of Film & Television, College of Communication

Michael Medina

Assistant Professor of Applied Human Development, Wheelock College of Education and Human Development

Zachary Mondesire

Assistant Professor of International Relations, Pardee School of Global Studies

Indu Ohri

Lecturer of Humanities, College of General Studies

Lauren O’Neal

Senior Lecturer in Arts Administration, Metropolitan College

Joshua Pederson

Associate Professor of Humanities, College of General Studies

Monica Pessina

Clinical Associate Professor of Anatomy & Neurobiology, School of Medicine

Hope Haslam Straughan

Clinical Associate Professor of Human Behavior Research & Policy, School of Social Work

Edgardo Tormos

Lecturer in Spanish, College of Arts & Sciences

Lillie Webb

Lecturer in French, College of Arts & Sciences

• “Spanish for Native and Heritage Speakers (CAS LS 209) ‘El Caribe nuestro: lengua y cultures afrocaribeñas’” – Edgardo Tormos (Lecturer of Spanish, Romance Studies)
• “What I (Thought I) Knew about Anti-Racist Syllabi” – Michael A. Medina (Wheelock College of Education & Human Development)
• “Antiracist approaches to ethics in the Social Work profession (ET753)” – Hope Haslam Straughan (School of Social Work)
• “Decolonizing Cinema” – Bruno Guaraná (College of Communication, Film & Television)
• “Ungrading as an Antiracist Teaching Practice (Redesigning CGS HU 201/202)” – Joshua Pederson (CGS, Humanities)
• “Defining Moments” – Zachary Mondesire (Pardee School of Global Studies)
• “Multifaceted, Interconnected, Collaborative & Ongoing: Thinking in Support of a Future Curating & Activism Course at MET College” – Lauren O’Neal (MET College Graduate Program in Arts Adminstration
• “Designing Anti-Racist Curriculum for LF111-LF212” – Maria Bobroff & Lillie Webb (CAS, Romance Studies)
• “CGS HU 240: Imperial Era Global Folklore and Supernatural Fiction” – Indu Ohri (CGS, Humanities)