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"An old world is dying, and a new one...announces that it is ready to be born. The birth will not be easy, and many of us are doomed to discover that we are exceedingly clumsy midwives. No matter, as long as we accept that our responsibility is to the newborn; the acceptance of responsibility contains the key to the necessary evolving skill."
James Baldwin, No Name in the Street, 1972
Dear Colleagues,
When Baldwin wrote these words, he was reflecting both on the violence inflicted on the struggles of the freedom movements and the possibilities of the revolutionary visions gained in the struggles against systemic racism, its institutions, and social fabric. Calling across generations provides both pause and momentum for the struggles and the opportunities ahead.
In this spirit, Troy Duster, Chancellor's Professor and former Director of the AC Center, shares his reflections on the traumatic layers of events in front of us, and particularly from the vantage point of the 30 years of the AC curriculum that Troy's vision and efforts seeded. This across-generation and collective building of vision and strength is the design of the June 10th workshop/webinar Race, Racism, and Racialization. Please join colleagues in conversation and community as we face these intense and difficult times. And although the AC Center is only one of many resources that you might call on, we want to provide as much support as possible to you individually, as well as a community of instructors. Please take a little time to share your needs Faculty Feedback. Thank you for both your kindness and determination in fighting for true justice and peace.
Warm Regards, Victoria Robinson
Director, The American Cultures Center
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The Vital Shift from “Idiosyncratic” to “Systemic”
Troy Duster, Chancellor's Professor, Founding Director, The Institute for the Study of Social Change, and Former Director, The AC Center
During the last few months, the mainstream media have begun an important shift in the way descriptions and analyses of fundamental social issues are described. Both the pandemic and now the nation-wide protests over police brutality have generated a new and emerging consensus that deserves our attention. The most dramatic shift has come with how news anchors and reporters have talked about the police. In the 1990s, the nation saw the filmed beating of Rodney King, followed by scores of bystander videos of subsequent victims. These scenes were almost uniformly reported as a result of “a few bad apples” or “rogue cops”. For three decades, this view has completely dominated the airwaves, even as black and brown communities have cried out about the common, routinized nature of abusive policing. With the nine-minute filming of George Floyd’s excruciating death by asphyxiation, we are now hearing for the first time how this is systemic to policing. Read More
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Teaching with Wikipedia
Summer Support from the Wikipedian-In-Residence
In our current times, developing Wikipedia articles is especially useful. Creating and editing Wikipedia articles allow students to produce collaborative online work with a visible impact on a global audience. Whether adding new sources to existing Wikipedia pages or creating new pages on notable topics, students gain a more in-depth insight into their course material and learn to evaluate the reliability of sources critically.
To support this work, we are excited to share with you that Savannah Cragin has just been appointed as the ‘Wikipedian In Residence’ and Peer Consultant for Summer 2020. In consultation with the AC Center and the University Library, Savannah will hold online office hours and be available for individual appointments to help coach all instructors and students who are editing, interested in editing, or learning to edit Wikipedia pages as well as to communicate the norms and expectations of the Wikipedia community to first-time editors. The American Cultures Center has a long history of supporting curriculum-based Wikipedia editing, including its’ collaboration with Wiki Education and the hiring of the first Wikipedian in Residence at an American college or university.
Read Full Article
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For information on how to get involved, please contact Arianna Jukes, Strategic Consultant for Alameda County's Complete Count Committee for Census 2020.
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Census 2020 UC Berkeley Ambassador Program
The Alameda County Complete Count Committee for Census 2020 is looking for civic-minded and politically engaged interns to ensure that students are counted for the 2020 Census so that communities get their fair share of federal funding and political representation.
The task is simple: Interested students will be compensated for ensuring that at least 20 of their personal contacts fill out the Census 2020. Students will conduct outreach via personal calls or individual texts to students within their networks who meet certain criteria between now and June 20.
The Census Ambassador Program page,
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Community-Engaged Learning & Remote Partnerships
Summer and Fall, 2020
Application deadline: Monday, June 15th
In the current condition of remote instruction, the ACES program is committed to supporting faculty and students in finding ways to continue the commitments, trust, and relationships that have been developed through community-university partnerships. This commitment to UC Berkeley's public service is reflected in the 2020 ACES Summer/Fall proposal cycle.
Several priorities have been emphasized to support community-engagement and engaged scholarship, with a specific emphasis on remote partnerships. Read More or Download application.
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Finding virtual ways to build community and locating vital campus resources, particular
to the teaching of an AC course.
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Multimedia Assignments:
Race—The Power of an Illusion
In 2019, the AC Center, California Newsreel, and the Haas Institute for a Fair and Inclusive Society (HIFIS)—now the Othering and Belong Institute—created a new website for RACE—The Power of an Illusion. The site reflects the "power" of the original film, with new film segments for use in the classroom, and also new interviews with UC Berkeley faculty who share their current interpretations of the film's seminal content.
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Creating Film Clips
for Your Lecture or Assignments
The Media Resources Center and Berkeley Language Center Lumière platform has created a vast repertoire of media clips that can be used in PowerPoint. They can be annotated with questions to prompt conversation in the classroom. Lumière, the successor to the Library of Foreign Language Film Clips (LFLFC), is now available for instructor use. Learn More.
