Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI)

This week's module will help build on our understanding of scholarly teaching and evaluating learning, and guide us through a justice-centered approach to access, equity, diversity, and inclusion in our teaching. 

1. READ: TRILL Submission Guidelines, section 5: HOW

How does the assignment/activity engage with justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion? How does it facilitate broader JEDI-related goals of your academic program, institution, community, and/or discipline (such as these statements adopted by the LSA)? What extra scaffolding should instructors consider to maximize JEDI when using this assignment/activity? Address as many of these as you can. 

• How is accessibility to students incorporated in this assignment/activity? Are there any limitations related to accessibility?

• How does the assignment/activity promote accurate, equitable, and respectful representation and treatment of different communities of language users? How does it counteract harmful ideologies?

• How does the assignment/activity promote inclusion of language users and/or issues which are inaccurately or underrepresented in linguistic studies or linguistics classrooms?

• How do the language examples or datasets used engage issues of data sovereignty (for example, do they provide the information that’s needed)?

• How do the language examples or datasets used show respect for the people whose language is under study?

2. READ about the topics:

• Readings/links about accessibility:

  • Overview of classroom barriers and accommodations, from University of Minnesota

  • Universal Design for Learning in Higher Education

• Readings about data sovereignty: 

  • Rainie, Stephanie Carroll, Desi Rodriguez-Lonebear, and Andrew Martinez. 2017. Policy Brief: Indigenous Data Sovereignty in the United States. Tucson: Native Nations Institute, University of Arizona

  • Holton, Gary, Wesley Y. Leonard, & Peter L. Pulsifer. (2022). Indigenous Peoples, Ethics, and Linguistic Data. In Andrea L. Berez-Kroeker, Bradley McDonnell, Eve Koller, & Lauren B. Collister, eds., The Open Handbook of Linguistic Data Management, pp. 49-60. MIT Press. https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/12200.003.0008

    • Optional reading by the WoSTaSiL organizers, “Increasing Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in Linguistics Through Small Teaching” (pdf also in WoSTaSiL Cohort folder) https://doi.org/10.1215/00031283-11255052

3. RESEARCH

Research/consider the origins of the language examples, theoretical frameworks, and/or data sets used in your submission. Most of us do not have the time to look carefully into the provenance of the materials we use in our classes. Let’s take some time now to consider this issue more deeply than we might usually.

• Does your assignment/activity include language examples or datasets? If so, can you find the origins of the data? As you trace the data back to its original source, do you discover any inaccuracies, misrepresentations, or missing information?

• Do you assign background materials in connection with this activity? What languages/language varieties are represented in these materials? What is the origin of these examples? Who is interpreting the examples, through the lens of which knowledge systems?

4. WRITE

Jot down initial answers to the HOW questions and RESEARCH questions (above). It’s fine to write tentatively, include questions, and compose in the form of bullet points or an outline.