Racial inequality. Issues of power and privilege. Brown has an action plan for that—literally.
In its Pathways to Diversity and Inclusion: An Action Plan for Brown (commonly referred to as the "DIAP"), the University has detailed its strategic plan and achievable actions to make Brown a more fully diverse and inclusive community. Since its inception in 2016, the DIAP has resulted in the recruitment of more faculty members from historically underrepresented groups, the opening of a center for first-generation and low-income students, and the expansion of research centers focused on issues of race.
But the classroom is one of the most important areas where it's making a difference.
In 2018, the University created the DIAP course designation—a demarcation for classes that explore matters of race, gender, and inequality. During the 2019-20 academic year, 232 courses received the designation.
"When I was an undergraduate at Brown 20 years ago, we didn't have this volume of diversity classes. You wouldn't see courses across the entire curriculum that raised questions on these topics of race, difference, power, and privilege, but now we have DIAP courses in over 40 departments and in everything from biology to theatre arts and performance studies," says Besenia Rodriguez '00, deputy dean of the college for curriculum and co-curriculum. "It speaks to the University's and the academic departments' investments in developing this important part of our curriculum."