| Program: | Faculty Development Institute on Curriculum Infusion, Loyola College, Baltimore, MD | | Contact(s): | Dr. Pamela Paul, Director of Multicultural Affairs: (410) 617-5183 | | Purpose: | To provide support to faculty members who wish to introduce multicultural perspectives into specific courses | | Background According to Loyola College's mission and goals statement of 1989, "a Loyola graduate will be sensitive to racial and cultural diversity and dedicated to the service of others." In 1993, the College Council affirmed this goal by approving the "Plan for Diversity," which details the need for greater diversity in Loyola's academic curriculum. Without denying the importance of the Western tradition, the 1993 plan urges the development of courses that enhance students' awareness "of their relationships to others" and prepare them, through heightened curricular diversity, "for the reality of the increasingly diverse world in which they will live and work." The Faculty Development Institute on Curriculum Infusion (Institute) constitutes an important step toward increasing diversity in the college's academic curriculum. The Institute is modeled after the Association of American Colleges and Universities faculty development curriculum transformation institutes, titled "Boundaries and Borderlands: A search for Recognition and Community in America." Program Operations
The Institute provides faculty with the knowledge, resources and skills needed to transform their courses and teaching methods to fully meet the college's goal of preparing students to lead and serve in a diverse and changing world. The Institute typically runs for three to four weeks and is made up of nine seminars, each on a different issue and conducted by a nationally recognized expert. The seminars begin with a one hour formal presentation followed by a four to five hour experiential session in which faculty learn through discussion of assigned readings, exploration of issues, and skills practice. The Institute also includes one seminar on pedagogy, which lasts three to four sessions and allows faculty to teach material from a multicultural perspective and receive feedback from colleagues. Faculty members who participate in the Institute are expected to revise or develop a course in which multicultural scholarship is infused and complete at least one presentation to other faculty on campus reflecting what they have learned. Faculty also teach the transformed course at least once in the two years following the Institute and serve as a resource for their departments on curriculum infusion. Outcomes and Significant Accomplishments Loyola College has conducted three institutes for its faculty, training 24 out of 220 faculty members. As a result, 24 courses have been transformed, including ten core courses required for all students. The faculty who participated in the seminars have continued to foster dialogues about the issues related to a diversified curriculum in their departments and have fostered an inclusive environment on campus. |
