The CSM Syllabus Hub

A Student-Centered, Equity-Minded, and Antiracist Lens

We are all familiar with the syllabus, (usually) a document that summarizes core information about a course, providing students with a clear picture of the course structure, intended outcomes, and expectations. 

A common perspective is that of the syllabus as a contract that communicates expectations and standards for both parties (instructor and students) (Center for Urban Education, 2017; Zanotti, 2020). But syllabi also have the potential to serve as learning tools (Center for Urban Education, 2017), effective points of engagement (Ahadi & Guerrero, 2020), invitations to explore and thrive in the discipline (Bain, 2004), and in the words of Laura Zanotti (2020), Professor of Anthropology at Purdue University, sites of transformative change that disrupt silences, invisibilities, and oppressions (p. 115).

Foundational Principles

Syllabi rooted in principles of student-centeredness, equity, and antiracism can promote validation, engagement, and sense of belonging for all students, especially those who have been historically marginalized and minoritized within educational spaces (e.g., BIPOC communities, students with disabilities, neurodivergent students, first-generation college students, LGBTQI+ communities) (Ahadi & Guerrero, 2020).

Often being one of the first official course documents students encounter, syllabi informed by such principles have the potential to:

• convey the promise of the course as a welcoming, safe, and compassionate space 
• set expectations of growth, trust, accountability, and success for all students
• challenge pervasive deficit narratives around minoritized groups
• honor diverse ways of learning and producing knowledge within the discipline
• extend an invitation to the discipline and to the community of learners in the course

Why Bother?

As an instructor, you may sometimes be discouraged to invest time and effort in revising your syllabi because (among other reasons) students rarely read it or engage with it. So, why bother? We invite you to consider three main reasons:

1. Your syllabus reflects the values, beliefs, and rationale you bring into your teaching and course design. If you strive to design a course driven by student-centeredness, equity-mindedness and antiracist lens, your syllabus should also intentionally incorporate those principles. 
2. Syllabi are not passive documents but artifacts of practice. Syllabi can help deconstruct and counteract historically oppressive practices, norms, and assumptions that were woven into the fabric of higher education (Center for Urban Education, 2020). 
3. Connections to the CSM Educational Master Plan. Adopting a critical lens toward your syllabi (and all other elements of your courses) aligns with our institutional commitment to instructional quality and liberatory education, as reflected on the institutional priorities in the CSM Educational Master Plan.