CLA Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

The purpose of this statement is to articulate the values orienting diversity, inclusion, and equity in the College of Liberal Arts.

These values are an integral part of shaping the working and learning environments for all College members, including students, faculty, staff, and administrators.The College of Liberal Arts:

1. acknowledges that Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) is central to and embedded in the work that we do in the College of Liberal Arts (CLA)00
2. recognizes that systemic biases impact marginalized communities and that rectifying these injustices requires reparative action
3. asserts that DEI work, supported and enacted by all community members, benefits everyone
4. recognizes and values that our CLA community members have different backgrounds and ideas, and likely a diversity of opinions with respect to DEI work
   • We believe that ongoing discourse and revision is central to the process of pursuing DEI work with The CLA DEI committee shall review this statement every second year.
   • We therefore value active engagement with varied and even opposing perspectives, as long as such perspectives do not dehumanize or cause harm to others.

Given these foundational claims, we affirm the following values which reflect the reparative nature of DEI work:

Values related to diversity and representation:

1. We value a diverse community in our college.
   • We support efforts to ensure that historically marginalized individuals are increasingly represented within the college. Therefore, we must be intentional around efforts to recruit, support, and retain faculty, staff, and students who have been historically excluded from or underrepresented in the college.
2. We value diverse forms of knowledge. 
   • We acknowledge that our fields have historically focused on the perspectives and experiences of the dominant social group, to the exclusion of others. We strive to take approaches within our research, scholarship, pedagogy, and/or service that intentionally reflect the perspectives and experiences of people not historically represented in the dominant social group.

Values related to equity:

1. We value the fair treatment, access and advancement of all members of our community.

   • Therefore, we must continually examine our processes and policies to ensure the equitable treatment of faculty, staff, and students.

2. We value the work that underrepresented groups often do to redress inequity.

   • We acknowledge that members of marginalized and underrepresented groups are disproportionately asked to engage in DEI work, often without the appropriate support for successful outcomes. Therefore, we strive to ensure that individuals in underrepresented groups do not disproportionately bear the responsibility of DEI work in the college.

Values related to inclusion and belonging: 

1. We value the opportunity for all people in CLA to thrive in their

   • Therefore, we are committed to fostering environments where all community members can feel included and celebrated.

2. We value inclusive spaces

   • We strive to dismantle unique barriers to success any groups may face. Therefore, we are committed to the continual assessment and redress of policies and practices that may present barriers to the success of our community members. We are also committed to creating and supporting opportunities for historically marginalized communities to flourish in our college.

In consultation with the Office of the Dean, the CLA DEI Committee elected to provide the following as an introduction to most common terms used in discussions of DEI-related matters. Rather than developing its own definition, the College of Liberal Arts opted for offering a few examples drawn from the most recent DEI publications, developed by notable DEI practitioners Shirley Davis, Maria Morukian, and Lily Zheng. Arguably, there are as many definitions as there are practitioners, so this list is far from comprehensive. It strives, however, to offer different approaches to the topic of DEI.

Diversity

• Shirley Davis opts to define diversity in terms of people’s traits. For her, “diversity is the collection of unique attributes, traits, and characteristics that make up individuals. They include values, beliefs, experiences, backgrounds, preferences, behaviors, race, gender, abilities, socioeconomic status, physical appearances, age, and so on. Some of these traits are visible, and many others are invisible.” (Shirley Davis, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion for Dummies. John Wiley and Sons, Inc, 2022, 15)
• Similarly, Maria Morukian, defines diversity as, “[t]he unique constellation of dimensions of human identity that make us who we are. Diversity includes all characteristics that shape our identity lenses—our beliefs, values, worldviews, and perceptions—which thus influence our communication, our behaviors, and ultimately our relationships with others” (Maria Morukian, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion for Trainers. ATD Press, 2022, 274).
• Lily Zheng adopts a different approach to diversity. For them, diversity “is the workforce composition that all stakeholders, especially underserved and marginalized populations, trust to be representative and accountable. Diversity is achieved through actions that explicitly counter present-day and historical inequities and meet the unique needs of all populations." (Lily Zheng, DEI Deconstructed: Your No-Nonsense Guide to Doing the Work and Doing it Right. Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc., 2023 39).

