Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

The College of Social and Behavioral Sciences places critical perspectives on social difference at the very center of our scholarship, teaching, and service.

We understand our identities to be intersectional, socially constructed, geographically and historically contingent, and – most important – as existing both discursively and materially. For each axis of difference, there is a corresponding and interrelated source of oppression, and these infuse all social life, from the micro-aggressions of our daily interactions to life inside varied institutional spaces, including our own. Understanding that systems of oppression perpetuate historic inequities, we take responsibility for ensuring that all of our practices – hiring, promotion, instruction, research, outreach, and beyond – are guided by the values of equity and inclusion.


We are dedicated to creating a serious, open, free intellectual space for inquiry, one in which faculty, students, staff members, and community partners can participate fully, regardless of race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, socio-economic status, citizenship status, size, ability, language, religion, or any other characteristic. Strategically positioned to lead the University of Arizona’s status as a Hispanic Serving Institution, SBS foregrounds our awareness of the deep ancestral footprint of our region’s populations and cultures, including the Tohono O’odham and Pascua Yaqui people whose lands we inhabit. We honor diverse knowledge traditions and lived experiences, and we strive to foster accessibility and equity, the conditions in which our members together can produce new, rigorous, urgent, and evidence-based knowledge.

We in SBS are also committed to attracting and retaining the best and brightest students, faculty, and staff because we believe that interaction and collaboration among people with different perspectives, values, and backgrounds enhance the possibilities for sustained intellectual inquiry and positive social impact. We seek to create an environment that respects the dignity, civil rights, and academic freedom of all the College’s members and partners, so that it is our questions and not our ideologies, our joys and not our fears, that set our horizons.

The above language was adopted by the 2019-2020 members of the Diversity & Inclusion Council

SBS DEI Council

The DEI Council consists of members appointed by the Dean and a chair or co-chairs. Membership includes a combination of faculty, staff, and students and is updated annually.

  • Lela Garcia, Undergraduate Student, Law and Philosophy
  • Arlette Cordery, Staff, SBS Space & Facilities Manager
  • Christopher Cruz, Staff, SBS Advisor
  • Julie Ellison-Speight, Staff, Assistant Director, MENAS
  • José Garcia, Staff, Business Manager, History and Mexican American Studies
  • Stephanie Noriega, Staff, Assistant Director of Inclusion and impact
  • Maribel Alvarez, Faculty, Southwest Center and Interim Associate VP, UA DEI
  • Antonio Bacelar Da Silva, Faculty, Assistant Professor, Latin American Studies
  • Dev Bose, Faculty, CT Assistant Professor, English and Faculty Fellow @ DRC
  • Farid Matuk, Faculty, Associate Professor, English and Chair, SBS DEI Council
  • Kelsey John, Faculty, Assistant Professor, American Indian Studies and Gender and Women’s Studies
  • Marcia Klotz, Faculty, Assistant Professor, English and Gender and Women’s Studies
  • Cheryl Knott, Faculty, Professor, Information
  • Adriana Picoral, Faculty, CT Assistant Professor, Information
  • Claudia Powell, Associate Director, Southwest Institute for Research on Women and Chair, SBS DEI Council
  • Jessica Retis Rivas, Faculty, Associate Professor, Journalism
  • William Simmons, Faculty, Professor, Human Rights Practice

  • Antonio Bacelar Da Silva, Latin American Studies
  • Arlette Cordery,  SBS Manager, Space - Facilities Administration
  • Cheryl Knott, Information
  • Christopher Weber, Government and Public Policy
  • Desi Rodriguez-Lonebear, Graduate Student - Sociology
  • Eric Plemons, Anthropology
  • Farid Matuk, English
  • Gil Ribak, Judaic Studies
  • Jessica Retis, Journalism
  • Julie Ellison-Speight, Center for Middle Eastern Studies
  • Kelsey John, American Indian Studies - PostDoc
  • Marcia Klotz, English
  • Maurice Magana, Mexican American Studies
  • Mette Brogden, Human Rights Practice
  • Monica J. Casper, Associate Dean - Faculty Affairs & Inclusion
  • Sonja Lanehart, Linguistics
  • Stefano Bloch, Geography and Development
  • Stephanie Troutman, English
  • Terrence Hill, Sociology
  • Tina Mendoza, Communication
  • William Simmons, Human Rights Practice 

SBS DEI Resources & Videos

View a collection of resources and videos on diversity, equity, and inclusion put together by the SBS DEI Council. The list of resources is not exhaustive.

See Resources & Videos

Learn more about Diversity & Inclusion at the University of Arizona
 


SBS DEI in the News

SBS DEI Events

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