Application Deadline:

September 29, 2022

Schedule of Sessions

The online workshop will meet for 11 sessions
on the 4^th Monday of January to November,
3:00-5:30 (Central)/4-6:30 pm (Eastern)

• Session 1 – January 23, 2023 
• Session 2 – February 27, 2023 
• Session 3 – March 27, 2023
• Session 4 – April 24, 2023
• Session 5 – May 22, 2023
• Session 6 – June 26, 2023 
• Session 7 – July 24, 2023
• Session 8 – August 28, 2023
• Session 9 – September 25, 2023
• Session 10 – October 23, 2023
• Session 11 – November 27, 2023

Leadership Team

Katherine Turpin, Ph.D., Iliff School of Theology 

Mary E. Hess, Ph.D., Luther Seminary

Instructions for Leaders

Participants

Julie  M. Meadows, Presbyterian College
Julie Faith Parker, General Theological Seminary
Jackie  Wyse-Rhodes, Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary
Timothy  Hartman, Columbia Theological Seminary
Laura  Levens, Baptist Seminary of Kentucky
Beverley  McGuire, University of North Carolina
Emily S. Kahm, College of Saint Mary
Scott  MacDougall, Church Divinity School of the Pacific
Melissa  Ramos, Portland Seminary
Gwendolyn  Gillson, Illinois College
Ron  Ruthruff, The Seattle School of Theology & Psychology
Paul  Hoard, The Seattle School of Theology & Psychology
Jan  Schnell, Wartburg Theological Seminary
Matt R.  Jantzen, Hope College

 

Description

The dynamics of White supremacy in higher education adversely affect the formation of all students as well as the vocational trajectory of faculty and administrators. Yet higher education institutions typically proclaim their commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion without engaging White supremacy. How we hold institutions accountable to the antiracist values they espouse? What does it mean to engage in authentic antiracist pedagogy in a way that doesn’t lead to us being marginalized or fired? 

This workshop provides a venue for faculty already engaged in antiracist teaching to examine their practice with others enacting the same project. It is open to faculty in any higher education institution working within religious studies or theology departments, as well as those in theological schools and seminaries. It will be a forum in which we can share our experiences of the dynamics, problems, and contradictions of antiracist pedagogy, learn from the practices of colleagues, and craft specific approaches, tactics, and strategies to mobilize ourselves, our colleagues, and our students to move our institutions in an antiracist direction. We will focus particularly on the dynamics of White faculty operating within predominantly White institutions dominated by White supremacy and Eurocentric epistemologies. The curriculum will be shaped by what participants bring to the workshop, but some of the themes we anticipate emerging are dealing with institutional resistance, uncovering and challenging White supremacy, understanding levers of institutional change, using digital and personal narratives, modeling how we confront our own racism, developing alliances and networks, sustaining ourselves in the face of sabotage and demoralization, and exploring what constitutes an ethical use of power.  

Workshop Goals

We will strive

• to learn from each other and in doing so to explore practices of teaching and learning that integrate passion and ability, foster proactive agency, and develop strategic alliances for doing anti-racist work
• to honor authenticity of voice and authority, bolster creativity and compassion, and sharpen personal capacity to navigate institutional cultures and realities in ways that directly engage the dynamics, problems, and contradictions of antiracist pedagogies
• to explore mobilization pedagogies that support equity, accountability, reparation, and healing in predominately White institutions

Participant Eligibility

• Tenure track, continuing term, and/or full-time contingency 
• Working in an accredited college or university in the United States, Puerto Rico, or Canada 
• Demonstrable experience in work related to dismantling White supremacy
• Institutional support and personal commitment to participate fully in all workshop sessions

Application Materials 

Please complete and attach the following documents to the online application:

1. Application Contact Information form. 

2. Personal Statement (500-1000 words):

• Please tell us something about your own experiences working in antiracist ways within your institution. We want to know about the specific pedagogic dynamics, learning challenges and institutional practices you have encountered and struggled to negotiate. What have been moments of hope for you in this work, and what experiences have you found to be the most demoralizing? What are the dilemmas you find hard to resolve and what problems will you bring to the group for us to examine? Finally, what are some of your experiences in moving yourself, your colleagues and your students in an antiracist direction that you think might be instructive for others in the group to hear?

3. Sentence Prompts:

• We would like to use an adaptation of George Ella Lyon’s poem “Where I’m From” (http://www.georgeellalyon.com/where.html) which some of you will already know and use. The intent is to learn a little more about your identities you carry along with the professional persona you inhabit.
• Please respond to some of the prompts below. If they feel restrictive then develop some different ones that reflect who you are. 

           I am from.. 

• The sound of….
• The touch of…
• The smell of…
• The values of…
• The taste of…
• The sight of…
• The idea of…
• The place of…
• The family of…
• The community of…
• The pride of…

4. Academic CV (4-page limit). 

5. A letter of institutional support for your full participation in this workshop from your Academic Dean, Provost, Vice President, or President. Please have this recommendation uploaded directly to your application according to the online application instructions.