It is worth differentiating between what’s referred to as surface-level diversity and deep-level diversity. Surface-level diversity considers seemingly easy-to-recognize attributes, for example race and sex. Deep-level diversity considers “values, attitudes, interests, perceptions, abilities, and information or knowledge stores that are more difficult to ascertain or infer accurately by others (…) than surface-level attributes,” which includes differences in personality as well as non-visible factors like invisible disabilities. (David A. Harrison, “Deep-level Diversity and Surface-level Diversity,” in in Encyclopedia of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, edited by Alain Klarsfeld, Stella Nkomo, Lucy Taksa, Anne-Françoise Bender and Gaëlle Cachat-Rosset. Edward Elgar Publishing, 2024, 63-68, 65).

Equity

• For Lily Zheng, equity “is the measured experience of individual, interpersonal, and organizational success and well-being across all stakeholder populations and the absence of discrimination, mistreatment, or abuse for all. Equity is achieved by eliminating structural barriers resulting from historical and present-day inequities and meeting individuals’, groups’ and organizations’ unique needs.” (Lily Zheng, DEI Deconstructed: Your No-Nonsense Guide to Doing the Work and Doing it Right. Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc., 2023, 34.)
• Shirley Davis discusses equity vis-à-vis equality with the awareness that the two terms are often taken as synonym. In her opinion, “equality is concerned with treating everyone the same, while equity offers the opportunity for assistance so that everyone has a just and fair change to be successful.” (Shirley Davis, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion for Dummies. John Wiley and Sons, Inc, 2022, 17)
• According to Maria Morukian, equity consists of the “fair treatment, access, and opportunity for all people. Equity promotes fairness by addressing injustice and creating a level playing field for those who have been marginalized or oppressed because of some dimension of their identity” (Maria Morukian, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion for Trainers. ATD Press, 2022, 275).

Inclusion

• The definition of inclusion elaborated by Lynn M. Shore et al. has been generally accepted by the scholar community. It states that inclusion in the workplace is “the degree to which an employee perceives that he or she is an esteemed member of the work group through experiencing treatment that satisfies his or her needs for belonging and uniqueness” (L.M. Shore, A.E. Randel, B.G. Chung, M.A. Dean, K. Holcombe Ehrhart and G. Singh, “Inclusion and Diversity in Work Groups: A Review and Model for Future research.”  Journal of Management 37 (2011): 1262-89.
• Shirley Davis expresses an analogous idea when she defines inclusion as “the degree to which an employee perceives that they’re valued member of the work group and encouraged to fully participate in the organization.” (Shirley Davis, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion for Dummies. John Wiley and Sons, Inc, 2022, 19)
• Zheng offers a more general definition of inclusion as “the achievement of an environment that all stakeholders, especially underserved and marginalized populations, trust to be respectful and accountable. Inclusion is achieved through actions that explicitly counter present-day and historical inequities and meet the unique needs of all populations.” (Lily Zheng, DEI Deconstructed: Your No-Nonsense Guide to Doing the Work and Doing it Right. Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc., 2023, 43.)
• Similarly, Maria Morukian defines inclusion as “an environment in which everyone is welcomed, respected, and encouraged to fully participate.” (Maria Morukian, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion for Trainers. ATD Press, 2022, 276).
• Furthermore, Shirley Davis neatly summarizes the relationship between diversity, equity, and inclusion: “Diversity is the who, equity is the how, and inclusion is the what. Inclusion exists when an organization has created a diverse workplace and has leveled the playing field in such a way that people can be successful regardless of background”. (Shirley Davis, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion for Dummies. John Wiley and Sons, Inc, 2022, 309)

Belonging

Increasingly in DEI discussions, another term is becoming prominent, so much so that in certain occurrences it has been integrated in the acronym: DEIB, where the B stands for belonging. “A fundamental human need … [b]elonging is what allows employees to feel like they can be their authentic selves without fear of punishment or without having to cover up and be someone they’re not” (Davis, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, 21). Similarly, Zheng defines belonging as “[t]he extent to which people feel part of a larger whole in a group setting. It’s a metric by which we measure inclusion” (Zheng, DEI Deconstructed, 56).

