Department of Architecture Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Statement
Through teaching, research, service, and outreach the Iowa State University Department of Architecture pledges to maintain an intentional, active, and ongoing commitment to issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Architecture is imbued with values and ideas that both reflect and exert tremendous influence over our built environment, our communities, and our daily lives. Therefore, diversity, equity, and inclusion are subjects essential to an architectural education at Iowa State University. The following values are central to our pursuit of design innovation, excellence, and leadership in a multifaceted and changing profession:
- We affirm that diversity, equity, and inclusion are a shared responsibility and must be actively fostered, frequently reflected upon, and centered in our teaching, research, and outreach.
- We commit to education as a space in which conceptual, practical, and theoretical thinking is integrated with the everyday, the material, the technological, and the humane.
- We create opportunities for faculty, staff, and students to question assumptions; reflect upon, understand, and critique the past; engage with the present; and imagine a more just future.
- We aspire to create a community where individuals are supported regardless of race, ethnicity, gender and gender identity, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, language, culture, national origin, religious commitments, age, and (dis)ability status.
- We acknowledge that these goals require authentic, committed, and iterative work and require the collective talents, skills, and voices of students, staff, and faculty.
- We recognize that progress toward diversity, equity, and inclusion is ongoing, and continue to enact policies and practices in pursuit of the above-stated values. These include practices including (but not limited) to those below:
- Actively promote diverse speakers and presenters in Public Programs.
- Actively promote a broader diversity in invited studio jurors.
- Require faculty to participate in diversity training each year.
- Encourage faculty to incorporate more diverse range of precedents/designers in their course content.
- Offer College of Design students course-specific resources, including mentors, financial resources, support staff, and supplies, through the Office of Multicultural Student Services.
- Provide students opportunities to interact with student groups focused on our area of expertise, including the National Organization of Minority Architecture Students and Iowa Women in Architecture Students.
- Provide students with an array of general resources, both at the college and university level, as listed on the following page.
Additional Diversity and Inclusion Statements
- College of Design: https://www.design.iastate.edu/experiences/you-belong/
- Iowa State University: https://www.diversity.iastate.edu/connect/principles