Our Journey to creating a Stanford Class: An Anti-Racist Guide to Research

Written by Joanna Harber and Amantina Rossi.

Our journey all began with ecosystems:

Joanna and Amantina started out with two different paths. When asked to visualize an ecosystem in which students could make an impact on racism here at Stanford, Joanna focused on indigenous classes and courses, while Amantina touched on data science and antiracist research.

To further explore the topics, Joanna and Amantina hosted conversations with people who were down for the cause. Joanna talked to Dagny, an undergraduate student at Stanford who is a part of the Cherokee tribe. Amantina talked with Hoang Pham, a research fellow at the Stanford Center for Racial Justice.

The results of the conversations helped them see even more clearly where both of their ideas and passions could intersect. At first, Joanna and Amantina seemed interested in different areas of change but as they brainstormed more they realized that the problem had a similar root problem: there was a lack of support, mentorship, and tools for students who wanted to pursue individual projects and research on anti-racism and indigenous rights. There was a clear institutional gap that existed for providing information and resources as well as mentorship on these topics.

With the help of other classmates, Joanna and Amantina brainstormed all the different ways to address the issue. They looked at the problem from different angles and were able to find a solution that was both feasible and impactful.

The two began to flesh out the details of the class on a 1-slide pitch that gave an overview of what the class would achieve.

In order to address the assumptions made about who would benefit from this class, the two conducted what the teaching staff called a “Sneaky Experiment” in the form of a google survey.

After confirming that this really was a class students would want to take, the two worked to get more feedback on the class’s content, name, and goal. This hour-long feedback session was extremely fruitful and gave Joanna and Amantina the insights they needed to create the class syllabus and a presentation they could use to show members of the Stanford community.

Joanna and Amantina came to their final solution which resulted in a 1-unit workshop class. The first picture is what an undergraduate student would see as they peruse explore courses on Stanford’s bulletin.

After weeks of prototyping, feedback, and revision, their idea came to life.

The class details include:

Huang Engineering Quad: Room 201 (Remote if needed)

Class offered Fall, Spring

Class schedule: Wednesday 5–6:30pm

Syllabus:

Week 1:

Introductions and interests

• Faculty panel of research and passions for resources

Week 2:

• Undergraduate panel of research and passions for resources

Week 3:

• Mixer of faculty and undergraduate
• Begin mentorship program

Week 4:

• Brainstorming Sessions: Identifying Research Questions
• Begin to form groups or think about potential projects/research

Week 5:

• Informational Sessions#1: Funding, Grants, and Research
• Vice Provost of Undergraduate Education

Week 6:

• Information Sessions #2: Mock Research Process

Week 7:

• Workshop and individual or group work time

Week 8:

• Brainstorming session and feedback

Week 9:

• Final discussions and mixer

Week 10:

• Final reflection paper or reflection presentation on learnings and future aspirations

Class learning goals:

• Learn how to start research or individual projects, and how to apply and receive funding for projects/initiatives
• Explore topics of racism and indigenous inequities within research questions
• Find mentorship opportunities with faculty of similar interests and values
• Start brainstorming for personal research or a group project

As our idea developed over the course of the quarter we were left with many questions to think about and brainstorming possible next steps.