Participants from the N3EC worked with students and community partners to develop principles for anti-racist community-engaged pedagogies and are editing a collection of essays to be published by Campus Compact/Stylus in 2023 that demonstrate the principles in practice.
Building on the Cultural Wealth of Minoritized Students: Anti-Racist Community Engaged Programming, Pedagogies, and Practices
Participants: DeMisty Bellinger-Delfeld (Fitchburg State University), Aldo Garcia Guevara (Worcester State University), Joanna Gonsalves (Salem State University), Asher Jackson (Fitchburg State University), Deborah Keisch (University of Massachusetts Amherst), Joseph Krupczynski (University of Massachusetts Amherst), Cynthia Lynch (Salem State University), Nabin Malakar (Worcester State University), John Reiff (Massachusetts Department of Higher Education), Roopika Risam (then Salem State University), TreaAndrea Russworm (University of Massachusetts Amherst), Christina Santana (then Worcester State University), Linda Sibeko (University of Massachusetts Amherst), Wafa Unus (Fitchburg State University), Cindy Vincent (Salem State University), Elaine Ward (Merrimack College), David Weiss (Fitchburg State University)
This project focused on developing anti-racist practices in community-engaged teaching. Teams of faculty at four campuses (Salem State University, Fitchburg State University, Worcester State University, and University of Massachusetts Amherst) held focus groups with students and community partners to develop Principles for Anti-Racist Community-Engaged Pedagogy (ARCE Principles). These principles include 1) counteracting the persistence and impact of racism on our campuses and in our community engagement by reframing our institutional and pedagogical practices; 2) promoting critical reflection on individual and systemic/structural racism by understanding positionality, bias, and historical roots of racism; 3) examining intentional learning and course design that develops anti-racist learning goals, course content, policies, and assessment; and 4) considering how to develop a compassionate and reflective classroom by creating a sense of belonging that acknowledges student contributions and meets students where they are. Using these principles, we held professional development workshops with faculty from the four campuses. In addition, we ran a day-long virtual Symposium on Anti-Racist Community Engagement, co-sponsored by Campus Compact and attended by 549 people across the nation.
Based on this work, a group of participants began editing the volume Anti-Racist Community Engagement: Principles and Practices for Campus Compact/Stylus Publishing. The volume features essays by practitioners (faculty, staff, students, and community partners) showcasing the ARCE Principles in practice. Each essay begins with a “case” section that describes the nature of the anti-racist community-engaged work. The essays then continue with a “practice” section that offers insight on how the work was undertaken and provide roadmaps for how to adapt or replicate the project. Finally, they end with a “connections” section that puts the case and its practices in conversation with larger processes of curricular, pedagogical, institutional, or community change. Anti-Racist Community Engagement: Principles and Practices will be published in 2023.
As the book was being prepared for publication, members of the N3EC organized a second symposium, the Symposium on Anti-Racist Community Engagement (2023). This hybrid symposium featured authors from each of the four sections of the book, along with sessions exploring the new Framework for Civic Learning Through a Lens of Racial Equity. It also featured a keynote talk by Tara J. Yosso unpacking her powerful vision of community cultural wealth; resources she shared are available here.
Outcomes
Funding
Higher Education Innovation Fund, Massachusetts Department of Higher Education
Symposia
Symposium on Anti-Racist Community Engagement (2021)
Symposium on Anti-Racist Community Engagement (2023); Resources from Keynote Speaker, Dr. Yosso
Resources
Principles for Anti-Racist Community-Engaged Pedagogy
Publication
Santana, Christina, Aldo Garcia Guevara, Joseph Krupczynski, Cynthia Lynch, John Reiff, Roopika Risam, Cindy Vincent, and Elaine Ward, eds. Anti-Racist Community Engagement: Principles and Practices. Campus Compact/Stylus Publishing, 2023.
Fellowships
Aldo Garcia Guevara, Joseph Krupczynski, Cynthia Lynch, John Reiff, Roopika Risam, Christina Santana, Cindy Vincent, and Elaine Ward are serving as Campus Compact Equity and Engagement Fellows from 2022-2024 to offer professional development on the ARCE Principles.
