Diversity in
Pedagogy Grant

During the fall 2020 semester, I co-wrote a grant application in response to a call from the Siena College Provosts’ office regarding diversity in pedagogy. My colleagues, Dr. Shannon Draucker, Dr. James Belflower, and I successfully wrote a grant to create a “Diversity in Pedagogy Speaker Series” to bring in a diverse array of speakers (via Zoom) to provide short, concrete, actionable teaching strategies designed to create more inclusive classroom policies, spaces, and curriculum.

We sponsored 5 events in the Spring of 2021 and started a pedagogy library for our colleagues stocked with books and articles recommended by our speakers. During the summer of 2021, we are planning to host an informal pedagogy reading group.

The events were well-attended by faculty and administrators not only from the English Department and School of Liberal Arts, but by our colleagues from across Siena, including the Center for Academic Community Engagement (ACE).

We plan to continue the series in the fall of 2021, with the goal of bringing in speakers to share best practices as well as new and innovative pedagogical strategies. We are grateful to our colleagues in the English department for supporting our project, particularly Dr. Keith Wilhite, as well as to Provost Madden for supporting this program.