The Black Lives Matter movement and protests in Summer 2020 after the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and Tony McDade, have prompted many educators and researchers to reflect upon racism in the spaces we occupy. As copies of “How to be an anti-racist” by Ibram X. Kendi flew off the shelves in bookstores, we at the Research for Inclusive STEM Education (RISE) center found ourselves wondering what an anti-racist biology curriculum might look like and what steps we could take to re-imagine the curriculum. In response, we organized a workshop in Fall 2020 where graduate students, instructors, faculty, instructional developers, and other staff members came together to begin to address this question. Here, we share some of the ideas that emerged from those discussions in the hopes that we can continue the dialogue on these critical issues. What are some ways in which racism exists in biology curricula and classrooms? In order to dismantle racism in institutional str...

The ASU RISE Center is hosting a  series of events this term focused on racial justice to find ways in which the School of Life Sciences (SOLS) can be inclusive and anti-racist. On September 2nd, we had 19 students of color attend a listening session to discuss problems and challenges for students of color in SOLS. SOLS PhD student Miranda Bernard facilitated the session. Thirteen faculty/staff attended this session and listened silently. We report here on the issues and challenges that emerged from this discussion. Note: these are experiences and perspectives of the individual students who attended the session and they do not represent the perspectives of all students of color. Lack of community and support in SOLS for people of color Many students echoed this theme where they did not feel like there was a sense of community in SOLS generally, but more specifically for students of color. Students highlighted that they often felt as though their own experience was...