Individual Fellow Initiatives
Critical Race Theory in The Steve Hicks School of Social Work
Cohort: 2021
Fellow: Sarah Sloan
(Project completed 2023) The challenge this project addresses is to enhance our current curriculum at the Steve Hicks School of Social Work (SHSSW) and provide some of the tools necessary to meet our mandates as a profession. To give some context, the discipline of Social Work is centered in principles from the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) Code of Ethics which includes a strong and clear commitment to working toward social justice and to dismantle systemic barriers that keep all people from liberation and wellness.
Digital Research Apprenticeship: Projects For Intersectional Justice
Cohort: 2021
Fellow: Tanya Clement
Research and scholarship in Digital Humanities applies technology to humanities questions and subjects technology to humanistic interrogation. DH pedagogy is difficult to develop because DH is inherently collaborative and interdisciplinary, crossing the humanities, archaeology, arts and architecture, computer science, film and media studies, information studies, geography, and the social sciences.
One Book One School Community-Wide Reading Program
Cohort: 2019
Fellow: Amelia Acker
(Project completed 2021) Reading in community broadens our understanding of how we belong and how we connect to one another. I propose to develop and execute a community-wide collective reading program including related events programming around one book that addresses topics related to diversity, equity, and inclusion issues featuring a topic around the design, use, and implementation of data-driven technologies at UT’s iSchool. Typical diversity and inclusion initiatives in iSchools focus on curriculum development.
Towards an Anti-Racist Climate in Nursing
Cohort: 2019
Fellow: Danica Sumpter
(Project completed 2021) Systems of oppression gain their power from silence. Faculty in the School of Nursing and across the country are not always comfortable engaging in conversations about race and racism, but these discussions are necessary in order to address the disproportionately poor health outcomes experienced by BIPOC. In response to student and faculty concerns, this project seeks to move our school towards an antiracist climate by targeting multiple layers.
Race and Curriculum Revision Project
Cohort: 2017
Fellow: Keffrelyn Brown
While the U.S. is more racially open and culturally diverse than at any other time in its history, intolerance and marginalization—often around issues of race, culture and difference—continue to exist. This is punctuated in university settings where students of color find more access to opportunity, yet encounter socially and intellectually non-inclusive environments. UT-Austin stands at the forefront of concerns around race and equity, most recently with the Fisher decision and the current state lawsuit against UT-Austin regarding race discrimination in admissions.