Critical DEI [5-weeks, $300 Suggested]

Instructor: Dahiya | Tuesdays 7:00-9:00 | Jan 31 - Feb 28 | ONLINE

This course is the foundational course for our new Critical DEI Program. Learn more about this innovative new program here.

DEI training for educators and other professionals interested in foundational diversity work grounded in anti-racist and feminist theory and praxis. If you would like your employer to pay for this course and need documentation, contact us at nightschoolbar@gmail.com.

Let’s face it, most diversity initiatives are dead on arrival. This is because “diversity”—in addition to words like “equity,” “inclusion,” and “belonging”—often is simply treated as an “add-on” or afterthought to an organization’s culture. While hiring initiatives to “diversify” organizations are necessary and important endeavors, they are in no way where diversity work ends. We cannot confuse and conflate having a diversity statement or policy as a substitute for action. Instead, we have to ask serious questions about the politics of inclusion. In this class, we’ll take a critical approach to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and start from the ground up so that we can build a rigorous and critical understanding of the central issues and concepts that need to be addressed for true diversity to be brought about. We’ll collectively learn as much as we unlearn as we study, examine, and discuss the pitfalls of most diversity initiatives. By focusing on shortcomings of the majority of approaches, we can then collectively brainstorm and imagine what a radically reimagined praxis of diversity would entail in order to bring about genuine and meaningful change. Our class will also be a space where we can share our own experiences with diversity and inclusion in our workplaces and lives, honoring all the accompanying emotions felt along the way. We’ll study feminist and anti-racist thinkers such as Sara Ahmed, Chandra Mohanty, Chanda Prescod-Weinstein, Cinzia Arruzza, Tithi Bhattacharya, Nancy Fraser, and Ruha Benjamin.
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For each class, four (4) full tuition scholarships and five (5) 80% tuition scholarships are available. Due to limited scholarship funds, we are currently only able to offer one class per term at the full scholarship level to any individual student—if you need a full scholarship, please sign up for the class you most want to take and email us to waitlist for any additional classes. We will add you when funds become available. Direct student donations are a crucial aspect of our funding model, and without them, we are not able to pay instructors a living wage. We encourage you to pick the payment tier that corresponds with your needs, but ask that you please consider our commitment to fair labor practices when doing so. If the scholarship tier you need is sold out or you would like to pay tuition on an installment basis, please email us directly, and we will work with you.

If at any point up to 48 hours before your first class session you realize you will be unable to take the class, please email us and we will reallocate your funds to a future class, to another student’s scholarship, or refund it. After classes begin, we are only able to make partial refunds and adjustments.