Interim Dean Aaron Pallas and the Faculty Executive Committee's (FEC) subcommittee on Race, Culture, and Diversity awarded two Faculty Diversity Awards for the academic year 2003-2004. They went to Gregory M. Anderson (Organization and Leadership) for, "A Critical Exploration of Curricular Reform and Diversity in American Higher Education," and to Lesley Bartlett (International and Transcultural Studies), for "Language and Literacy Practices Among Latino Communities in New York City: Constructing Collaborative Research."

The 2003-2004 the Awards were presented for projects that focus on diversity in teaching, learning, service and research.  The underlying goal of these awards is to enhance understanding of teaching, research, epistemology and service by critically examining diversity-related issues.

The Award supports faculty research, coursework and scholarship related to diversity by providing:  a salary; released time from teaching; and funds for a research assistant (or the equivalent) for one semester. It is expected that the awards will be undertaken in residence at TC. Upon completion of the project, the recipients will be invited to share the results with the TC Community either by delivering a lecture or sharing a published report.

Professor Anderson commented in his proposal, "My research agenda involves the study of postsecondary institutional transformation through the lenses of equity, race, access, curriculum and pedagogy. The Faculty Diversity Award offers an opportunity to deepen my scholarship by exploring these themes from the perspective of how the dynamics of progressive postsecondary reform can be contradictorily transformed into symbolic action that is relatively distant from its initial intent...Overall, the proposed study will assist and inform policymakers, faculty, students, and postsecondary administrators interested in examining the impact and potentially unintended consequences of curricular reforms involving diversity."

In her proposal, Professor Bartlett, said, "I propose to initiate a research partnership with local educators and with students from Teachers College to examine language and literacy practices and academic success in three Latino communities in New York City. This collaborative research will complement and extend my own transnational investigation of Brazilian uses of language and literacy. Specifically, the FEC Faculty Diversity Award will allow me to meet two goals: first, to begin a new, collaborative research project; second, to revise my course, ITSF 5007: Race, Class, and Schooling across the Americas: Ethnographic Approaches, in order to develop a hands-on research experience for students."

Published Tuesday, Jun. 17, 2003