German and Slavic department wins diversity award
The Department of Germanic and Slavic Literature and Languages has long promoted diversity at the University of Colorado, and those efforts are being recognized and rewarded.
Mary Rippon, who chaired the German department, was the University of Colorado’s first woman professor and one of CU’s first faculty members. And in 1918, German major Lucile Berkeley Buchanan became the first female black student to graduate from CU.
The GSLL department continues to pursue diversity, and its efforts have been recognized as the best in the College of Arts and Sciences’ division of arts and humanities. The designation, which carries a $1,500 stipend for a graduate student of the winning department, was made by the Arts and Sciences Council’s Diversity Committee.
Of all the good plans and ideas, GSLL’s was “the one that struck us the most,” said Emily Yeh, an assistant professor of geography who chaired the committee this semester.
GSLL’s plan “struck as having a significant breadth in its commitment to diversity (e.g., undergrad, grad, faculty, outreach) as well as being quite creative,” Yeh said, noting that the committee examined each plan within the limitations imposed by the nature of each department or discipline.
The department has essay prizes named after both Rippon and Buchanan, sponsors diversity-related symposia, conducts outreach to middle- and high-school students, and is planning partnerships with an inner-city or rural high school.
The $1,500 stipend was used to help recruit a graduate student, Otha Barrow, who is African-American and has been admitted to the master’s program in German.
Ann Schmiesing, associate professor and chair of the GSSL department, thanked the ASC Diversity Committee for the recognition and the award. “Our unit's tradition of fostering diversity goes back literally to the founding years of the university,” she said.
In addition to the department’s other efforts, it conducts research and has curricular offerings in fields including women's studies, Jewish studies, ethnic studies and disability studies. Its graduate program includes many students from under-represented groups, Schmiesing said, adding:
“We are delighted that the receipt of a $1,500 Diversity Fellowship has helped us to recruit Otha Barrow, and we look forward to welcoming him to our program in the fall.”
Barrow received his a bachelor’s in business administration in 2007 from Henderson State University in Arkadelphia, Ark. During his studies, he began to feel more drawn to foreign languages than to business, Schmiesing said.
Though no major in German was available at Henderson State, he pursued a minor in German, and after exhausting curricular offerings in German began to study French and Spanish.
German remains the foreign language in which he is most proficient, but he has also developed advanced fluency in American Sign Language. Barrow’s interest in foreign languages and cultures led in part to his current career as a student affairs manager and residence-life counselor at the international Interlochen Arts Academy in Interlochen, Mich., where he has also served as a language tutor and a substitute teacher in foreign-language classes.
“This experience will be of value to Otha as a German language teaching assistant in our graduate program,” Schmiesing said. After receiving his master’s in German, Barrow hopes to pursue a career in diplomacy and foreign services.
The Diversity Committee’s goal was to compile a set of best practices, “in the hopes of stirring more conversation about diversity and sharing promising ideas and strategies,” Yeh said. That set of best practices is being distributed college-wide.
Mary Rippon, who chaired the German department, was the University of Colorado’s first woman professor and one of CU’s first faculty members. And in 1918, German major Lucile Berkeley Buchanan became the first female black student to graduate from CU.
The GSLL department continues to pursue diversity, and its efforts have been recognized as the best in the College of Arts and Sciences’ division of arts and humanities. The designation, which carries a $1,500 stipend for a graduate student of the winning department, was made by the Arts and Sciences Council’s Diversity Committee.
Of all the good plans and ideas, GSLL’s was “the one that struck us the most,” said Emily Yeh, an assistant professor of geography who chaired the committee this semester.
GSLL’s plan “struck as having a significant breadth in its commitment to diversity (e.g., undergrad, grad, faculty, outreach) as well as being quite creative,” Yeh said, noting that the committee examined each plan within the limitations imposed by the nature of each department or discipline.
The department has essay prizes named after both Rippon and Buchanan, sponsors diversity-related symposia, conducts outreach to middle- and high-school students, and is planning partnerships with an inner-city or rural high school.
The $1,500 stipend was used to help recruit a graduate student, Otha Barrow, who is African-American and has been admitted to the master’s program in German.
Ann Schmiesing, associate professor and chair of the GSSL department, thanked the ASC Diversity Committee for the recognition and the award. “Our unit's tradition of fostering diversity goes back literally to the founding years of the university,” she said.
In addition to the department’s other efforts, it conducts research and has curricular offerings in fields including women's studies, Jewish studies, ethnic studies and disability studies. Its graduate program includes many students from under-represented groups, Schmiesing said, adding:
“We are delighted that the receipt of a $1,500 Diversity Fellowship has helped us to recruit Otha Barrow, and we look forward to welcoming him to our program in the fall.”
Barrow received his a bachelor’s in business administration in 2007 from Henderson State University in Arkadelphia, Ark. During his studies, he began to feel more drawn to foreign languages than to business, Schmiesing said.
Though no major in German was available at Henderson State, he pursued a minor in German, and after exhausting curricular offerings in German began to study French and Spanish.
German remains the foreign language in which he is most proficient, but he has also developed advanced fluency in American Sign Language. Barrow’s interest in foreign languages and cultures led in part to his current career as a student affairs manager and residence-life counselor at the international Interlochen Arts Academy in Interlochen, Mich., where he has also served as a language tutor and a substitute teacher in foreign-language classes.
“This experience will be of value to Otha as a German language teaching assistant in our graduate program,” Schmiesing said. After receiving his master’s in German, Barrow hopes to pursue a career in diplomacy and foreign services.
The Diversity Committee’s goal was to compile a set of best practices, “in the hopes of stirring more conversation about diversity and sharing promising ideas and strategies,” Yeh said. That set of best practices is being distributed college-wide.