Department of Curriculum and Instruction (C&I) Professors Stefanie Marshall and Bhaskar Upadhyay recently received $5,000 from the University’s Institute for Diversity, Equity, and Advocacy for a proposed speaker series on “Democratizing Teacher Education: Creating Systems and Policies for Social Justice and Equity.”

The series, planned for March and sponsored by CEHD and C&I, will feature Rita Kohli of UC Riverside and author of Teachers of Color: Resisting Racism and Reclaiming Education. Kohli will hold a research talk and host two workshops: One for students and alumni of the Teacher Scholars of Color (TSoC) program and the other for the department. A second speaker will be Thomas Philip of UC Berkeley. Philip and colleagues have a recent work entitled “Program Redesign Toward Democratic Teacher Education” published in the Teachers College Record. Philip will conduct a research talk.

The funding comes from a new initiative, Faculty Driven, which invites faculty to creatively address equity and diversity needs within their departments. The program provides funding for faculty to develop programs that strengthen the University’s diverse community of scholars.