CLAHS Curriculum Innovation Program (pilot)

Call for proposals

Deadline: October 13, 2023

Awards announced: November 13, 2023

Required activity: during Spring 2024 semester

Final report due: Upon completion of required activity, and no later than June 15, 2024

Please send questions to Shaila Mehra at shailamehra@vt.edu

Purpose

The CLAHS Curriculum Innovation Program is a faculty development and curriculum development program that aims to ensure CLAHS courses contain diverse perspectives and utilize inclusive teaching methods that support the learning of a diverse student body. Applicants are invited to submit proposals to update an existing course that counts toward major requirements to incorporate inclusive and/or antiracist pedagogies and course content, embracing student-centered learning and integrating the study of multiple perspectives, histories, and knowledges within the discipline or field of study. Proposals should address how the updates will address one of the following focus areas:

  • Equity and social disparity in the human condition
  • Broadening disciplinary knowledge through incorporation of historically excluded intellectual traditions and content
  • Diversifying global perspectives

Required activity

  1. Updating content of a course that meets major requirements to incorporate exploration of diverse perspectives, knowledges, and histories aligned with one of the focus areas listed above;
  2. Development and implementation of strategies to incorporate relevant inclusive pedagogies, including antiracist pedagogies;
  3. A final report of no more than 300 words describing the changes made to the course and the implementation process that has been or will be used to teach the updated course.

Application process

Please submit a statement of no more than 500 words that includes the following:

  1. A description of the course you propose to update and its place in the major (eg. introductory, survey, capstone);
  2. A detailed description of the revisions to content and pedagogical methods you plan to make and the learning goals associated with these changes;
  3. A discussion of how the updated course will contribute to equity and inclusion goals of your department or school or student learning outcomes related to those goals;
  4. An explanation of how your revisions can be sustained across future iterations of the course and can be utilized by other faculty teaching the course;
  5. A brief timeline for the completion of revisions and teaching of the updated course.

Applications will be evaluated for a) how clearly the proposed revision aligns with the broad focus areas and required activities of this program; b) how effectively the revised course will increase knowledge related to equity and diverse perspectives in a given discipline or field of study; c) the likelihood that the revision can be sustained across future iterations of the course and potentially taught by multiple faculty.

Additional information

  • Awardees will receive $750 in professional development funds to be used in accordance with university policies. Funds must be spent by the end of the fiscal year. Five awards are anticipated to be made in the 2023-24 academic year.
  • Revisions should not exceed the level of change that would require formal review and approval by the CLAHS curriculum committee.
  • Faculty can only have one Curriculum Innovation Program proposal approved per academic year.
  • Preference may be given to applicants who have participated in VT professional development related to inclusive and antiracist pedagogy, including programs and trainings offered by CLAHS DEI and the Office for Inclusion and Diversity’s Diversity Education division. Applicants who meet this criteria should describe their activity in the application statement.
  • Eligibility is restricted to full-time faculty in continuing appointments and graduate students who are instructors of record in the current academic year.
  • Awardees will be asked to evaluate the program and suggest future improvements. Awardees will also be asked to present their work to the college community in AY25.
Submission Form