Twenty-second International Conference on Diversity in Organizations, Communities & Nations

Abstract

During the turbulent year of 2020 with systematic racism in the news, the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, racially motivated police shootings, and the pandemic all converging; a group of faculty from the Masters of Management in Library and Information Sciences (MMLIS) at the University of Southern California (USC) formed a working group to proactively plan for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Accessibility and Anti-Racism (DEIA+AR) in three areas (curriculum, pedagogy and programmatic). This presentation and paper describe one of the three areas of focus, pedagogy for DEIA+AR. Through an active engagement process with students and faculty, the DEIA+AR working group was able to offer recommendations for best practices for DEIA+AR pedagogical practices. We will report on the process, deliverables, and ultimately the set of practices that our faculty can use to ensure thoughtful DEIA+AR pedagogical practices that promote diversity, equity, inclusion accessibility, and anti-racism and can be adopted by any discipline. In addition to programmatic changes and developing an intentional curriculum, many pedagogical practices can be easily put in place immediately to contribute to inclusive classroom settings. Participants will leave this session with new actionable pedagogical practices that promote DEIA+AR in the classroom. Additionally, these practices can be used by the business sector and the business community will understand how to use DEIA+AR pedagogical practices in business settings to the benefit of all participants.