Inclusive Excellence
Photo by Karl Rabe

Inclusive Excellence

CFCD is committed to supporting faculty in the creation of vibrant and welcoming learning environments. An essential part of this effort is ensuring that students of all backgrounds feel thoroughly included in the classroom and in the project of the overall course. As with any area of teaching, this is a goal best pursued through honest reflection and ongoing, constructive, and ever-widening conversation.
The Inclusive Classroom
Bard Pronoun Guide
Office of Inclusive Excellence
NCFDD
Photo by Pete Mauney ’93 MFA ’00

NCFDD

Bard College is an institutional member of the NCFDD, which provides online career development and mentoring resources for faculty, postdocs, and graduate students. The Center’s virtual programs and resources include a weekly motivational email (the Monday Motivator) and access to the full NCFDD Core Curriculum, guest expert webinars, intensive multiweek courses, a private discussion forum, and monthly writing challenges.

Advancing Inclusive Excellence in the Classroom

CFCD incorporates topics of diversity and inclusivity in the following initiatives.
  • The orientation for new faculty includes sessions (as well as follow-up meetings during the year) that focus on ways of achieving inclusive excellence in the classroom.
  • Each semester, we run one or more reading groups that allow faculty and staff the opportunity to discuss important issues related to race and identity, while also linking these conversations to the nuts and bolts of pedagogy.
  • Every year we organize at least one event that addresses these issues in a public forum. In past semesters, topics have included implicit bias; managing classroom discussion on issues of race, gender, sex, and religion; and working with underrepresented students in the classroom.
  • When possible, we cosponsor an evening event and community dinner with student organizations each year.
If you are interested in one or more of these efforts, please get in touch with us. We are always open to new initiatives and fresh perspectives on ways of moving the conversation forward.

Reflecting on the Moment

Conversations on Racial Equity and Justice
Reflecting on the Moment is a collaborative initiative spearheaded by the Dean of the College in consultation with the Office of Inclusive Excellence. The new series invites alumni/ae, current undergraduates, faculty, and staff to have honest conversations about the current moment we are living in the wake of a global pandemic and systemic police brutality. The aim is to present models of inclusive dialogue, to draw from the rich personal experiences and expertise of our ever-developing and ever-changing community, and to present approaches for community activism and engagement in the name of racial equity and justice.
  • The Making of Hothouse
    Dancers and choreographers Sam Pratt '14—Bard alum and double major in dance and philosophy—and Amadi Washington discuss their new project Hothouse with Maria Simpson, director of the Dance Program at Bard College. Amadi and Sam collaborate as the duo Baye & Asa. Hothouse responds to the reillumination of the country's practice of systemic racism by way of the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • Engaging Local Communities
    Cammie Jones, associate dean of experiential learning and civic engagement, and Peter Klein, assistant professor of sociology and environmental and urban studies, speak about institutional and educational collaborations with local communities in Kingston, New York, and how they are rethinking community engagement in light of the current moment.
  • Mentorship and the University
    Dariel Vasquez, cofounder and codirector of Brothers@Bard and Brothers@, as well as a member of the Class of 2017, and Drew Thompson, Assistant Professor of Africana and Historical Studies and Director of Africana Studies, speak about the role of mentorship and the university in the wake of the global pandemic and police brutality.

Racial Labels: What's Acceptable?
What's Preferred?

A Critical Conversation about Race-Related
Language in the Classroom

Participants:
Deirdre d'Albertis, Dean of Bard College; Professor Myra Young Armstead; Dr. Jocelyn Chadwick; Kahan Sablo, Dean of Inclusive Excellence; Michael Sadowski, Executive Director of Bard Early College Hudson
Suggested Readings