UMBC’s Political Science Department is dedicated to enhancing the diversity, equity and inclusion of our curriculum, pedagogy and faculty. While we recognize that our discipline has a long history of exclusion that will take years to rectify, we have begun a conscientious effort to make immediate change.
In conjunction with the recommendations of our Committee on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, which includes representatives from POLI faculty and students from the Council of Majors, we have launched several initiatives listed below.
(1) Faculty: The Political Science Department is working to diversify its full-time and part-time faculty. In the past, we have had the great fortune of co-hosting with the School of Public Policy a Postdoctoral Fellow for Faculty Diversity. In 2022, we hope to hire a new faculty member in the subfield of American Politics, with a concentration in race and ethnic politics. In addition, the Department plans to launch a Teaching Fellowship for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion to offer courses focused on the political experiences of historically marginalized communities in the state of Maryland.
Check out our own Professor Filomeno’s efforts on DEI initiatives HERE
(2) Curriculum: Department faculty have begun making a conscious effort to include a broader array of viewpoints into their curricula. This includes increasing the representation of scholarship from or about groups and regions that have been historically marginalized by the discipline.
(3) Assessment: The Department is in the process of developing student- and faculty-based questionnaires to better understand student perspectives around advances made by faculty and the department toward diversifying curriculum and prioritizing greater understanding of the political experiences of historically marginalized groups.
Student and Faculty Resources:
Some of the resources below do an excellent job showing the diversity of views found within Political Science:
- Women Also Know Stuff (website:
https://www.womenalsoknowstuff.com/#)
- POC Also Know Stuff (website:
https://sites.google.com/view/pocexperts/home?authuser=2)
- National Conference of Black Political Scientists: National Political Science Review (website:
https://www.ncobps.org/about-us/national-political-science-review)
- BLM Micro-Syllabus developed by Nadia E. Brown* (website: