Book Reads

The Transformative Teaching and Development Academy offers numerous learning and engagement programs for faculty and staff that challenge and engage participants to consider diversity, equity, and inclusion as necessary elements of teaching, learning, and work environments. 

Spring 2021Book Read

Please join us for the Teaching Transformation and Development Academy’s Spring 2021 book read: How We Fight for Our Lives by Saeed Jones.

This coming-of-age memoir depicts the experiences of a young, black, gay man cultivating his identity in the American South. In our continued Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion efforts on campus, we will highlight this intersectional memoir as part of our broadening inquiries into DEI work by uplifting black voices during spring semester’s Black History Month.

Registration is limited, so please register early. Doing so secures you a copy of the memoir (paperback or digital) and a space in one of our small reading groups. You will also have the ability to opt-in for the April 1 event. The timeline for the book reading event is as follows:

• Week of Feb. 1: Kickoff Event
• Week of Feb. 8: Read and Discuss Part 1
• Week of Feb. 22: Read and Discuss Part 2
• Week of March 8: Read and Discuss Part 3
• Week of March 22: Read and Discuss Part 4
• April 1: The UND Writers Conference & Humanities North Dakota presents “An Evening with Saeed Jones” at 7 p.m.

Please click here to register for the book study. Registration will close Friday, Jan. 22, at noon.

If you have any questions, please contact Jenny Reichart, Faculty Development Specialist and book study coordinator in TTaDA.

This book study is sponsored by TTaDA  in collaboration with the UND Writer’s Conference.

Fall 2020 Book Read

This Fall, the Teaching Transformation and Development Academy (TTaDA) will be leading a campus-wide faculty, staff, administrator and GTA book study on How to be an Antiracist by Dr. Ibram X. Kendi.  Praised by the New York Times as “The most courageous book to date on the problem of race in the Western mind,” Kendi’s groundbreaking work provides an essential counterpoint in the national conversation about race and resonates in this collective moment of reckoning. The term Kendi introduces—being an anti-racist—sets forth the idea that people can either be racist or anti-racist, and that there is no in-between.  Racists, he argues, are people who support racist policies through their actions, inactions or ideas; anti-racists actively confront racial inequalities. Being neutral isn’t enough. Dr. Kendi urges us to actively combat racist systems and policies, and provides tools to do so. We hope you will join us for this important conversation.

Dr. Kendi is the Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the Humanities and the Founding Director of the Boston University Center for Antiracist Research as well as a the recipient of the National Book Award (in 2016 for Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America), a #1 New York Times bestselling author, a contributor at The Atlantic and a CBS News correspondent.

We will begin the book study with a large virtual meeting over Zoom, then break into smaller groups (15-20 participants) over Zoom to encompass the whole book, 4-5 chapters at a time and end with a final virtual discussion and wrap up.

A complete schedule and registration information can be found on the UND Events Calendar.

If you have questions, please contact Anne Kelsch.

Across campus there are numerous opportunities available for students, staff, and faculty to engage in professional development for diversity and inclusion in and out of the classroom. If you have an event or training that you would like have included here, please contact TTaDA.