If you are in the early stages of conceptualizing or modifying your course, this is the recommended place to begin, both with necessary anti-racist and inclusive topics as well as important questions you should be considering.
Anti-racist pedagogy is not about simply incorporating racial content into courses, curriculum, and discipline. It is also about how one teaches, even in courses where race is not the subject matter. It begins with the faculty’s awareness and self-reflection of their social position and leads to the application of this analysis not just in their teaching, but also in their discipline, research, and departmental, university, and community work. - Kyoko Kishimoto, "Anti-racist pedagogy: from faculty’s self-reflection to organizing within and beyond the classroom"
Necessary Anti-Racist & Inclusive Topics for Every Linguistics Course
Indigenous Languages
Minoritized Englishes
Multilingualism
Sign Languages
Guiding Questions
Whose perspectives are being centered in this course?
Consider ways to decenter Standardized American English, Indo-European languages, spoken languages, abled perspectives, and white-washed history. You can find more concrete suggestions for different linguistic topics under Course Content, in Case Studies, and in the above necessary topics for every linguistics course.
Whose perspectives and experiences are being left out?
Explicitly discuss the ways that WEIRD research practices have caused harm to communities and languages and created gaps in our linguistic understanding. You can find more concrete suggestions for different linguistic topics under Course Content, in Case Studies, and in the above necessary topics for every linguistics course.
How will the course meet the needs of the students?
Not only does every student have different needs in terms of accessibility, but students also deserve to learn about topics in ways that encourage their specific participation and create room for their experiences and perspectives.
What are the learning objectives of your course?
Evaluate your course syllabus and policies with considerations towards anti-racist and inclusive practices that improve student learning, motivation, and engagement.
How will knowledge be assessed?
Assessment and grading can be done in ways that facilitate learning, bring students into the process, and are not a burden on instructors.
How will you stay engaged in the process of anti-racist and inclusive linguistics pedagogy?
The first thing to remember is that this work takes continuous learning and unlearning, but we don’t have to do it alone. This website is meant to be a place of support and community in this work. The goal is not to create perfectly anti-racist and inclusive classes that once perfected will work as-is forever; the goal is to learn and improve and adapt to what our students need over time, from how to help them learn to providing them with the content and skills necessary for an ever-changing but hopefully progressing world. This work takes time and can challenge what you thought you knew, but the most important thing is to make the commitment and never stop learning.
Resources
Toward racial justice in linguistics: Interdisciplinary insights into theorizing race in the discipline and diversifying the profession. Charity Hudley, A.H., Mallinson, C., & Bucholtz, M. (2020). Language 96(4), e200-e235.
Anti-racist pedagogy: from faculty’s self-reflection to organizing within and beyond the classroom. Kishimoto, Kyoko. (2018). Race Ethnicity and Education, 21:4, 540-55.
Being Antiracist from the National Museum of African American History & Culture
‘Not Racist’ Is Not Enough: Putting In The Work To Be Anti-Racist by Eric Deggans for NPR Life Kit
The Art of Unlearning by Scott H.Young
Learn & Unlearn: Anti-racism Resource Guide from School of the Art Institute of Chicago
UCSD Chancellor’s 21-Day Anti-Racism Challenge
UCSD Anti-Racism Resources from the Office for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion