Justice, Equity, Access, Diversity, and Inclusion
The School of Art is committed to ensuring a welcoming and inclusive climate aimed at fostering collaboration, community and open dialogue, while embracing the background, identities, and perspectives of all students, faculty and staff.
Values
The School of Art is committed to building and sustaining an inclusive learning community that prioritizes underrepresented and under-served backgrounds, identities, and perspectives. The School seeks to model an environment promoting equal access to the arts, art history, and design for a diverse population of students, faculty, and staff, supporting each member's unique values, perspectives, experiences, and needs.
The School of Art envisions:
- Cultivating an inclusive environment fostering cross-disciplinary collaboration, open dialogue, and critical thinking
- Establish curriculum marked by empathy and equity that reaches outside the traditional canon
- Supporting and promoting a diverse range of research practices that lead critical dialog's in multiple disciplines
- Encourage students to utilize critical visual thinking and creative methodologies to interrogate and destabilize systemic hegemonic power structures.
Through the creation of art and design, and through the study of history of art, the School of Art hopes to promote change and push past historically fixed boundaries within all the fields so students can become creative contributors within a globally conscious society.
Goals
The School of Art is committed to taking action and establishing goals to be more intentional in our diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts.
Below are goals currently in action. These action items are not a comprehensive list, but a reflection of what is currently under way as the School of Art navigates its way towards a more inclusive and equitable world.
- Prioritize implementing the SoArt's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion plan
- Establish specific scholarship opportunities for diversity to support graduate and undergraduate students
- Plan a townhall meeting for School of Art students, we want to hear from you
- Provide faculty and staff funding for training and books related to equity, diversity, and inclusion
- Set diversity goals for recruiting faculty and students
- Update our mission and values statement to reflect the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion plan
- Add a senior diversity leadership position to the School of Art
- Continue highlighting faculty and students current work and efforts addressing DEI issues
- Convene a SoArt Advisory Group for Diversity and Inclusion that includes faculty, students, staff, and outside academia
The Justice, Equity, Access, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee serves as a working group, task force, and School committee to create and sustain an inclusive environment in the School of Art.
The committee is made up of faculty, staff, and student representation from various programs and areas with the focus of discussing strategic planning, concerns, initiatives, and education and resources related to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Co-Chairs:
- Angela M. LaPorte (fall), Professor of Art Education and Art Education Program Director
Rachel Zollinger (spring) Assistant Professor of Art Education - Jean Schmitt, Assistant Professor of Art, Foundations
Committee:
- Justin Plakas, Assistant Professor of Art, Experimental Media Arts
- Kelvin Parnell, Endowed Assistant Professor in Arts of the Americas
- Jessica Miles, Visiting Assistant Professor
- Kim Crowell, Scholarships & Awards Coordinator
University of Arkansas:
Office of Equal Opportunity and Compliance: https://oeoc.uark.edu
Title IX: https://titleix.uark.edu/
Multicultural Center: https://multicultural.uark.edu/
LGBTQIA Mentoring: https://multicultural.uark.edu/diversity-and-inclusion/programs/lgbtqia.php
Safe Zone Allies: https://multicultural.uark.edu/diversity-and-inclusion/programs/safe-zone.php
Center for Educational Access: https://cea.uark.edu/
Student Support Services: https://sss.uark.edu/
Counseling and Psychological Services: https://health.uark.edu/mental-health/index.php
Veterans Resource and Information Center: https://veteranscenter.uark.edu
University of Arkansas Libraries Diversity and Inclusion: https://libraries.uark.edu/diversity/
National Association of Student Personnel Administrators Undergraduate Fellows Program: https://nufp.uark.edu/
U of A Cares: https://uofacares.uark.edu/
Registered Student Organizations:
Black Students Association: https://hogsync.uark.edu/organization/black-students-association
Black Graduate Student Association: https://hogsync.uark.edu/organization/bgsa
Big Brothers, Big Sisters: https://hogsync.uark.edu/organization/big-brothers-big-sisters
Diversity and Inclusion Student Council: https://hogsync.uark.edu/organization/diversity-and-inclusion-student-council
International Students Organization: https://hogsync.uark.edu/organization/international-students-organization
Latinx Graduate Student Organization: https://hogsync.uark.edu/organization/lgso
Mental Health Awareness Organization: https://hogsync.uark.edu/organization/mental-health-awareness-organization
Native American Student Association: https://hogsync.uark.edu/organization/native-american-student-association
People Respecting the Individual Differences and Equality (PRIDE): https://hogsync.uark.edu/organization/pride
Local and Regional:
NWA Center for Equality: http://nwaequality.org/
Canopy NWA: http://www.canopynwa.org/
River Valley Equality Center: http://rvecark.org/
National:
Trans Lifeline: https://www.translifeline.org/
The Trevor Project: https://www.thetrevorproject.org/