University Times

A seminar for faculty who want to incorporate new scholarship on gender and race into their courses has been approved by Chancellor J. Dennis O'Connor and the Diversity Working Group.

The seminar, scheduled for May 15-26, is a pilot session for a new five-year summer program being developed to assist faculty in making their courses more diverse, both in terms of curriculum and teaching methods.

According to Marianne Novy, director of the women's studies program and a co-chair of the Diversity Working Group subcommittee on curriculum, the seminar will be an opportunity for faculty members who want to address issues of diversity in their courses to learn ways of doing so.

"We think there are a lot of people who have good will and would like to include more recent scholarship and deal with the needs of a greater diversity of students, but good will isn't enough," Novy said. "This is an opportunity to actually get some bibliography, get some suggestions on how to deal with diversity and to meet and work together with people who have similar concerns." For instance, Novy explained, suppose someone is teaching a course on the English novel and would like to use more women novelists and black novelists in the course. The seminar will help them look at ways to organize the syllabus and follow up on the most recent critical approaches to the subject.

"I am very excited about this," Novy said. "It is a great project and I think it ought to appeal to a great range of faculty who are themselves diverse in many ways." With this seminar, Pitt will join more than 200 other colleges and universities around the country that have instituted faculty development programs designed to bring new scholarship on diversity issues to a wide range of courses so as many students as possible can benefit from its study.

The seminar will involve readings and discussions, as well as library time and presentations by outside visitors and local experts. Stipends of $1,500 are being funded by the Office of the Chancellor and will be awarded to each faculty member who participates in the seminar.

Application for the seminar is open to all Faculty of Arts and Sciences faculty members, as well as faculty involved in curriculum planning from other schools at the University.

Applicants should submit the following materials: * A syllabus of a course they have taught at Pitt at least once and would like to make more diverse.

* A statement about the kind of course enhancement they are seeking.

* Information about why changes in this course would have a large impact on diversity in the classroom. For example, the course might be a large introductory course, one that is approved for general education, one that is required for majors, or one that trains a significant number of teaching assistants.

* A copy of the applicant's curriculum vitae.

* A letter from the applicant's department chairperson agreeing to provide in-kind support such as typing and copying.

Selection criteria include the quality of the proposal, the number of students who would be affected by changes in the course and the degree to which the proposed enhancements make the course address both race and gender.

In addition, representation of both tenured and tenure-stream faculty and of a range of disciplines is desirable.

Seminar members are expected to submit a revised syllabus at the end of the seminar, to meet together at least twice during the following year while they are teaching the revised course and to contribute to planning the following year's seminar.

Similar seminars will be scheduled during the next four years to facilitate participation by as many departments and schools in the University as possible.

Interested faculty members should contact either Novy, 648-7194, or Ogle Duff, 648-7194, the other co-chair of the Diversity Working Group subcommittee on curriculum.

Applications are due Feb. 1. Application forms are available in 132 Cathedral of Learning.

"People who already have some experience with research or teaching on gender or race, people who are totally new to these issues and people who have already done something and want to be leaders in these areas are all welcome to apply," Novy said. "We welcome people who are tenured and non-tenured. We welcome people from all departments. We welcome people of all races and both genders."

–Mike Sajna