BU Hub Diversity Statement

The BU Hub curriculum includes several important goals for students related to diversity, equity, and inclusion, such as:

1. Exposing students to a broad range of knowledge and disciplines;
2. Equipping students to engage with complexity, diversity, and change;
3. Supporting students in developing the ability to apply knowledge in diverse settings;
4. Encouraging a sense of social responsibility and engaged citizenship among students;
5. Creating lifelong learners who think critically and have a nimbleness of mind, and an openness to new ideas, that prepares them to evolve in their thinking over the course of their lives.

In particular, the Hub capacity of Diversity, Civic Engagement, and Global Citizenship focuses on three distinct Hub areas: The Individual in Community (IIC), Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy (GCI), and Ethical Reasoning (ETR). Hub courses that include these areas are intended to 1) provide students with opportunities to explore themes of diversity, identity, community, inclusiveness, cultural understanding, ethical responsibility, and social justice in greater depth; and 2) provide faculty with the occasion to explicitly integrate learning outcomes for these areas into course curricula.

First-year and sophomore students can also take two Hub specialty courses on social and racial justice, HUB SJ 101/102.

• HUB SJ 101: Social & Racial Justice: Systems and Structures is a 4-credit course that explores the historical/systemic bases of social and racial inequity. It fulfills 3 Hub requirements in Historical Consciousness, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, and Critical Thinking.
• HUB SJ 102: Social & Racial Justice: Advocacy and Action is a 4-credit course that focuses on how to engage in advocacy and action. It fulfills 3 Hub requirements in Social Inquiry I, The Individual in Community, and Teamwork/Collaboration.
  

In addition, the BU Hub Pathways are an optional way for undergraduates to fulfill some or many of their general education requirements by taking Hub courses from across the University  focused on an interdisciplinary topic of global significance. Hub Pathways can provide thematic coherence for students who would like to engage more deeply and widely with these critical, interdisciplinary issues while building upon knowledge from other courses. One Hub Pathway, Social & Racial Justice, allows students to explore the historical grounding of various forms of social and racial inequality, themes of intercultural understanding, and contemporary activism aimed at making the world more equitable and inclusive. Students who select courses in this Hub Pathway will have more opportunities to articulate and critically examine their own beliefs and opinions on such topics as human diversity, identity, race and antiracism, class, gender, sexuality, intersectionality, power, and social equity and inclusion, among others.

The BU Hub Diversity and Inclusion Committee was active 2020-2022. It’s charge: The BU Hub Diversity and Inclusion Committee strives to actively promote discourse and learning around diversity, equity, and inclusion; to create an affirming office environment; and to advance associated projects and develop related office policies.

The Committee’s projects included:

1. 1. Created gender-neutral bathroom signage for the Hub office;
   2. Refined and codified inclusive hiring practices;
   3. Created an inclusive staff calendar;
   4. Held regular meetings for Hub staff for conversation and/or training around diversity, equity, inclusion, and antiracism.

The office and staff of the Hub continue to live the charge of the Committee and work to promote a diverse, equitable, inclusive, and affirming office environment.

Below is a selection of BU units, resources, and policies regarding different aspects of diversity, equity, and inclusion at Boston University. This is not intended to be a comprehensive list. We encourage you to explore BU Diversity & Inclusion for additional information and resources.

1. BU Affirmative Action Plan
2. BU Center for Antiracist Research
3. BU Complaint Procedures in Cases of Alleged Unlawful Discrimination or Harassment
4. BU Disability and Access Services
5. BU Howard Thurman Center for Common Ground
6. BU Office of the Ombuds
7. BU Out List
8. BU Sexual Misconduct/Title IX Policy
9. BU Workplace Violence Prevention Policy