2023- 2024 OID Mission Grant Recipients
The following is a list of recipient of the Office for Institutional Diversity Mission Grant.
Mapping Historical Trauma by Dr. Alicia Odewale
Proposal by Dr. Alejandra Roche Recinos, Department of Anthropology
"This project looks to understand the history and legacy of the Tulsa Race Massacre and bring to light this portion of US history to examine it and consider how it keeps affecting descendant communities to this day. With this project Dr. Odewale and colleagues are actively working to increase diversity within the field of archaeology by providing opportunities for students from diverse backgrounds to participate in the project and gain firsthand experience working alongside descendant communities. She also works as a consultant to help other emerging scholars navigate the field and secure major grants.
This is an opportunity that can help foster discussions and self-reflection on what antiracist approaches and frameworks look like within the social sciences, providing guidance for students who are interested in working towards those goals within their own disciplines and lines of research. It is also an opportunity to learn about Dr. Odewale herself, and the institutional and personal obstacles that she has endured throughout her career. The subject matter of this talk pertains to
a historically significant event in US history that has been largely silenced and excluded, as a
result of the same institutional factors that Dr. Odewale’s now challenges. These discussions are
of great relevance to all members of Reed’s community and is of great merit to the
mission of the OID."
Awarded amount: $500.00
Camas Prairie Gathering
Proposal by Rachel Willis, Sustainability Office
"We will be gathering to introduce community members to the Reed Camas Prairies, a project funded this summer through the Social Justice Research and Education Fund in partnership with Science Outreach. Emma Johnson (Instructor in Portland State University Indigenous Nations Studies Program) and Dr. Charlene Makley (Reed College Native American/Indigenous Studies Working Group) spoke on the broader project of first foods landscape restoration and Native/Indigenous Studies at Reed respectively. Alongside these presentations, attendees planted 90 native plants from the Rae Selling Berry Seed Bank, a non-profit dedicated to the conservation and restoration of Pacific Northwest native plants, with an emphasis on the rare and threatened plants of Oregon.
Through storytelling, presentation, and hands-on experience with native plants, attendees will learn about the cultural significance of camas through its history in the Willamette Valley, and the present efforts by Indigenous leaders to restore it, including on land now owned by institutions of higher education. This event honors indigenous communities' wisdom and heritage, bridging gaps in understanding and promoting respect and care for the land. After the first planting at this event, there will be follow-up opportunities to prune and care for the plants through their first year. This event is a continuation of a series of environmental education workshops led by Carmen Simons and Cecile Szollas, informed by a collaboration with PSU and the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Natural Resources Department."
Awarded amount: $500.00
Student Registration for Out in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (oSTEM) Conference
Proposal by Kayla Johnston and Anna Ritz, on behalf of Reed qtSTEM
"The oSTEM conference is the largest annual gathering of LGBTQ+ scientists in the country, offering
invaluable networking, career development, and learning from each other’s experiences in the field. Reed students will see other LGBTQ+ scientists present work and contribute to the conference community by sharing their unique experiences and insights from Reed. This proposal directly speaks to OID’s aim to promote equity by creating opportunities for LGBTQ+ individuals to identify mentors outside of Reed with shared lived experiences. "
Awarded amount: $2,000.00
Comparative Race and Ethnicity Studies (CRES) Colloquium Four Part Series:
Proposal by Radhika Natarajan
"The Comparative Race and Ethnicity Studies (CRES) Colloquium Series provide opportunities for staff, faculty, and students to come together to engage with the study of race and ethnicity and to build academic community. In the fall, CRES will host Alexander Mostov and Kali Simmons. In the spring, CRES will bring to campus scholars to speak on Indigenous-Asian entanglements in Alaska and a speaker related to the CRES 300 course on race and immigration. We believe these programs are central to creating community for an interdisciplinary program that is housed across seven campus departments. Without the ability to provide standalone CRES classes, our colloquium is the intellectual heart of CRES.
CRES believes that the classroom is not separate from student life or the world beyond the campus. Our program was born from the efforts of a multiracial coalition of students and faculty that wanted to see racism addressed in the curriculum and their personal, family and community histories affirmed in the classroom. CRES believes that presenting an inclusive curriculum can be one way to foster student success and increase student engagement, particularly for our Indigenous students and students of color. Knowing the limitations of what the current faculty can present in the classroom, the CRES Colloquium compensates for gaps in our curriculum by bringing outside speakers to campus to speak on issues that are not addressed by current faculty in courses."
Awarded amount: $2,000.00
Invitation for Ned Blackhawk to Reed Campus
Proposal by Magot Minardi, Radhika Natarajan, Char Makley
"The History Department, with the support of the CRES program, the American Studies program, and the NAIS initiative, proposes to invite Ned Blackhawk (Western Shoshone), Howard R. Lamar Professor of History and American Studies, to speak at Reed in spring 2024. Professor Blackhawk is a distinguished scholar of Indigenous history in North America, who is the author of the multiple prize-winning monograph Violence over the Land: Indians and Empires in the Early American West (2006). Just this year, he published The Rediscovery of America: Native Peoples and the Unmaking of U.S. History, which is perhaps the most significant single-volume narrative of Native North American history as it relates to the history of the United States. Excerpts from The Rediscovery of America are assigned in at least two Reed courses this year. A public lecture by Professor Blackhawk would support the OID’s mission to cultivate inclusive curriculum by opening space for serious engagement with a major Indigenous scholar and significant scholarship on Indigenous history. This lecture would also fill in a gap in Reed’s public and academic programming created by the suspension of the Vine Deloria Lecture Series."
Awarded amount: $2,000.00
Advancing AntiRacism: JoDe Goudy
Proposal by Sarah Wagner-McCoy
"JoDe Goudy, the former Chairman of the Yakama Nation, is working to create antiracist and Indigenous-first strategies within higher education through partnerships and the online platform redthought.org. Goudy delivered a transformative talk at the ASLE Conference plenary session, co-sponsored by the Mellon grant for Environmental Humanities Summer Incubator. He will give a public talk at Reed on November 30 at 5:30 in Vollum Lecture Hall, and meet with my class and our co-curricular partners the following afternoon from 12:00 - 3:00."
Awarded amount: $2,000.00