Additional Terms

Allyship

• “[a] strategy to achieve any DEI outcomes whereby people possessing socially advantaged identities utilize those advantaged identities to create change” Zheng, DEI Deconstructed, 56).

Bias

• “a tendency or inclination that results in judgment without question” (Davis, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, 22). A bias can be positive or negative. For our purposes, we should highlight implicit or unconscious biases, which consist of opinions an individual has typically based on stereotypes; and structural biases, which occur in “processes, policies, or practices” (Zheng, DEI Deconstructed, 56).
• Implicit biases have also been defined as “whatever alien, valanced mental states, related to social categories, that influence our perceptions, judgments, or actions” (Katharina Berndt Rasmussen, “Implicit Gender Bias,” in Gender Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Academia. A Conceptual Framework for Sustainable Transformation, edited by Melina Duarte, Katrin Losleben, and Kjersti Fjøtoft. Routledge, 2023, 161-71,162).
  • For additional discussion see Erin Beeghly and Alex Madvan (eds.), An Introduction to Implicit Bias: Knowledge, Justice, and the Social Mind. Routledge, 2020.

 Intersectionality

• “Analytical perspective in which different dimensions of identity, difference, and inequity (…) are considered concurrently” (Zheng, DEI Deconstructed, 56).

Microaggressions

• “Subtle verbal and nonverbal slights, insults, indignities, and denigration messages directed towards a person due to their group membership, often automatically and unconsciously” (Davis, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, 25). The opposite of microaggressions is micro-affirmations, “subtle or small acknowledgments of a person’s value and accomplishments (…) akin to small positive energy jolts. Over time, they make the receiver feel respected, supported, and encouraged” (Maria Morukian, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion for Trainers. ATD Press, 2022, 277).
  • For a more in-depth discussion of microaggressions see Felix Ballesteros Leiva and Tania Saba, “Microaggressions,” in Encyclopedia of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, edited by Alain Klarsfeld, Stella Nkomo, Lucy Taksa, Anne-Françoise Bender and Gaëlle Cachat-Rosset. Edward Elgar Publishing, 2024, 238-42; Jennifer Branlat, “Microaggressions,” in Gender Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Academia. A Conceptual Framework for Sustainable Transformation, edited by Melina Duarte, Katrin Losleben, and Kjersti Fjøtoft. Routledge, 2023, 172-80.

Organizational Culture

• “The underlying beliefs, assumptions, values, expectations, and ways of thinking and doing that drive the behavior of the people within an organization” (Zheng, DEI Deconstructed, 56).

 Privilege

• the term encompasses the “advantages, rewards, or benefits given to those in the dominant group solely because of their membership in that group” (Davis, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, 27)…Privileged people tend to have power, typically over marginalized, oppressed, and disadvantaged groups.  
• “In the context of DEI work, privilege refers to the unearned societal advantages afforded to people from a certain identity group, often an identity over which they have little control. … people who belong to a dominant identity group” Maria Morukian, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion for Trainers. ATD Press, 2022, 277).

Resources Consulted:

