Humanities Approaches to DEI [Durham, NC]

**This course is in-person only. There is no virtual component. Participants must be age 21+

Full Tuition: $320 — Scholarship options are available in the drop-down enrollment menu for you to self-select.

Instructor: D.M. Spratley | 5 Weeks | Wednesdays | April 3 - May 1 | 6:00 - 8:00 PM ET | IN PERSON (OUTSIDE) 719 N Mangum St., Durham, NC

Imagine a DEI training that starts with a close reading of a poem by Claudia Rankine or a short story by Edward P. Jones. In this class, we’ll do just that, incorporating lessons from some of our most insightful literary thinkers to help us build an expansive vision of what is possible when we’re thinking about building equity, inclusion, and belonging into our work and lives.

Many institutions focus their Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion efforts on recruiting and retaining workers of color–or women workers, or LGBTQ+ workers–but they lack the depth and breadth of imagination it takes to understand and address the greater challenges of white supremacy, misogynoir, patriarchy, and capitalism. What does it look like to instead think of equity work as an opportunity to introduce transformative change? Can a focus on literature and the literary imagination shift our thinking and allow us to center a transformative approach? We’ll engage with  literature to expand the boundaries of our imaginations and envision equity from a more expansive, holistic lens.

In this 5-week in-person class, students will work with an instructor who has over a decade of experience designing and leading DEI and racial equity interventions with a focus on transformative change, who also studies and writes literature that centers the histories, experiences, and inner lives of marginalized people. Together, we will look at the work of authors such as Alison Bechdel, Natasha Trethewey, and Anna Burns in order to consider how the literary imagination can move our own lenses and practices when it comes to diversity, equity, and inclusion. We will stretch our imaginations by considering how Trethewey uplifted and honored the histories of Black Americans through her books Native Guard and Domestic Work, and by experiencing the inner world of Burns’ teenage narrator in Milkman as she navigates the Troubles in Northern Ireland and turns our attention to patriarchy with her keen insight. Students will have the opportunity to consider their own DEI goals, questions, and contexts through guided reflection exercises and group discussion.

 This class will take place outdoors on Night School Bar’s patio. Additional COVID protocol will center the immunocompromised and high risk. In case of inclement weather, class will either move online for the session or be rescheduled for a later date, at the discretion of the instructor.

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This class will take place in person at Night School Bar in Durham. Night School requires that students refrain from attending in-person classes when sick. For more on our class policies, see our FAQ. Instructors will also follow this policy. If your instructor is sick, class may be moved to online for a session or rescheduled to the week following the final scheduled session at the instructor’s discretion. 

Sliding Scale: Night School Bar pays instructors and staff a living wage, and your tuition goes toward supporting this practice. Please pick the payment tier that corresponds to your needs, and consider our commitment to fair labor practices when doing so. We will never request or require proof of need, and do not use an income-based sliding scale; we trust you to decide what payment tier is right for you. If you would like additional support deciding or would like to learn more about the practice of using a sliding scale, we recommend this resource from Embracing Equity. 

Scholarships: We are currently able to offer three full scholarships per class. Our full scholarship tier is a nonrefundable offering, limited to one per student per month. Because our scholarship funding is limited, selecting multiple full scholarships in a single month will result in disenrollment from all classes. If the scholarship tier you need is sold out please email us directly, and we will add you to a waitlist and notify you if additional scholarships become available. Please see our FAQ for more information, including installment plans and refund policy.