Curriculum Transformation Initiative
for Racial Justice
Supporting Curricular Approaches to Advance Racial Justice
Announced by the Provost’s Office in October 2020, the Curriculum Transformation Initiative for Racial Justice (CTI-RJ) is a systematic effort to assist schools and campuses in revising their curricula to address issues of racial justice, systemic inequality, and the development of justice-oriented mindsets.
The purpose of the 3-year initiative is to work with schools and curricular units to develop funding mechanisms and targeted support for meaningful curricular transformation. In order to accelerate this work, the Baker Trust for Transformative Learning is providing resources for coordination, implementation, and evaluation.
CTI-RJ provides targeted, transformative funding in the form of unit-level grants for analysis, development, and implementation of transformative curricular revisions. CTI-RJ aims to build partnerships across campus to support this critical work.
Spring & Summer 2021 Project Updates
- In January and February 2021, every school committed to engaging in this work. Every school is focused both on curricular change and faculty development.
- Schools expressed the value in learning in partnership with units across campus.
- Each school committed to enacting cultural shifts through transparent communication, improving structural pathways, and shared faculty practices and professional learning
- Three Steering Committee Meetings held in Spring 2021
- In August, CTI Steering Committee merged with university-wide committee on curricular reform for justice-oriented learning led by Sarah Kureshi (Med Center), Robin Lenhardt (Law), Alex Sense (GSAS), and Randy Bass.
Fall 2021 Project Updates
- College Racial Justice Fellows implemented newly-designed courses aimed to teach race, ethnicity, racialization in five separate disciplines. Full evaluation of courses underway.
- Baker Trust McDonough School of Business DEI Baker Trust Fellows cohort of faculty, staff, and students conducted DEI needs assessment within six departments. Student fellows created resources specific to these departments.
- SFS Student Baker Trust Fellows instigated processes to strengthen first-year experiences through critical exploration of Georgetown’s history of slaveholding inspired by coursework across international relations, geography, and history.
- Continued facilitation partnerships with key staff in McCourt School of Public Policy (MSPP), the Racial Justice Initiative, Law School, GSAS, and BGE.