• Ballesteros Leiva, Felix and Tania Saba, “Microaggressions,” in Encyclopedia of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, edited by Alain Klarsfeld, Stella Nkomo, Lucy Taksa, Anne-Françoise Bender and Gaëlle Cachat-Rosset. Edward Elgar Publishing, 2024, 238-42.
• Beeghly, Erin and Alex Madvan (eds.), An Introduction to Implicit Bias: Knowledge, Justice, and the Social Mind. Routledge, 2020.
• Branlat, Jennifer. “Microaggressions,” in Gender Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Academia. A Conceptual Framework for Sustainable Transformation, edited by Melina Duarte, Katrin Losleben, and Kjersti Fjøtoft. Routledge, 2023, 172-80.
• Zheng, Lily. DEI Deconstructed: Your No-Nonsense Guide to Doing the Work and Doing it Right. Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc., 2023
• Davis, Shirley. Diversity, Equity and Inclusion for Dummies. John Wiley and Sons, Inc, 2022.
• Harrison, David A. “Deep-level Diversity and Surface-level Diversity,” in Encyclopedia of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, edited by Alain Klarsfeld, Stella Nkomo, Lucy Taksa, Anne-Françoise Bender and Gaëlle Cachat-Rosset. Edward Elgar Publishing, 2024, 63-8.
• Merriweather, Tarani J. “Intersectionality,” in Encyclopedia of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, edited by Alain Klarsfeld, Stella Nkomo, Lucy Taksa, Anne-Françoise Bender and Gaëlle Cachat-Rosset. Edward Elgar Publishing, 2024, 238-42
• Morukian, Maria, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion for Trainers. ATD Press, 2022.
• Rasmussen, Katharina Berndt. “Implicit Gender Bias,” in Gender Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Academia. A Conceptual Framework for Sustainable Transformation, edited by Melina Duarte, Katrin Losleben, and Kjersti Fjøtoft. Routledge, 2023, 161-71.

1. CLA Committee on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion shall be established to promote a community that is inclusive, welcoming, engaged, just, and respectful of all.
2. Composition and Selection: In April of each year, each department elects a representative to the CLA Committee on Diversity and Inclusion (if there is a vacancy). Members are elected to three-year terms and are limited to two consecutive terms; terms begin on the first day of the following academic year. No more than one third of the members of the committees should be elected each year. In the event of a vacancy, the term shall be filled by appointment by the Dean of the College.
   1. The Director of Interdisciplinary Programs or a faculty delegate shall represent interdisciplinary programs, ex-officio (with a vote).
   2. The Dean, or the Dean’s delegate, shall serve on the CLA Committee on Diversity and Inclusion, ex-officio (with no vote).
   3. One undergraduate and one graduate student will be recommended by the committee with final approval from the dean.
   4. There shall be one CLA staff member on the committee.
   5. The CLA Diversity and Inclusion Committee elects its chair by majority vote at the first meeting of the academic year. The chair collects submissions and distributes agenda items, conducts committee meetings, and communicates on behalf of the committee with college departments/programs and with other diversity and inclusion committees.
3. Orientation: Orientation guidelines, created by the committee, will be provided to new members. When necessary, the Dean will provide orientation for members of the CLA Committee on Diversity and Inclusion in order to provide appropriate updates on current University policies dealing with the Committee's responsibilities. The Dean of the College provides each member of the Committee with appropriate material addressing the responsibilities of the Committee.
4. Meetings: The CLA Committee on Diversity and Inclusion holds regular meetings every month during the academic year, beginning in September. Members shall have their teaching schedules adjusted to avoid conflicts with meeting times.
5. Responsibilities:
   1. Each year, the CLA Committee on Diversity and Inclusion reviews the CLA Diversity Plan, gathers data on established outcome measures, modifies action steps as needed, and recommends updates to the plan.
   2. Support initiatives that promote diversity among CLA faculty, staff and students.
   3. Encourage and support events that promote diversity.
   4. Foster connections within the university and the community.
   5. Advocate for diversity among our departments.
   6. Shall monitor the development and maintenance of division-wide, department, or unit level plans to support the institutional plan.

Courses in Global Perspectives examine how the global environment is changing, and is being changed, by major social, cultural, religious, economic, political, and technological forces, and how new patterns of relationships are shaping and being shaped by the global environment.

