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Engage. Elevate. TRANSFORM.
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Ryan Doan Nguyen helped lead a chant of "Stop Asian hate; Love Asian people" while leading people through the streets. Photo credit: Erin Clark, The Boston Globe, March 13, 2021.
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Forward Together.
Dear Friend,
As we head into the last half of the semester, we are reflecting on the last few weeks with sadness, compassion, and hope for the future. Let the many tragic events of this past month, and indeed this past year, energize us to continue to seek understanding, community, and lasting change. When we work together, listen to one another, and learn from each other, we can shift the course of our collective histories for the better. Just as a flower blooms in spring, we hope your spirit and passion for transformation grows, too.
As always, below you'll find Boston University Diversity & Inclusion's (BU D&I) latest announcements and happenings as well as news, events, and conversations taking place around campus and beyond. Perhaps you will find a piece of news or an upcoming gathering to inspire you to continue raising your voice.
Take good care,
The BU D&I Team
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Emerging Scholars Program Fund Recipients and Great Topics Program for 2021-22
Last week, BU D&I announced the seven departmental recipients of Emerging Scholars Program funds for the 2021-2022 academic year as well as next year's Great Topics Program symposium hosts.
Check out the list of Emerging Scholars Program fund recipients (ordered alphabetically) and click here to read the full announcement.
- The Department of Anthropology, two Emerging Scholars Programs (College of Arts and Sciences)
- The Department of Biology (College of Arts and Sciences)
- The Department of Biomedical Engineering (College of Engineering)
- The Department of Earth and Environment (College of Arts and Sciences)
- The Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (College of Engineering)
- The Department of History in partnership with BU's African American Studies Program (College of Arts and Sciences)
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ICYMI: The Newbury Center is Now Open!
Have you heard? Boston University's Newbury Center for first-generation students is officially open. Stop by the Newbury Center at 755 Commonwealth Ave. to say hello and to learn about the many programs, events, and resources for first-generation undergraduate, graduate, and professional students. Get to know Maria Erb, inaugural director of the Newbury Center.
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Make Your Voice Heard!
On Monday, March 22, Boston University Human Resources launched a diversity, equity, and inclusion staff survey, led by consulting firm Korn Ferry. The survey aims to evaluate BU’s current efforts to hire, promote, and retain a diverse staff workforce and will lead to recommended improvements to these processes. Be sure to fill out your staff survey before the Friday, April 2 deadline!
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Movement at Metropolitan College
Certificate Program in Wine Studies alumnus TJ Douglas and his wife Hadley Douglas have raised $200,000 for The Urban Grape Wine Studies Award for Students of Color, which launched this past summer and was highlighted in Bostonia Magazine.
Alumnus Steve Akers (MET’94) made a gift of $25,000 to name the Applied Social Science Chair’s Office in honor of Annie B. Wilcox (MET'06, MET'09), a community services officer with the Boston Police Department (District B-3, Mattapan), who worked with BPD for 28 years before retiring in 2015. You might remember Annie was given the Henry L. Shattuck Public Service Award in 2014 for her civil service and dedication.
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Have we MET yet?
Please join us in welcoming Dr. Douglas DeNatale, Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice, and Dr. Danielle Rousseau, Director of the Arts Administration Program, as Metropolitan College's newest D&I Academic Leads.
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Give a Warm Welcome
Richard Currie, Assistant Professor of Leadership and Work Place Psychology, has joined the School of Hospitality Administration and will serve as the college's D&I Academic Lead.
Click here to see the full list of D&I professionals, teams, and groups from across all three BU campuses.
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CONVERSATIONS in our community.
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The Emancipator
He Redefined ‘Racist.’ Now He’s Trying to Build a Newsroom. "The author Ibram Kendi and [Bina Venkataraman of] The Boston Globe are teaming up to cover racism, inspired by Boston’s 19th-century abolitionist newspapers." Ben Smith, The New York Times, March 21, 2021.
