Working to promote, embrace, and grow a culture of diversity, equity, and inclusivity within our research, teaching and extension activities

The goal of the diversity and inclusion committee in Global Development is to cultivate a community that values the diversity of people in all its dimensions including, but not limited to: race, age, national origin, religion, culture, socioeconomic status, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, political beliefs and ethnic background. Our mission is to be inclusive of all voices. 

The committee will seek to build awareness, understanding and the necessary skills to recognize and address departmental policies or actions that prevent their members' full participation due to power, privilege and oppression. The committee will ensure Global Development faculty, staff and student representation in college- and campus-wide initiatives that address and support equitable, inclusive and anti-racist policies. The committee will work to ensure those principles are integrated into the curriculum, inform hiring practices and are central features to a welcoming work and learning environment for our staff, faculty and students.

 

Resources

Here is what we are reading and listening to on our journey to promote diversity, equity and inclusion in all areas of our global development work.

Podcasts

  • Inclusive Excellence: Cornell's monthly podcast series which unpacks topics related to diversity and inclusion in the workplace
  • This Land: Follows a Cherokee murder case in the supreme court while diving into the history of land treaty rights and potential land restoration of five Native American tribes in Oklahoma 
  • 1619: Explores the history of slavery and how it has transformed over generations

Other media

Teaching

Training opportunities

  • CTI’s “Teaching and Learning in the Diverse Classroom” course explores frameworks and strategies for building and sustaining inclusive learning environments and is open to anyone in the Cornell teaching community.” This course is accompanied by the Learning Community on Inclusive Teaching, a series of face-to-face discussion and activities for faculty, post-docs, and graduate students. 
  • CTI also publishes various resources on Inclusive Course Design, proving general principles and practical advice on various areas (setting learning objectives, assessment techniques, curriculum, universal design practices, and making a syllabus). It’s a good place to begin looking for resources, and provides citations and links.

Writing assignments & facilitating dialogues in the classroom 

Diversity and inclusion teaching books at Cornell Library System

  • Teaching and supporting migrant children in our schools: a culturally proficient approach 
  • Diversity and inclusion : a research proposal framework 
  • Understanding and teaching U.S. lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender history
  • Diversity and motivation : culturally responsive teaching in college 
  • Inclusive and adaptive teaching : meeting the challenge of diversity in the classroom 
  • Planning effective instruction : diversity responsive methods and management
  • Diversity in deaf education 
  • Politiques et pratiques de l'enseignement de la diversité socioculturelle : diversité et inclusion : enjeux pour la formation des enseignants 
  • Confronting obstacles to inclusion : international responses to developing inclusive education
  • Uncertainty, diversity and the common good : changing norms and new leadership paradigms 
  • Valuing diversity in early childhood education 
  • Experiences of racialization in predominantly white institutions : critical reflections on inclusion in US colleges and schools of education 
  • Disability and world language learning : inclusive teaching for diverse learners 
  • Global values education : teaching democracy and peace 
  • Celebrating cultural diversity : science learning for all 
  • Learning diversity in the Chinese classroom : contexts and practice for students with special needs 
  • Hearing their voices : teaching history to students of color
  • Key issues for teaching assistants : working in diverse and inclusive classrooms 
  •  Living in diversity : lesson plans for secondary level students, developed by teachers and trainers from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Ukraine
  •  Getting ready for Benjamin : preparing teachers for sexual diversity in the classroom 
  • Intersectionality and higher education : identity and inequality on college campuses 
  •  Transnational writing education : theory, history, and practice 
  • Safe, supportive, and inclusive learning environments for young people in crisis and trauma : plaiting the rope 
  •  Supporting today's students in the library : strategies for retaining and graduating international, transfer, first-generation, and re-entry students
  • Leading and managing a differentiated classroom
  • Global perspectives on language education policies 
  • Millennial teachers : learning to teach in uncertain times
  • Creating a culturally inclusive campus : a guide to supporting international students 
  • Future directions for inclusive teacher education : an international perspective 
  • The global fourth way : the quest for educational excellence 
  • Trauma-sensitive schools : learning communities transforming children's lives
  • Reach everyone, teach everyone : universal design for learning in higher education 
  • Transforming higher education through universal design for learning : an international perspective 
  • New frontiers of the capability approach 

Diversity & inclusion committee members

The official committee is composed of faculty, staff members and graduate students. Committee member terms range from three years for faculty and staff members and one year for student members. Terms will be staggered to ensure continuity of activities and knowledge.

Highlights in our research, teaching and extension

Learn how some of our students and initiatives are working to build a more equitable, inclusive world right here on campus and abroad.

Undergrad research

My Double Conscious Experience in the Ivy League

Inspired by his personal experience as a Black student in the Ivy League, Ben Fields ’20 analyzed how racism, micro-aggressions and human behavior contribute to the academic career of Black students. His research is not only an important contribution to academia, but also offers a new perspective on how a sense of belonging and engagement play a critical role in diversity and inclusion on college campuses.

Mobilizing opportunities

Thinking beyond borders

"As a woman and a student from Indonesia, I care about a variety of social issues affecting my country and similar developing economies – particularly challenges related to gender and income inequality. Recognizing that not many of my fellow Indonesians are able to study abroad, I feel grateful to have the opportunity to study at Cornell and am in the process of developing a stronger understanding of how I can personally address these issues." - Elena Setiadarma '21

Farmworkers

Supporting underrepresented groups during the pandemic

The Cornell Farmworker Program transformed their activities nearly overnight to ensure that farmworkers and farmers, who were deemed essential workers, had accurate and up to date information to maximize worker’s safety during the COVID-19 pandemic. In an effort to continue serving one of New York’s most vulnerable populations, agricultural workers, the program continued to innovate, making their mission of maintaining communication with farmworkers and connecting these families with needed resources all the more vital.

Ben Fields graduation
Elena travels with TCI
A man wears a mask outside

Promoting diversity & inclusion in our work

Explore some of our programs and projects in Global Development that promote diverse communities.

Farmer collects apples

Envisions a state and nation in which farmworkers receive equal protection under law, earn a living wage, live in comfortable housing, are safe and healthy, receive due respect as workers and as individuals, and participate fully in their communities

A male and female speak to a room full of people, Things I've learned this fall on a poster in the background

Increases access to educational opportunities that further human potential and develops the abilities of individuals for greater agency and fulfillment

Members of the Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship Program

Provides accomplished professionals from countries with emerging economies an international enrichment opportunity in leadership and public service with 400+ fellows from 115 countries to date