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Arizona State University

Undergraduate School

Mailing Address
300 E. University Drive Suite 410
Tempe, Arizona 85281
Phone
(480) 965-2100
School Information
"Building on a legacy of excellence, ASU has rapidly enriched its research enterprise. In just 10 years, the university has more than doubled its research funding and is recognized as one of the fastest-growing research universities in the United States (NSF Higher Education Research and Development Survey)." (Source: https://www.asu.edu/about/research)
General Information
Arizona State University has not yet taken university-wide steps to implement Critical Race Theory. However, individual schools have taken steps to encourage its study. Most notably, the School of Historical, Philosophical, and Religious Studies introduced its $2000 “Race Relations Scholar Award.” No mandatory Critical Race Training sessions are yet required of students. However, see developments below:

Actions Taken

Anti-Racism, Bias, and Diversity Training
  • According to the State Press, "ASU [is] committed to implementing a 'To Be Welcoming' training for faculty, staff and students," though the training contents are not yet known.
  • The university released a video titled "Racial Bias and Antiracism Dialogue, Part 1: To Be Welcoming," which is described as "This is a starting point for learning about race and cultural bias that gives you the tools for thinking critically about race and anti-racism in the United States."
Curriculum Changes and Requirements
  • The School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies said, "...to help students and the broader community understand the ongoing realities of systemic racial violence and oppression, new courses within the school were developed and continue to be developed." One course was “From Racism to Justice: Reshaping the Humanities in the 21st Century," which has the purpose of training "a new generation of scholars to use critical humanistic inquiry to dismantle racist epistemology and, to this end, provide a basic understanding of the way race, racism and white supremacy function across our disciplines, and ultimately help us reshape the humanities to center justice, equity and reparations."
  • "In July, Arizona State University officials hired a music professor to train K-12 music teachers, emphasizing that the new professor is a specialist in critical race theory. Music instruction is secondary—the university’s press release announcing the new hire stresses that the instructor wants to give future music teachers 'reliable tools beyond teaching the music,' and she is committed to 'progressive work' on how the issues of 'race, class and culture impact educational equity in music education.'" according to the Heritage Foundation.
  • According to The State Press, "The 20th point in the original 25 commitments aimed to establish a new degree program for a bachelor of arts in Race, Culture and Democracy. So far, the University has obtained approval from the Arizona Board of Regents to offer the degree."
Faculty/Staff Requirements
  • ASU has a Recruitment Certification training for hiring leads. According to The State Press, "The training, which existed prior to the creation of the LIFT initiative, underwent revisions about recruiting more diverse applicants and removing bias. About 600-800 hiring leads complete the training each year, according to the report."
Program and Research Funding
  • School of Historical, Philosophical, and Religious Studies introduced the $2000 “Race Relations Scholar Award.”
  • According to the State Press, "In the original 25 commitments, ASU committed to continuing to support the already existing Center for the Study of Race and Democracy." Additionally, the Press reports, "The University also committed to continual institutional support of the A. Wade Smith Memorial Lecture on Race Relations, an annual event that has been running since 1995, through increased sponsorships and funding."
Resources
  • An ASU communications course asks students to practice anti-racist behaviors.
  • The university's second annual "RaceB4Race" symposium focused on education as a "key to achieving systemic change" as well as "premodern critical race theory".
  • The ASU library created a Black Lives Matter guide, which features an interview with the group's founders.
  • The Black Lives Matter library guide includes a page "Resources for K-12 Learners", including resources for educators such as the 1619 Project.
  • ASU Library has created an Anti-Bias and Anti-Racism guide, which includes a section on "Identifying Our Biases."
  • ASU's law library has a "Racial Justice Resources" guide, which refers students to "National Racial Justice Organizations" and "Resources for Protesters."
  • The School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies created an Anti-Racism committee.
  • Project Humanities hosted a webinar called “Dispelling the Myths: Critical Race Theory in K–12 Classrooms" where one panelist said, "That’s what came to be known as anti-racism work. And folks started saying things like 'systemic racism' and 'privilege' and 'bias.' And that’s how these things got conflated. That wasn’t critical race theory."
  • "From November 2020 to April 2021, the ACAAA and vice provost hosted eight town halls with faculty, students, staff, tenured faculty, non-tenured faculty, Ph.D. candidates and alumni" to discuss "the LIFT Initiative’s progress with the chairpeople of the ACAAA and the vice provost for inclusion and community engagement," according to The State Press.
  • "ASU committed last year [2020] to establish a multicultural space on each of its four Phoenix metropolitan campuses and funding a group to have a vision and produce design options for the space," according to The State Press.
Last updated September 12th, 2023
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