Diversity and Inclusion

October 23, 2017

The Department of History at the University of Chicago is strongly committed to promoting diversity, inclusion, and equity among its faculty, students, and staff, in the range and content of the courses that we teach, and in the pedagogical methods that we employ in our classrooms. We recognize that over the course of American and world history, broad swaths of the population have been subjected to legal discrimination and systemic bias on the basis of their race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, and/or disability status. Likewise, deep economic inequalities have persistently curtailed social opportunities for many. The individuals who constitute these communities have often found their intellectual contributions devalued to a degree that has attenuated human understanding, wisdom, and fellowship.

We affirm that our collective intellectual endeavors are made more robust and credible when we incorporate different peoples and intellectual traditions into our learning, teaching, and scholarship. The field of history is replete with examples of how individuals, drawing on insights derived from their own life experiences, have made breakthroughs that changed the contours of their fields. Diversity in governance and in the classroom is equally important. In short, the more our department reflects the city we reside in, the United States as a nation, and the world, the more enriched it will be by a healthy breadth of perspectives and experiences. We acknowledge that recruiting faculty, students and staff of varied life experience is only the first step toward achieving this goal; we also pledge to cultivate an environment in which all feel that they belong, that they are valued, and that they can teach, work, and learn free from exclusions and inequities that inhibit the comprehensive exchange of ideas.

The Final Report of the Diversity Advisory Council (January 2017) to the president and provost, represents the work of a group chaired by Adam Green, associate professor of US history and the College.