Three Ford School faculty members have played an integral role in U-M's Anti-Racism Hiring Initiative, providing expertise and guidance to the initiative.
The Anti-Racism Hiring Initiative is led by the Office of the Provost and aims to bring 21 new faculty members to the university to focus on important issues at the intersection of race and environment, technology, health care, the arts, and more. Last spring, 16 schools and colleges and the Institute for Social Research submitted 20 proposals to request hires around particular focus areas.
Shobita Parthasarathy, professor of public policy and director of the Science, Technology, and Public Policy program, wrote a proposal for the "Racial Justice & Technology" category of the initiative. Additionally, Luke Shaefer, associate dean and director of Poverty Solutions, drafted a proposal in the "Addressing Environmental Racism and Promoting Health Equity" category.
Alford A. Young, a professor of African and African American studies with a courtesy appointment at the Ford School, sat on all of the proposal selection committees and was proud of the proposals' commitment to interdisciplinarity and collaboration across units.
"This was unique," he told the University Record. "There was a kind of spirit of, 'Show us how this is going to make every unit involved grow and develop in untapped areas.' We weren’t just telling units, 'Give us proposals that cover what you already do so you can do it again.'"
Read more about the Anti-Racism Hiring Initiative proposals and the new faculty joining U-M as a result.
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