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Assistance Creating Creative Adobe Assignments
The Creative Discovery Faculty Hub is a faculty-facing bCourses site with assignment development guides, as well as instructional materials for utilizing software such as Adobe Spark or Adobe Premiere Rush to teach a creative project. You can also find information on how to incorporate an in-class Zoom workshop by the Creative Discovery Team on a particular software or a project you may be interested in assigning, such as a video, podcast, or web page.
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Assistance with Adobe:
Consultation Meetings
& Online Support
Adobe Student Support is a service offered by Adobe student consultants to assist students, faculty, and academic staff in using the Adobe Creative Cloud Suite. Consultants are available to schedule group or individual online meetings or for online support.
For more information, please visit the Adobe Student Hub bCourses site.
Please email adobesupport@berkeley.edu for any questions, scheduling consultation meetings, or online support.
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The toolkit is a collaboration by the Division of Equity and Inclusion and the Special Faculty Advisor to the Chancellor on Sexual Violence/Sexual Harassment
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Toolkit to Create Healthy a
Virtual Environment
"In the new circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have all found ourselves inhabiting a new environment, as our work and learning opportunities move into virtual spaces. This transition takes effort and mindfulness. It also creates an opportunity for reaffirming our values and establishing practices that support a culture of inclusion, belonging, and respect. We hope that this "toolkit" can help create a positive legacy of these stressful times that will outlast the pandemic and continue to benefit our community into the future." Toolkit
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Guiding Principles for Communicating in Times of Uncertainty
The emergence of the novel coronavirus as a world-wide pandemic and public health emergency has already impacted higher education in unprecedented ways and will continue to alter the ways that we teach, serve, and support our students in the days, weeks, and months ahead. 'Guiding Principles for Communicating in Times of Uncertainty ' contains example language and talking points to assist you in communicating with compassion and consistency. Some suggestions assume a two-way conversation with a concerned student. However, most can be adapted for mass communication in emails, on course management websites, and in welcoming or closing remarks in zoom class sessions. Read More
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Archives and Resources from
'Teaching in Troubled Times'
We've updated most of the content from our previous Teaching in Troubled Times workshops so that all of the teaching resources, recommendations, and materials identified are available for download. Please visit our Teaching in Troubled Times homepage and peruse the previous events section. For any questions about previous events, please email us.
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The inequitable and disparate impacts COVID-19 on marginalized and vulnerable student populations, have been met with a set of campus resources for students who are experiencing challenges accessing food, housing, accommodations, and technology. These resources also have guides to help students manage mental and physical health.
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Live Guide for Food & Housing from the Basic Needs Center
The Basic Needs Center has created a live, editable guide with real-time updates that aims to provide clear and direct information about how students can access Basic Needs Center services in the case of various scenarios. Access guide.
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Disability, Access, & Compliance
The Disabled Students’ Program and the Office for Disability Access & Compliance have compiled information, articles and think pieces by persons who are disabled and organizations to address the needs of the disabled community in a thoughtful and relevant way. Read More.
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Technology resources
for students
Any students in need of technology resources to support their engagement in online education should complete the Student Technology Needs. The form is confidential and takes no more than five minutes to complete.
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Undocumented Student Program Services
USP services remain open and accessible despite campus closures due to COVID-19. Please visit USP's Services COVID-19 page to learn about how to access our services such as financial aid, financial support, academic counseling, mental health support, and immigration legal support.
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Coronavirus (COVID-19) Student Affairs Updates
Student Affairs has updated their COVID-19 page with resources for all undergraduates, including how to get assistance with financial aid, housing, physical and mental health services through the Tang Center as well as information about Cal Dining halls and the University Village Albany. Read More.
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Multicultural Community Center's Resources
The staff at the Multicultural Community Center has created a living document on coping, wellness and mental health resources: Mental Health, & BEYOND, and a Google folder with tips, worksheets, mindfulness, meditation audio clips, and scripts for download.
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Review Process for AC Courses
When a course holds American Cultures (AC) status, it means that the first instructors to offer that class developed course content and assignments towards a critical engagement with race, ethnicity, and culture, past, present, and future. To ensure that this approach is maintained, we ask that a new instructor appointed to teach an AC course (or developing a new one) provides their course materials to the AC Senate committee. The Academic Senate will still meet and review newly proposed courses. The AC Center works directly with faculty to support their submission to the Senate committee.
Dates for course proposal review in Summer 2020 have been set and are posted on the COCI Meetings Details and AMCULT Review Schedule.
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Summer
Please be aware of the following submission and review deadlines:
*Thursday, July 02 – Submission deadline for any new or modified (including new instructors) American Culture course proposals.
*Friday, July 10 – Submission deadline for any new or modification course proposals effective Fall 2020 or thereafter.
This is also the date by which AC proposals received on July 2nd will be reviewed. Any AC courses that will also need to be reviewed by COCI will automatically be routed to COCI on this date.
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