ADDRESSING EQUITY, INCLUSION & SOCIAL JUSTICE

EQUITY RANKINGS

CAMPUS PRIDE AND BESTCOLLEGES RANK THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND

#1

college in the nation for LGBTQ+ students

Associate Professor of History Quincy T. Mills initiated the Anna Julia Cooper Workshop, an organization of African American scholars and interested community members in the Washington, D.C., area, that will convene monthly to discuss issues of historical interest to the African American community.

Philosophy graduate students Sarah DeCederfelt, Cody Gomez and Jeremiah Tillman established a chapter of the Minorities and Philosophy (MAP) graduate student organization at UMD. Through a reading group, workshops and other events, they hope to stimulate discussion of topics relevant to minority participation in academic philosophy and to build community across the department.

On Juneteenth, members of the UMD community transcribed and tagged pages from the records of the Freedmen’s Bureau—held by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture—to make them more findable and usable by the public. Due to COVID-19, the Michelle Smith Collaboratory for Visual Culture hosted the “Freedmen’s Bureau Transcribe-a-thon” virtually for the first time ever, empowering digital volunteers to liberate untold stories of the country’s post-Civil War reconstruction from home.

Led by Associate Professor of Graphic Design Audra Buck-Coleman, the 2020 UMD graphic design cohort conducted research and worked with disabled stakeholders to create “Redefine/ABLE: Challenging Inaccessibility,” an exhibit that addresses diversity, inclusion and ableism. Supported by Maryland Humanities, the Friedgen Family Design Fund, U.K. Arts and Humanities Research Council and other funders, the project was intended to manifest in two different physical spaces—the Carroll Mansion in Baltimore and the Herman Maril Gallery on campus—and online, but became a virtual and social media exhibit due to COVID-19.

BookLab was visited by the foremost Black letterpress printer in the country, Amos Paul Kennedy, Jr., known for his distinctive style and contemporary social justice messaging, who conducted workshops with students.

>> LOOKING FORWARD:

Drawing on legendary Marylander Harriet Tubman’s legacy and commitment to liberation and justice, the Department of Women’s Studies changes its name to the Harriet Tubman Department of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (WGSS). Scholarship on Tubman’s life and works will be incorporated into curricula, programming and service impacting the entire campus.

Ruth E. Carter, the first Black woman to win an Oscar for costume design for her Afrofuturistic creations in “Black Panther,” spoke at The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center as part of the 2019–20 Arts and Humanities Dean’s Lecture Series. Carter discussed her journey to Hollywood, her creative process and some of the challenges of being a Black woman in the film industry.