DEI reading groups push progressive agenda
Diversity, inclusivity, and equity readings groups exist at Dartmouth College, The Ohio State University, and Florida International University, among others.
Loyola University, a Catholic University in Baltimore, Maryland, also hosts an annual Diversity Reading Groups series every October.
Universities and university clubs across the country are sponsoring reading groups centered around diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), as well as other leftist topics.
A July 3 tweet from Florida Gulf Coast University’s chapter of Young Democratic Socialists of America invites students to join their virtual summer reading group, encouraging participants to “continue organizing and fighting for reproductive justice.”
Join FGCU YDSA’s virtual summer reading group to continue organizing and fighting for reproductive justice. 🌹
Have conversations about abortion access and social reproduction, meet comrades, & learn about the Coalition for Reproductive Justice at FGCU!! 🌹 pic.twitter.com/CENAdpLHWN— FGCU YDSA 🌹 (@fgcu_yds) July 3, 2022
Members of the “socialist feminist reading group” will have the chance to “[h]ave conversations about abortion access and social reproduction, meet comrades, & learn about the Coalition for Reproductive Justice at FGCU.”
This is the latest of many such groups that have begun to spring up on campuses across the country.
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Other notable universities that have hosted DEI reading groups this spring and summer include Dartmouth College, The Ohio State University (OSU), and Florida International University (FIU), with others offering DEI recommended reading lists.
At Ohio State’s Department of History of Art, for example, DEI reading groups offer a “robust discussion of racism and white supremacy within — and at the very root of — the history of art.”
This spring, the Department had Navigating Anti-racism in an Anti-black Landscape: A Dance Educator’s Reflection as its reading selection.
The same semester, FIU’s Division of Diversity Equity & Inclusion hosted a reading group on the book Race Talk and the Conspiracy of Silence.
FIU’s DEI reading groups are meant to “support and sustain ongoing conversations around racial justice and feminism, sexual minority experience, mass incarceration, disability studies, and environmental justice, on campus and beyond.”
Loyola University, a Catholic University in Baltimore, Maryland, also hosts an annual Diversity Reading Groups series every October.
According to the school’s website, the group discusses “racial justice and feminism, masculinity, higher education and slavery, colonization, religion, and how to take action against oppression.”
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Some of these reading groups are offered as courses that award students credit upon completion.
The University of California, Davis’ College of Biological Sciences, for example, offers “student-led courses that explore anti-racist themes through guided discussions about a curated list of books, films, podcasts and more” every quarter.
The College also provides an “Anti Racist Reading List” on its webpage, described as “a thorough guide of non-fiction and fiction books, articles, essays, curated lists, visual media, podcasts, and relevant organizations that can be used at various stages of your journey to deepen your knowledge and understanding of anti-racist topics.”
Campus Reform contacted FGCU’s chapter of YDSA, Dartmouth, Ohio State University, Florida International University, Loyola University, and UC Davis for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
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