• ANTH 207, Cultural Anthropology
• ANTH 210, Honors Cultural Anthropology
• ARAB 102, Arabic Elements II
• ARAB 202, Arabic Intermediate II
• ARAB 302, Arabic Composition and Conversation II
• ASST 201, Introduction to Asian Studies 
• CHNS 102, Elementary Chinese II
• CHNS 202, Intermediate Chinese II 
• CHNS 302, Chinese Composition and Conversation II
• ENGL 229, Modern Irish Literature
• ENGL 241, Major Works of World Literature
• ENGL 246, Texts About Travel
• ENGL 248, Literature of Global Experience
• ENGL 348, Literature of African Diaspora
• FMST 210, Families in Global Perspective
• FORL 102, Intro to Foreign Language II
• FORL 202, Intermed Foreign Language II
• FORL 360, Italian Culture in Global Context 
• FREN 102, French Elements II
• FREN 202, French Intermediate II
• FREN 302, Advanced Composition
• GEOG 102, World Regional Geography
• GEOG 105, Geography of International Affairs
• GEOG 109, Introduction to Human Geography
• GEOG 110, Honors Intro to Human Geography
• GEOG 112, Honors World Regional Geog
• GERM 102, German Elements II
• GERM 202, German Intermediate II
• GERM 302, German Composition and Conversation II
• GRK 104, Ancient Greek Elements II
• GRK 204, Ancient Greek Intermediate II
• HEBR 102, Elements of Hebrew II
• HEBR 104, Biblical Hebrew II
• HEBR 202, Hebrew Intermediate II
• HEBR 204, Biblical Hebrew IV
• HEBR 302, Hebrew Composition and Conversation II
• HIST 110, East Asian Civilization to the 19th Century
• HIST 111, Modern East Asia since 19th Century
• HIST 117, Islamic History: From the Rise of Islam to the Rise of the Ottomans
• HIST 118, Modern Middle East History
• HIST 121, Latin America: Colonial Period
• HIST 122, Latin America: National Period
• HIST 135, History of Africa to 1900
• HIST 136, Africa since 1900
• HIST 160, World History Before 1300
• HIST 161, World History Since 1300
• HIST 342, Sailors, Merchants, Spies: Portuguese Encounters, 1400-1700
• ITAL 102, Italian Elements II
• ITAL 202, Italian Intermediate II
• ITAL 302, Advanced Composition
• JPNS 102, Japanese Elements II
• JPNS 202, Japanese Intermediate II
• JPNS 302, Japanese Composition and Conversation II
• LAST 100, Latin America: Issues and Approaches
• LATN 102, Latin Elements II
• LATN 202, Latin Intermediate II
• LATN 302, Advanced Readings in Latin II
• PHIL 219, Introduction to Asian Philosophy
• PORT 102, Portuguese Elements II
• PORT 202, Portuguese Intermediate II
• POSC 105, Governments of the World
• POSC 107, Introduction to International Relations
• POSC 108, Honors Intro to International Relations
• RLST 105, Introduction to the Study of Religion
• RLST 203, Introduction to Islam
• RLST 207, Introduction to Buddhism
• RLST 208, Introduction to Hinduism
• RUSS 102, Russian Elements II
• RUSS 202, Russian Intermediate II
• RUSS 302, Composition and Conversation II
• SPAN 102, Spanish Elements II
• SPAN 202, Spanish Intermediate II
• SPAN 204, Honors Spanish Intermediate II
• SPAN 302, Composition and Conversation II
• SPAN 304, Spanish for Heritage Speakers II
• WMST 233, International Perspectives of Women

Courses in diversity and difference will explore relationships of distinctiveness and interdependence, conflict and cooperation, between and among people with varying cultures, beliefs, identities and capabilities. Courses will cultivate in students the ability to examine and articulate differences of conviction and perception through open exchange and civil discourse. As part of that process, students will also come to understand more fully the lenses through which they view the world.

• AFST 201, Main Themes in African and African-American Studies
• DFST 101, Introduction to Deaf Studies
• ENGL 233, Survey of African-American Literature
• ENGL 234, Major Writers in African-American Literature
• ENGL 235, Ethnic-American Literature
• ENGL 239, Modern Jewish Literature
• FMST 310, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Families
• FMST 311, African American Families 
• FMST 360, Diversity Culture and Team Dynamics
• FMST 465, Jewish Families Under Nazi Rule
• FORL 325, Stories of Migration
• LGBT 101, Introduction to LGBT Studies
• PHIL 204, Race, Class and Gender
• RLST 205, Women in World Religions
• RLST 206, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
• RLST 209, Religious Traditions of Asia
• RLST 210, Introduction to Judaism
• SOCI 241 , Blacks in America: Myths and Reality
• SOCI 243, Sociology of Race, Class and Gender
• WMST 231, Women in Perspective
• WMST 232, Honors Women in Perspective