Diversity and Inclusion

Our department seeks to do all it can to make philosophy an inclusive discipline. We understand the value that diversity brings to philosophical inquiry, and that the health of our discipline depends on greater inclusion of under-represented groups in the ranks of philosophers. On this page you can find our department's Statement of Inclusion, a list of What We Are Doing to improve diversity in our department, and a collection of diversity Resources from both the discipline as well as Ohio State. In pursuing these efforts, our department also seeks to reinforce Ohio State's Shared Values, which include commitments to Diversity and Innovation, Inclusion and Equity, Care and Compassion, and Integrity and Respect.

Statement of Inclusion

What We Are Doing

Here are some of the things we have been doing to improve diversity in our department.

The department:

• We host a summer camp for high school students to enrich the pipeline of students interested in studying philosophy:  Philosophy and Critical Thinking (PACT)
• We renamed our seminar room to honor two pioneering Black philosophy PhD graduates of our program, Dr. Marquis Lafayette Harris and Dr. Charles Leander Hill
• We provide name pronunciations on the profile webpage for all members of our department
• With OPEEP, we facilitate a prison-based learning community:  Philosophy for Humans
• We host a weekly tea to build and deepen connections among members of our community 

The search committee:

• We are committed to improving the representation and retention of women and minorities on our faculty

The colloquium committee:

• We are committed to bringing a diverse group of speakers to campus, including women and members of other minority groups
• We recently secured a grant from the university specifically aimed towards bringing a more diverse group of speakers to campus
• We recently held a workshop on social metaphysics, including talks on the philosophy of gender and sexual orientation

The undergraduate program:

• We offer multiple courses on the philosophy of race and gender, including in the Race, Ethnicity and Gender Diversity foundation and in the Citizenship for a Diverse and Just World theme of Ohio State’s general education curriculum
• We encourage the diversification of syllabi to include more reading assignments from women and racial minorities
• We are working with the Undergraduate Philosophy Club to offer more social events and programs in philosophy so as to make a wider variety of students feel welcome in our department
• We encourage our instructors to use grading methods and classroom practices that reduce implicit bias

The graduate program:

• We are committed to recruiting and sustaining a diverse graduate student population
• We typically nominate several candidates for Graduate Enrichment Fellowships which seek to promote diversity within the university
• We collect and publish data on the demographic makeup of our graduate program in the APA’s Guide to Graduate Programs in Philosophy

The Minorities and Philosophy (MAP) chapter:

• We encourage discussion about issues that face minorities in philosophy
• We provide a forum for department members to present work relevant to the goals of MAP
• We host an annual graduate conference to build pathways for minorities in philosophy to develop their work.
• We co-sponsor talks by external speakers from minority groups
• We have developed a set of guidelines specific to Ohio State instructors to help improve diversity and inclusion in their classrooms

Philosophy Resources:

Best Practices for the Inclusive Philosophy Classroom

The result of an inter-departmental effort, started by MAP, to create an easily accessible launching pad for teachers who want to make their philosophy classrooms more inclusive. 

Minorities and Philosophy (MAP)

MAP is a collection of students in English-speaking philosophy departments that aims to examine and address issues of minority participation in academic philosophy. To contact the Ohio State chapter email: mapforthegap@osu.edu

APA Resources on Diversity and Inclusion

Provides strategies and best practices for improving the climate in the field for women, people of color, and other underrepresented groups.

Data on Women in Philosophy

Provides new data on approximately 100 departments over the past 10 years and faculty at all ranks in Philosophical Gourmet Report (PGR) ranked and unranked programs for 2015. The site also shows the proportion and numbers of women published in Leiter survey ranked top 20 journals.

UPDirectory

Directory of philosophers from underrepresented groups in philosophy

Ohio State Resources:

University Policies for Diversity and Inclusion

A list of diversity-relative Ohio State policies, reporting procedures, and contacts.

List of diversity units and resources at Ohio State

A one-stop shop for diversity initiatives at Ohio State

BART (Bias Assessment and Response Team)

BART is a resource for anyone who needs to report an incident of bias or wants to explore and better understand issues like bias and discrimination, and how to effectively respond.

The Women’s Place at Ohio State

The Women's Place works to catalyze change at Ohio State by focusing on these four areas: policy, culture, leadership and reporting the status of women.

Multicultural Center at Ohio State

The MCC offers several hundred programs a year all focused on teaching students personal and interpersonal skills necessary to be most effective in a diverse world. 

Office of Disability Services

Student Life Disability Services collaborates with and empowers students who have disabilities in order to coordinate support services and programs that enable equal access to an education and university life.

Undergraduate Student Government Diversity Committee

The mission of the Diversity and Inclusion committee is to not only represent all diverse groups of students, but to work as hard as possible to make Ohio State inclusive to everyone.