COMMITTEE ON MULTICULTURAL CURRICULUM TRANSFORMATION
Notes from Meeting of
18 January 2011
The fourth meeting of the Committee on Multicultural Curriculum Transformation was held on
Tuesday, January 18, 2011, at 10:00 a.m. in Altgeld 203.
Present
Amy Levin, Virginia Cassidy, Mark Rosenbaum, Barbara Johnson, Jane Rose Njue, Elvia
Arriola, William Goldenberg, Judy Santacaterina, and Rachel Stade.
Announcements
Amy Levin announced that Connie Fox has stepped down from the committee, and another
curricular dean will be asked to serve in her place.
Minutes
The minutes from November 16, 2010, were approved with no changes.
Institute Planning
The committee began selecting participants for the 2011 summer institute. Members were
concerned with the low number of applications, considering the institute is held only every other
year. Dr. Levin encouraged all committee members to invite at least five people to apply
for the institute. The deadline is January 28, 2011. In addition, committee members can apply
to participate in the institute if they would like.
Fourteen applications were submitted by the 18th, and all applicants were approved by the
committee for participation in the institute. However, some will need to clarify their
transformation outcomes before the institute begins. These individuals need to provide
further detail about the courses they are transforming: Lombardo, Muthuswamy, and
McCoy. The committee agreed that more participation would be welcome from the following
fields in particular: law, biology, and health and human sciences.
The MCTI 2011 planning sheet was discussed at length. The committee brainstormed about
possible, presenters, moderators, and small group coordinators. Levin agreed to issue most of
the invitations. A rough draft of the sheet (with acceptances so far) is attached.
MCTI/MCTC Goals
Goals of the institute were discussed, and sub-goals were drafted. They are as follows:
Overarching Goal:
The goal of the multicultural institute (and by extension, the multicultural curriculum
transformation committee) is to provide resources and activities for the development and
improvement of multicultural competency among NIU’s instructional faculty, as evidenced in
their curriculum content, pedagogy, and reflections on personal transformation with regard to
diversity.
2
Subgoals:
Content
Participants will show evidence that they have integrated substantive and diverse multicultural
content into their transformed course.
Pedagogy
In progress—Virginia Cassidy is writing this one.
Personal Transformation
Participants will express an appreciation of attitudes and issues between and among diverse
people of different social groups and cultures.
“Homework” for February’s meeting:
1. All committee members need to e-mail Judy Santacaterina with recommendations for the
student panel that will be held on Monday, May 16 from 1-2:30pm.
2. Read new applications on the Blackboard site; send feedback to Rachel Stade and Amy
Levin.
3. Check sub-goals above for accuracy.
The meeting was adjourned at 11:30 a.m. The next meeting is scheduled for February 15, 2011,
from 10:00-11:30 in Altgeld 203.