Graduate students, postdoctoral scholars, graduate faculty and staff, and Directors of Graduate Studies:
Within the last month, many Black and Brown lives have been senselessly lost, including Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Nina Pop, Sean Reed, Tony McDade, and George Floyd. These senseless acts of violence rooted in hate are not new. They are ongoing reminders of the systemic racism that exists in our society and should never have been tolerated in the first place. Our Black community, in particular, is suffering.
As a Graduate School, we aspire to be a community that is inclusive. However, when members of our Black and Brown communities do not feel safe, cannot be their fullest selves, and fear violence regularly, we are no closer to our aspiration. We must call out and dismantle systemic racism. But importantly, it is on me, as a White leader, to listen, be there, and support anyone in our graduate and postdoctoral communities in any way I can.
I call on Directors of Graduate Studies and mentors to examine and change policies and practices that create biases and barriers. I ask that you consider taking up conversations with your colleagues, graduate students, and postdoctoral scholars to learn about racism and resistance. In that light, I want to thank my colleagues at SUNY Buffalo, the University of Arizona, and University of Southern California who have curated the recommended readings below for this purpose. MU Libraries has additional resources and has posted them on their Facebook page.
Books:
Stamped from the Beginning by Ibram X. Kendi
How to be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi
White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo
Freedom is a Constant Struggle: Ferguson, Palestine, and the Foundations of a Movement by Angela Davis
On Intellectual Activism by Patricia Hill Collins
Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo Freire
Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples by Linda Tuhiwai Smith
Methodology of the Oppressed by Chela Sandoval
Teaching Community: A Pedagogy of Hope by bell hooks
Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom by bell hooks
So You Want to Talk about Race by Ijeoma Oluo
We Want to do More than Survive by Bettina Love
Journal Articles:
Gildersleeve, R. E., Croom, N. N., & Vasquez, P. L. (2011). “Am I going crazy?!”: A critical race analysis of doctoral education. Equity & Excellence in Education, 44(1), 93-114.
Hofstra, B., Kulkarni, V. V., Galvez, S. M. N., He, B., Jurafsky, D., & McFarland, D. A. (2020). The diversity–innovation paradox in science. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 117(17), 9284-9291.
Patton, L. D. (2009). My sister's keeper: A qualitative examination of mentoring experiences among African American women in graduate and professional schools. The Journal of Higher Education, 80(5), 510-537.
Perez, R. J., Harris Jr., W., Robbins, C. K., & Montgomery, C. (2019). Graduate students’ agency and resistance after oppressive experiences. Studies in Graduate and Postdoctoral Education, 11(1), 57-71.
Slay, K. E., Reyes, K. A., & Posselt, J. R. (2019). Bait and switch: Representation, climate, and tensions of diversity work in graduate education. The Review of Higher Education, 42(5), 255-286.
Truong, K., & Museus, S. (2012). Responding to racism and racial trauma in doctoral study: An inventory for coping and mediating relationships. Harvard Educational Review, 82(2), 226-254.
Finally, for those of you who are parents or have children in your life, check out this list of books to facilitate conversations about race and racism.
Sincerely,
Jeni Hart, PhD
Dean of the Graduate School
Vice Provost for Graduate Studies
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