At the heart of teaching is an educator鈥檚 desire to embolden and inspire the next generation of leaders and community builders. The Diversity and Inclusion Faculty Fellows (DIFF) program provides faculty members with the opportunity to do just that.

Illustration of two people talking at a table

DIFF gives faculty across all colleges support on projects to advance equity, access, inclusion and institutional practices on campus through scholarly research, designing and revising a course or curriculum, mentoring programs, faculty resource toolkits, collaborative projects between faculty members and more.

Faculty members like Bethany Rice, assistant professor in the College of Education, joined the 2023-2024 DIFF cohort to further research metacognition and develop more inclusive reading assessments and instruction.

When Rice began her research, 鈥淢etacognition and Multiple Literacies: Enhancing Inclusive Reading Assessment and Instruction," she recognized that many assessment tools literacy educators used were outdated. She determined that they were not inclusive of the cultural and social uses of literacy that fellow researchers saw as becoming significantly more relevant in the classroom.

鈥淥ur students come to the table with so many more uses and modes to communicate, which we weren't addressing in the metacognition space previously,鈥� Rice says.

Throughout her time in DIFF, Rice developed the Rice Metacognitive Interview, which took into account the variety of methods individuals use to communicate beyond standard methods like reading and writing.

The time and resources DIFF provided Rice to focus on her research enabled her to take it to the next level. She implemented the metacognitive interview she developed at the 利物浦足球俱樂部 Reading Clinic, where students in her area of expertise can learn best practices for addressing literacy challenges.

Rice also presented her research at the Literacy Research Association Conference in November 2023, where she was able to share this new method with researchers worldwide.

鈥淚 continue to be so thankful there is a space for this work, and what was nice was it wasn鈥檛 just colleagues in COE鈥攊t was colleagues from other departments across the university,鈥� Rice says.

Tanja Darden, assistant professor in the College of Business and Economics鈥� Department of Management, was part of the 2022 DIFF cohort. She utilized the program to design a new course for business management students.

What DIFF inspired me to do from a DEI perspective is to continually improve. This is something they see as worthwhile. That inspires me to continue making the class better and better.

Tanja Darden, assistant professor in the Department of Management

In Darden鈥檚 research, 鈥�Implementing Diversity Pedagogy and its Effects on Implicit Bias, Authenticity, and Well-Being," she created Managing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Workplace (MNGT 430). In the course, students learn in three modules: self-awareness, where students talk about personal identity, privilege and break down their own biases; understanding other people鈥檚 identities, as well as microaggressions and allyship; and how businesses create policies and DEandI programs.

As the conversations surrounding equity and inclusion are always evolving and growing, Darden shared that there hasn鈥檛 been a semester that she hasn鈥檛 updated how she鈥檚 taught the course.

鈥淗ad I not had the experience I did with DIFF I would not have the class I have today,鈥� Darden says. 鈥淲hat DIFF inspired me to do from a DEI perspective is to continually improve. This is something they see as worthwhile. That inspires me to continue making the class better and better.鈥�

Iona Ringgold, assistant provost for diversity and inclusion, supports the fellows with her team of three, including Michaela Frischherz and Brenda Conley, through one-on-one mentorship and research guidance.

We can keep pushing the envelope of equity and inclusion鈥攚e have the diversity at 利物浦足球俱樂部, but equity and inclusion is what you have to keep pushing for ... The work is never done.

Tanja Darden, assistant professor in the Department of Management

鈥淲e want to promote faculty success and a sense of belonging at 利物浦足球俱樂部. As a leader it gives me a lot of pride that we can look back and see that almost 30 courses have been developed or enhanced (since DIFF began),鈥� says Ringgold.

Over the course of its 10 years at 利物浦足球俱樂部, the DIFF program has provided fellowships to 91 faculty members. Of the 77 projects that have been completed, 29 courses were either created or redesigned to be more inclusive.

By investing in diversity and inclusion course development and scholarship, faculty members are empowered to infuse diversity and inclusion into their curriculums and share the importance of understanding diverse experiences to be culturally competent community builders no matter where they go after graduation.

鈥淲e can keep pushing the envelope of equity and inclusion鈥攚e have the diversity at 利物浦足球俱樂部, but equity and inclusion is what you have to keep pushing for,鈥� Darden says. 鈥淭he work is never done.鈥