University of Michigan to use $500,000 for ‘anti-racism’ projects
One of the projects is titled ‘Racial Capitalism and Anti-Racism in Kenyan Conservation.’
‘The work these teams are pursuing is key in understanding how to dismantle the effects of systemic inequalities across multiple communities,’ a DEI official at the school said.
The University of Michigan’s Office of the Vice President for Research (OVPR) has granted almost $500,000 to research subjects tied to “anti-racism.”
The announcement was made by the OVPR and published by The University Record on Wednesday. The $500,000 was distributed to eight different research teams.
One of the “anti-racism research projects” is titled “Ubuntu-AI: Empowering Design Collaborations Across the Black Atlantic with Artificial Intelligence,” which will examine how “AI might reverse its potentially debilitating impact on Black artisans.”
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Another group will study “Racial Capitalism and Anti-Racism in Kenyan Conservation,” a project that seeks to “identify how and why racialized conservation injustice occurs and how it can be prevented in the future.”
Another project is “Ways of Knowing and Storytelling as Diversity Training Mechanisms,” which “will examine the effectiveness of ‘ways of knowing’ and storytelling interventions on diversity training activities.”
The OVPR began its Research Catalyst and Innovation Program in 2021, which fosters research that looks into “complex societal racial inequalities to inform systemic action that achieves equity and justice.”
In the three years since, OVPR has granted almost $2 million in “anti-racism grants” to support research into “anti-racism.”
“The work these teams are pursuing is key in understanding how to dismantle the effects of systemic inequalities across multiple communities,” said Trachette Jackson, a top Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) official at the school.
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Other schools have also been using research grants dedicated to promoting DEI and “anti-racism.”
This August, the National Science Foundation gave $4.5 million to Louisiana State University to found a “Center for Equity in Faculty Advancement” focused on working “to understand mechanisms that drive bias, along with policy and training interventions to mitigate it.”
Campus Reform has contacted the University of Michigan for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.