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Beyond establishing the structure and content of the course, an inclusive syllabus seeks to make students feel welcomed, accepted, and supported in the learning environment. In this report, seven components are deemed as pillars for increasing inclusivity within the course.
Fig. 1 - 7 Component of Inclusive Syllabi (Najarro, 2020).
This is a way in which instructors and students recognize the people who came before them and inhabited the land where they stand. In the case of Duke courses, this portion of the syllabi serves to acknowledge the various Indigenous communities of the Durham area that were displaced or killed through conflict, colonialism or disease.. Different land acknowledgements are often used, varying from course to course, but there is a commission who is currently drafting a university-wide "land acknowledgement" that would be included in every syllabus.
Taken from the Duke Environment, Conflict, and Peacebuilding (ENVIRON216S/PUBPOL279S-01/POLSCI367S-01/ICS229S-01) 2020 Fall course syllabus.
Taken from the Duke Integrating Environmental Science and Policy (ENV201) 2020 Fall course syllabus.
This is a section in which instructors explicitly recognize that they may have biases when teaching the course, even if they strive to avoid them. They also show their openness to receive feedback from students at all times, since they want them to feel comfortable and supported throughout the course. Additionally, they acknowledge that the course may be designed from a particular perspective (Asian/Eurocentric), but that they aim at bringing different perspectives in the form of content (e.g., in a Global Health course, professors would not only include material that was designed by US or Chinese scholars, but they would also try to integrate research papers or case studies that focus on Europe, Latin America, Africa, Oceania, etc.). This is a great approach for students to learn from other regions of the world and for students that have certain relationship to those regions to feel more included in class.
Taken from the Duke Integrating Environmental Science and Policy (ENV201) 2020 Fall course syllabus.
This can be a section of the syllabus in which instructors welcome students' different background and perspectives to class. Students may feel more included and accepted in a class in which the professor explicitly recognizes the value that their contributions may bring to other students and themselves (professors). Additionally, a welcome message can be a way to acknowledge that the course is a learning environment in which everyone is expected to learn from each other and help each other.
I believe this is particularly important in the DKU context because it may help break the paradigm that it sometimes exist in which people see Chinese and International students as two different groups that are homogeneous within themselves. In other words, individuals are being recognized for the individual background and perspective, not exclusively by their status of international or Chinese.
At Duke, this message has been used to welcome international students only.
Taken from the Duke Integrating Environmental Science and Policy (ENV201) 2020 Fall course syllabus.