As part of its anti-racist work during the 2020-21 academic year, the School of Communication (SOC) launched the Race and Communication Exploration (R.A.C.E.) Matters Initiative, a grant to support work by SOC faculty and staff to confront racism in the field of communication through scholarship, teaching, and public engagement.  

The eight recipients awarded R.A.C.E. Matters grants presented the results of their projects and programming at the R.A.C.E. Matters Showcase on April 23. The showcase was facilitated by Professor Priya Doshi, SOC Inclusion Officer.  

“The R.A.C.E. Matters Initiative has been so exciting in terms of the range of projects, including curricular development, research, creative work, events, and student engagement aimed at advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) within SOC,” said Doshi. The eight projects that received funding reported on what they were able to achieve through their grants. Highlights follow: 

• Professor Laura Waters Hinson discussed how the grant has helped to fund the production of her documentary, 2nd and K, as part of the Community Voice Lab. Hinson’s film highlights some of the most pressing challenges around racial inequity in Washington, D.C. by providing a platform for community storytellers, who may often go unseen and unheard to discuss the intersection of race, housing insecurity, and COVID. 

•  The Undergraduate Office of Student and Academic Affairs hosted “Let’s Talk About R.A.C.E. a student engagement series focused on race and representation in media. The series consisted of three 90-minute virtual panels that allow SOC students to think about their own experience with these issues, both personally and as students in SOC, as well as provide the school with valuable feedback about how SOC can contribute to the conversation. The conversations were moderated by SOC staff and students, and led by Whitney Maddox, NPR’s Diversity Equity and Inclusion Manager. 

“The idea behind this was that students would have this engaging panel to prompt ideas and discussion, and then flow into this conversation with Whitney to try and explore what their role is as they move forward in their careers and what the School of Communication can do to support them,” said Tara Flakker, Senior Academic Advisor at SOC.  

• Professor Kurt Braddock discussed how the grant supported his timely research study that examines whether implicit violent rhetoric from public leaders can lead to violent extremism toward marginalized racial and ethnic groups.  

• The SOC Communication and Outreach Office received a grant to support the publication of an engaging and meaningful digital story series and social media campaign to profile student leaders committed to advancing DEI. The showcasing of student media leaders aim to increase connections between SOC and student groups and make students from all backgrounds feel represented, seen and heard. 

• The SOC Communication and Outreach Office received an additional grant to create a three-part panel series, “Breaking Through: Conversations on Equity and Inclusion Across Media.” The series provided SOC students an opportunity to connect with AU alumni and career professionals offered advice on navigating underrepresentation in media, tips for transitioning into their formal careers, and tools for “breaking through” barriers to equity.  

• Professor Pat Aufderheide and Professor Saif Shahin used their grant to support the creation of an online resource bank of multicultural perspectives, authors, and content creators, to diversify the curriculum for a required course in their department, COMM-365 (Digital Media and Culture). The course, which examines the central role digital media technologies play in culture and society, is an approved course within the AU Core’s diversity and equity curriculum. The goal is to ensure that all faculty teaching this course will have access to diverse content to ensure DEI remains central. 

• The Investigative Reporting Workshop and SOC’s Journalism Division, along with Morgan State University's School of Global Journalism & Communication, received a grant to co-host a virtual seminar on how to support journalists of color. The seminar, "Charting a Path: How to Bring Diverse Approaches to Investigative Projects" was introduced by SOC’s new dean Sam Fulwood and moderated by Dwayne Bray, Senior Coordinating Producer, ESPN. Panelists included Dorothy Tucker, investigative reporter, WBBM-TV, Chicago; Robert Klemko, The Washington Post; and Alexia Fernandez Campbell, The Center for Public Integrity. 

• SOC’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee used its grant to help fund a panel discussion called “Cultivating Fear: Anti-Muslim Bias in the Media and Society.” Panelists including Muslim journalists, advocates, and researchers who discussed their religious identity and how it intersects with their work, communities, and personal lives. They examined how to address bias in reporting and representation of Muslim communities.  

For more information about the RACE Matters Initiative, contact SOC’s Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at socinclusion@american.edu.