Curriculum
One way that departments can both diversify themselves and support efforts of their faculties to diversify is to develop cross-listed courses, such as Indigenous studies or gender studies, that serve programs that pertain to members of underrepresented groups. Such courses should not be seen as alternatives to increasing diversity in the current curriculum.
Methods
Appeals to intuition that are just WEIRD dogma and “we saying”: When making appeals to intuition that are supposedly obvious to everyone, ensure that they are not in fact only beliefs that are typical in Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic (WEIRD) societies. Repeatedly tacitly telling students that by “we” you don’t mean them and that they don’t have correct intuitions is a way of telling them that they don’t belong. Be sure when using a collective “we” in classes that you are not just referring to people like you but you are including everyone (i.e., men should be sure to include women, non-Indigenous people should include Indigenous people, people from the Global North should include those from the Global South, cisgendered people should include transgendered people, and so forth).
Diversify participation: Particularly when participation is graded, it is important to find alternative ways of participating than simply speaking in class. Discussions on course websites or asking students to submit reading reflections prior to class that can then be used to inform class content is a way of having the full participation of students who might otherwise find participation intimidating or challenging. Class participation is an equity issue where members of under-represented groups often do not participate as much as their counterparts.
Consider anonymous grading: Anonymous grading has been shown in some contexts to improve the grades of underrepresented groups. Nonetheless, the practice is controversial. One possible model is to initially assign a grade to an assignment anonymously and then offer more specific comments having identified the student. In larger classes, where students are unknown to the grader, anonymous grading is to be preferred as protects against implicit biases.
Identify excellence. For various reasons, members of some underrepresented groups have a tendency to underrate their intelligence and capacity even when they receive outstanding grades. In some instances, brilliant people’s intelligence is underrated by systems and academic structures that exclude them and their ways of knowing. When you have a student from an underrepresented group who is an excellent academic let them know. If you believe they have the talent to go on, tell them so. If they are interested in pursuing graduate work, give them advice on how to do so and direct them to relevant resources.
Content
Diversity in your course content: If more than 80% your readings in a course are by white men, or unequally represented by a colonial worldview, this may mean that implicit biases or structural discrimination are affecting your pedagogy or it may be that the subdiscipline that you are teaching has been distorted by these prejudices.
The one third heuristic: As a beginning heuristic, look to have at least one third of your readings by members of underrepresented groups or from non-European or non-mainstream (i.e., Indigenous, feminist, queer, disability, or critical race) perspectives.
Be sensitive to your student body. The TRC, the UNDRIP, and official multiculturalism suggest that many of our courses should have content from Indigenous Canadian and non-Euro-American sources. Additionally, instructors are encouraged to include content by and content salient to members of their students’ demographic makeup, especially in times and places where a type of racism or other prejudice is especially salient.
The one quarter heuristic for core survey courses: Of course, not all courses equally lend themselves to the inclusion of diverse perspectives. It may not be obvious how to bring in inclusive perspectives to a math, statistics, or logic class. One might consider a text by a member of an underrepresented group, and foreground examples that deal with issues important to members of underrepresented groups. Also, there is, for good reason, an emphasis in core classes on teaching central issues and figures. Nonetheless, in most core survey courses, it is possible to use authors from underrepresented groups for discussing standard topics and to put aside one quarter of the class for perspectives of, works by, or works in the tradition of underrepresented groups. Sources for inclusive syllabi are listed below.