Prof. Davis Designs Antiracist Curricula Through BU Fellowship Program
Ashley Davis, a clinical associate professor at BU School of Social Work, is one of thirteen inaugural fellows of the Designing Antiracism Curricula Fellowship Program at Boston University.
Sponsored through a partnership between BU Diversity & Inclusion, the Center for Antiracist Research and the Center for Teaching and Learning, the program tasks each fellow with redesigning or developing a course using antiracism frameworks, content and pedagogical strategies. Prof. Davis will redesign one of the School of Social Work’s core courses, Introduction to Social Work Research I.
According to Davis, “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.”
By redesigning the Research I course, she plans to teach students to consume and conduct research through an antiracist lens. Her goal, she says, is that “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.”
As a researcher focused on antiracism in social work practice and social work education – and a faculty instructor for the Social Work Research I course – Davis hopes this is “one opportunity among many others to infuse antiracism in our curriculum and classrooms.”