Diversity Across Curriculum (April 2021)

This course will give journalism educators an opportunity to make a real impact on the future diversity, inclusion and equity efforts of American newsrooms when they model those values in the classroom. This online group seminar will empower you to examine your current teaching materials and curriculum with an eye toward inclusion and representation, and give you the tools and skills to diversify your lessons, examples, speakers and more. Diversity Across the Curriculum is a reincarnation of a beloved Poynter program from the early 2000s. The call to improve diversity, equity and inclusion in the classroom persists two decades later — and is perhaps more urgent than ever. Poynter is proud to bring it back to serve the needs of educators in a post-2020 world.

Your lead faculty is Dr. Earnest Perry, associate dean of graduate studies at the University of Missouri, a researcher, educator and consultant who specializes in issues related to diversity and inclusion. Barbara Allen, Poynter’s director of college programming, will be your guest faculty and coach as you transform your classroom.

You will learn how to modify your current teaching to include more diverse classroom examples, readings, videos and speakers. You will understand where, how and why to examine materials for diverse voices. You will develop the instinct to audit the makeup of the topics, sources and authors you introduce into your teaching, and how to pivot to ensure diverse voices are represented.

In 2020, Black Lives Matter became the largest social justice movement in U.S. history and stirred a (re)awakening about anti-Black racism in America. Race will be a key consideration during this seminar, and you will also be discussing all kinds of diversity, including gender, ability, religion, class, ethnicity, sexual preference and more.

Participation is limited to 25 people to ensure active participation and personalized feedback. If you allow it, this experience will be meaningful, personal and powerful. It might even change the way you work forever.

Questions?

If you need assistance, email us at [email protected].

Who should apply

This course will benefit any journalism or communications professor or adviser who wants to diversify their teaching to be more inclusive and representative of people in their communities or coverage areas.

Application process

The process to apply is straightforward and simple. No letter of recommendation or reference is required. Please be prepared to answer questions about your professional experience, areas of interest, basic demographic information and facts about your institution of learning.

In order to complete your application, we require authorization of payment. Your card will not be charged until you are accepted into the program. Upon acceptance to the program you will receive an email notification and your credit card payment will be processed.

If you would like to defer payment for now, please use the code 21DivCurr100 at checkout. This is not a guarantee of acceptance, and you or your employer will still be responsible for tuition if accepted.

The deadline to apply is Friday, March, 19, 2021. 

Cost

Tuition is $499 and includes four hours of live instruction from Dr. Earnest Perry and Barbara Allen, classroom material and peer group interaction.