Breaking Down Silos for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI)

Equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) goals have traditionally been seen as either an effort to be managed by the administration, or as something a faculty member could choose--or not--to focus on. In the twenty-first century, EDI goals are increasingly front and center across disciplines as educators prepare students for success in a diverse world. It is in this milieu, that this book was written. Each chapter in this book is designed for use by instructors and administrators in higher education who believe that the goals of EDI should be integrated into the classroom experience. The chapters are grouped around five central themes that challenge the structure of a traditional classroom in order to promote goals related to EDI: faculty collaboration, creative approaches to faculty and student resistance to EDI goals, institution-wide initiatives, community engagement, and the use of first-person autobiography and storytelling in the classroom.

Breaking Down Silos makes a critical contribution to the literature on diversity, equity and inclusion, demonstrating the extent to which fostering student success across all types of institutions requires faculty innovation, courageous leadership and meaningful collaboration between academic and student affairs. In the process, each of the contributors creates a roadmap for transforming higher education in profound and lasting ways.--Lynn Pasquerella, PhD, president, Association of American Colleges & Universities, Teaching and learning are so much more forceful when approached as collective endeavors, not as individualistic acts, and this is no less true when teaching and learning towards equity, diversity, and inclusion, as beautifully illustrated in Breaking Down Silos. Burrell Storms, Donovan, Williams, and colleagues share their experiences working across disciplines and beyond the typical boundaries of academic instruction, mining them for insights about the challenges and the unexpected possibilities, and in doing so, raise the bar for what higher education should be and do.--Kevin Kumashiro, author of The Seduction of Common Sense: How the Right has Framed the Debate on America's Schools, This book is more critically needed now than ever before, based on where we are and where we need to go in society to bring equity to higher education and to increase the diversity of our faculty, staff and administrators in the future. Innovative and well-written, the diversity of the collaborating authors adds a richness and wide-ranging perspective to this material that is not seen in other books on equity, diversity and inclusion. It is a must read especially for all new faculty and administrators on how to create an inclusive environment for all.--Sally Welch, PhD, Provost and Associate Professor of Chemistry Emerita, Lansing Community College, This book will have impact beyond the authors' original target audience! The nation's music schools, symphony orchestras, and symphonic composers could all benefit from this book. The chapters on community engagement, implicit bias, divergent learning styles, and critical consciousness, among others, is instructive for those who are thinking about bringing greater diversity into the classical music arena.--Glenda Price, PhD, President Emeritus, Marygrove College; Vice Chair, Detroit Symphony Orchestra Board of Directors

Stephanie Burrell Storms is an Associate Dean and Associate Professor in the Graduate School of Education and Allied Professions at Fairfield UniversitySarah K. Donovan is a Professor of Philosophy at Wagner College and the Faculty Coordinator of the First Year Program. Theodora P. Williams is an Associate Professor Emerita of Human Resource Management at Marygrove College