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Boston's First Woman of Color Mayor
Kim Janey Sworn In as Acting Mayor of Boston; 'Today is a new day.' "Acting Mayor Kim Janey on Wednesday was formally sworn in to the post she moved into Monday night with the departure of Martin J. Walsh for a job as labor secretary in the Biden administration." Danny McDonald and Travis Andersen, The Boston Globe, March 24, 2021.
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Fight Anti-Asian Racism
Be and Ally: How to Help Fight Anti-Asian Racism and Xenophobia. "From awareness to action, here are resources for allyship and for advancing racial equity discussions on campus amid the rise of anti-Asian violence." Warren Liu (COM’22, CAS’22), BU Today, March 19, 2021.
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Anthony Jack "The Privileged Poor"
Thursday, April 1, via Zoom
10:00 – 11:00 am
As our final speaker in this year's Learn More Series exploring social class, Dr. Anthony Abraham Jack will discuss how class and culture shape how undergraduates navigate college, shedding new light on how inequity is reproduced on campus. Framing the seminar around his award-winning 2019 book, The Privileged Poor, Jack will discuss the social and personal costs of exclusion on undergraduates’ opportunities and social well-being. Read more about BU D&I's Learn More Series.
Following Jack's presentation, join the Allies and Advocates Faculty & Staff Community Network for a reflection session on Friday, April 2 from 2:00 to 3:00 pm.
“Jack’s investigation redirects attention from the matter of access to the matter of inclusion. Rather than parse the spurious meritocracy of admissions, his book challenges universities to support the diversity they indulge in advertising.”
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Learn More Series +
Digital Learning & Innovation
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Lightning Talks: Class in the Classroom
Friday April 9, via Zoom
12:15 – 1:15 pm
Remote and hybrid classrooms have highlighted the kind of social class inequities that have always existed but have been easy to ignore in higher education. This Lightning Talk session, offered in collaboration with BU D&I's Learn More Series’ theme of social class, will focus on areas of practice and content that help us understand the myriad ways that social class play out in our classrooms, with strategies to create more inclusive classes.
Continue the conversation in a group discussion on Friday, April 23 from 12:15 to 1:15 pm.
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Inclusion Catalyst Grants +
Gastronomy
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Living Landscapes: Food Sovereignty, Racial Justice, and Environmentalism
Saturday, April 17, via Zoom
1:00 – 8:00 pm
Sunday, April 18, via Zoom
11:00 am – 7:00 pm
Join the BU Gastronomy community for a two-day event to learn about food foraging as a lens to better understand the colonial history of land conservation policies, green spaces, and health disparities in over-policed communities of color. Living Landscapes is sponsored in part by BU D&I's Inclusion Catalyst Grants program.
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Learn More Series +
BU School of Medicine
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Is Science for Me? 
Monday, April 19, via Zoom
5:00 – 6:00 pm
Join the BU Graduate Medical Sciences community for a frank and open conversation about the impact of socioeconomic status on the pursuit of a career in medicine and science.
Graphic above: "Is Science for Me?" Courtesy of BU Gradate Sciences.
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Emerging Scholars Program +
Archaeology
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African Diasporas in Latin America and the Caribbean
Wednesday, April 21, via Zoom
1:00 – 3:00 pm
Join keynote speaker Dr. Daniela Balanzátegui and scholars Rebecca Davis, Gabby Hartemann, and Dr. Elena Sesma for a free series of presentations and a panel discussion on the topic of the historical archaeologies of the African Diaspora in the Americas. This panel brings together scholars supported by BU D&I's Emerging Scholars Program.
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Conversations that Matter:
The Visual Thinking Strategies Approach
Tuesday, April 6, via Zoom
5:00 – 6:30 pm
How can our observational skills impact our ability to mitigate bias? Join ArtsPractica founder Alexa Miller in this free seminar introducing the power of Visual Thinking Strategies and learn how to apply these learnings to improve inter-professional teamwork.
