Anteater Insights: Inclusive Excellence Spirit Grants

March 2, 2016

Dear Colleagues,

I am delighted to announce the recipients of the 2016 Inclusive Excellence Spirit Grants. Inclusive excellence is integral to UCI’s ascendancy among globally preeminent universities. Our commitment to this concept inclusive excellence informs our research, teaching and service missions as a land-grant public research university. The purpose of the Spirit Awards is to stimulate campus capacity to advance equity, diversity and inclusion in our academic programs and in the many communities served by UCI. Toward this end, all funded proposals are expected to address at least one of five aspirational goals:

  • Deepen understanding of race, gender, class, sexuality, immigration status and/or other identities
  • Promote emotional intelligence and intercultural competency
  • Build and sustain partnerships with community-based organizations
  • Advance achievement in educationally disadvantaged communities
  • Contribute to an affirmative climate for all members of the Anteater community

The faculty members receiving 2016 Inclusive Excellence Spirit Grants are:

  • Laura Enriquez, assistant professor of Chicano/Latino studies – Identifying “Best Practices” to Support Undocumented UCI Students
  • Emily Grossman, associate professor of cognitive science – Tools to Enable Research for Individuals with Low Vision or Blindness
  • Adria Imada, associate professor of history, and Emily Thuma, assistant professor of gender & sexuality studies – In Treatment: Mental Illness, Health and Modern Sexuality
  • Justin Shaffer, lecturer in developmental & cell biology – Closing the Achievement Gap in Introductory Biology at UC Irvine
  • Damien Sojoyner, assistant professor of anthropology – Forced Migration: The Deleterious Impacts of Public Education and Incarceration upon Black Families in Los Angeles
  • Kojiro Umezaki, associate professor of music – New Expression: Women in Music Technology Symposium
  • Linda Vo, professor of Asian American studies and director of the UCI Libraries Vietnamese American Oral History Project – Documentary: One Boat, 40 Years Afterwards; Art History Exhibition: Vietnamese Focus: Generations of Stories

The awards, sponsored by the ADVANCE Program, carry a maximum grant of $5,000. For more information about the Inclusive Excellence Spirit Grants, please visit https://inclusion.uci.edu/inclusive-excellence-spirit-grants/.

Please join me in congratulating the 2016 faculty recipients of the Inclusive Excellence Spirit Grants.

Douglas M. Haynes, Ph.D.
Vice Provost for Academic Equity, Diversity & Inclusion

Posted in Faculty Achievements, Recent News