14 hours, 4 days, spread out over a month or more

This workshop-style course is designed to support your creating an anti-racist curriculum by revising an existing course syllabus. A Rubric (Curriculum Review Rubric: Supporting Anti-Racist, Anti-Oppressive Pedagogies) will be used to evaluate elements of your syllabus, to score the elements, and to reflect in writing about what you learn and want to do in revising your curriculum as a result. Selected short readings and other resources will be included to support your hands-on work.

Session One – What is anti-racist curriculum?

• We will explore the nature of anti-racist curriculum through discussion of videos, podcasts, and short readings to set a foundation for our work together.
• Your Rubric-guided scoring of 1) statements of commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, and 2) your course learning objectives and goals will be the focus of discussion and hands-on, real-time syllabus revision.
• As a result of these activities, anti-racism will be integrated into these central features of your syllabus. Your students will begin to understand the role of anti-racism in your course through this explicit reference to the place it holds in the curriculum.

Session Two – How can readings and other media support anti-racist curriculum?

• What and who we have students read, listen to, and view represent what we deem to be canonical or seminal knowledge, central questions and issues, and important authors.
• We will use the Rubric to analyze readings and other course materials to examine assumptions about who produces knowledge, what is recognized as knowledge, where is important knowledge found, and issues of representation and intersectionality. We will explore the ways that racism and bias are embedded in our course’s field or discipline.
• Hands-on work will include identifying and exploring ways to find readings and other learning resources based on that analysis.

Session Three – What is anti-racist assessment?

• Assessment offers a crucial opportunity to develop anti-racist practice, as limited choices for performance and hidden assumptions about expectations can maintain inequities in higher education. We explore what curricular values are communicated through what is assessed, as well as through what is deemed to be legitimate performance of what one knows. Real-time critical reflection on how assessments do or do not advance an anti-racist curriculum and syllabus will guide revision of assessments and assignments. 
• Hands-on work guided by the Rubric will inform constructing assessments, combating stereotype threat, and addressing the role of languages (e.g., formal academic English, other Englishes, languages other than English) in assessing learning and performance.

Session Four – How do we thread anti-racism throughout the syllabus?

• We will revisit the Rubric to score your revised syllabus. Peers will review a partner’s syllabus with the aim of aligning overview, commitments and learning objectives with the readings and assignments. Time for constructive feedback and suggestions and for participants to act on them will be provided.
• Participants will be invited to share their work to foster discussion of broader issues of anti-racist curriculum and ideas for implementation.
• Commitments to continue the work and ways to support each other going forward will close out the session.

8 hours, 2 days, spread out over a week or a month

These two sessions focus on hands-on analysis and revision of an existing course syllabus. The “Curriculum Review Rubric: Supporting Anti-Racist, Anti-Oppressive Pedagogies” supports evaluation of elements of your syllabus, e.g., statements of commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion; course objectives and goals; readings and other materials; and assessments. You score the elements and reflect in writing and through discussion about what you learn and want to do in revising your curriculum to be more anti-racist.

Session One – Statements of commitment, learning objectives, readings and other resources

Part 1: What is anti-racist curriculum?

• We will explore the nature of anti-racist curriculum through discussion of videos, podcasts, and short readings to set a foundation for our work together.
• Your Rubric-guided scoring of 1) statements of commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, and 2) your course learning objectives and goals will be the focus of discussion and hands-on, real-time syllabus revision.
• As a result of these activities, anti-racism will be integrated into these central features of your syllabus. Your students will begin to understand the role of anti-racism in your course through this explicit reference to the place it holds in the curriculum.

Part 2: How can readings and other media support anti-racist curriculum?

• What and who we have students read, listen to, and view represent what we deem to be canonical or seminal knowledge, central questions and issues, and important authors.
• We will use the Rubric to analyze readings and other course materials to examine assumptions about who produces knowledge, what is recognized as knowledge, where is important knowledge found, and issues of representation and intersectionality. We will explore the ways that racism and bias are embedded in our course’s field or discipline.
• Hands-on work will include identifying and exploring ways to find readings and other learning resources based on that analysis.

Session Two – Anti-racist assessment and threading anti-racism throughout the syllabus

Part 1: Beginning with the end in mind

• Assessment offers a crucial opportunity to develop anti-racist practice, as limited choices for performance and hidden assumptions about expectations can maintain inequities in higher education. We explore what curricular values are communicated through what is assessed, as well as through what is deemed to be legitimate performance of what one knows. Real-time critical reflection on how assessments do or do not advance an anti-racist curriculum and syllabus will guide revision of assessments and assignments. 
• Hands-on work guided by the Rubric will inform constructing assessments, combating stereotype threat, and addressing the role of languages (e.g., formal academic English, other Englishes, languages other than English) in assessing learning and performance.

Part 2: How do we thread anti-racism throughout the syllabus?

• We will revisit the Rubric to score your revised syllabus. Peers will review a partner’s syllabus with the aim of aligning overview, commitments and learning objectives with the readings and assignments. Time for constructive feedback and suggestions and for participants to act on them will be provided.
• Participants will be invited to share their work to foster discussion of broader issues of anti-racist curriculum and ideas for implementation.
• Commitments to continue the work and ways to support each other going forward will close out the session.