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College of Arts and Sciences:
Core Curriculum
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Niobe in Noir:
The Poetry of Phillis Wheatley and H. Cordelia Ray
Tuesday, April 6, via Zoom
5:30 – 8:30 pm
Who says a classic can't be re-written? This month, Core Curriculum colleagues welcome Nicole Spigner, Assistant Professor in African American Studies at Northwestern University, who will share her current research examining works by Black women authors who rewrote Ovidian forms and plot lines, redefining Black feminine identity as a dynamic process of transformation.
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Boston’s Chinatown:
Community, Power, and Placemaking
Thursday, April 15, via Zoom
12:00 – 1:00 pm
Join us for a discussion on the legacy of Boston’s Chinatown neighborhood, exploring community, urban expansion, displacement, public health, and the birth of the Pao Arts Center.
Photo above: Boston Chinatown. Inscription on gate is from Sun Yat Sen's calligraphy "天下為公" (Everything under the sun for the public), by Ingfbruno, Wikimedia Commons.
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Disability Justice for Our Futures and Our Freedom: On Relational Access, Solidarity Work, and Collective Care
Thursday, April 15, via Zoom
5:30 – 6:30 pm
Hear from Lydia X. Z. Brown (they/them), an autistic disability rights activist, writer, attorney, and public speaker who will address state and interpersonal violence targeting disabled people living at the intersections of race, class, gender, sexuality, faith, language, and nation.
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College of Arts and Sciences:
Latin American Studies
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Social Class & Transcultural Migration:
A Conversation with Film Director Fernando Frías
Tuesday, April 27, via Zoom
4:00 – 6:30 pm
Join us for a conversation with award-winning film director Fernando Frías and Adela Pineda, BU Professor of Spanish and Director of the Center for Latin American Studies. This discussion will focus on Frías' 2019 film "Ya no estoy aqui" (I'm No Longer Here) and the role of class in an era of globalization and neoliberalism. This event is sponsored by BU's Center for Latin American Studies.
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Faculty & Staff Community Networks
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Also known as FSCNs, these Faculty & Staff Community Networks foster and promote a healthy and supportive culture for faculty and staff engaged with issues related to diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice on our campus. Read on to find upcoming FSCN events and updates.
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Faculty & Staff of Color
Friday, April 2, via Zoom
9:30 – 11:00 am
First Friday Conversations
Drop by every first Friday of the month for an informal gathering of BU’s faculty & staff of color to connect, share, or just be.
This FSCN is open to all faculty & staff of color broadly, including but not limited to those of African, Asian, Latinx, Middle Eastern, Native American and Indigenous, and Native Hawaiian descent.
Check out the Faculty & Staff of Color Community Network web page for further information.
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LGBTQIA+
Tuesday, April 6, via Zoom
9:30 – 10:00 am
Spilling the Tea
An informal morning check-in with colleagues
Wednesday, April 14, via Zoom
12:00 – 1:00 pm
Monthly General Meeting
Thursday, April 22, via Zoom
9:30 – 10:00 am
Spilling the Tea
Wednesday, April 28, via Zoom
5:30 – 6:30 pm
Happy Hour!
Check out the LGBTQIA+ Faculty & Staff Community Network web page for further information.
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SAFEBUDS
Connect with Staff and Faculty Extend Boston University Disability Support, aka SAFEBUDS! Head over to their new Instagram account, @bu_safebuds, to join them in empowering faculty and staff with disabilities at Boston University.
Click here for more information about SAFEBUDS.
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Allies and Advocates
Tuesday, April 27, via Zoom
4:00 – 5:15 pm
Book Discussion:
"The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander
Join the Allies and Advocates Faculty & Staff Community Network to reflect and discuss the book that the Chronicle of Higher Education calls “one of the most influential books of the last 20 years.” For questions about events and opportunities for engagement with the Allies and Advocates FSCN, contact allyfsn@bu.edu.
Check out the Allies and Advocates Faculty & Staff Community Network web page for further information.
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Quips & QUOTES.
“In a time of destruction, create something.”
— Maxine Hong Kingston
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