Confronting Extremism Giving
UCI Confronting Extremism is a campus initiative dedicated to understanding and responding to extremism in society while strengthening our campus and regional community. This initiative utilizes existing inward- and outward-facing programming while elevating research activity, teaching and community engagement about and in response to extremism. It consists of three integrated components: a) Provost Initiative on Understanding and Engaging with Extremism, b) UCI Academy for Inclusion, and c) OC Confronting Extremism for Inclusion. Collectively, this year-long initiative will fortify the values of inclusive excellence: equity, diversity, inclusion and free speech.
Confronting Extremism Pillars
UCI Provost Initiative: Understanding and Engaging with Extremism
The Provost Initiative is designed to foster understanding about pressing contemporary challenges in our society. By focusing attention on a broadly defined theme, the purpose of the initiative explores and engages with highly topical issues from a range of disciplines, methodologies, and theoretical perspectives. Faculty responded to three priority areas: science denialism, denial of our common humanity, and promoting critical thinking in general educational courses. The call yielded nearly 20 faculty proposals originating in seven academic schools, eight faculty projects were accepted for funding.
UCI Academy for Inclusion
The UCI Academy for Inclusion combines academic courses and research opportunities as well as co-curricular and public affairs programming in ways to promote public dialogues, knowledge sharing, reflective learning, and other means to foster engagement. Animating the academy programming is a set of the following learning outcomes: understanding the sources of bias, prejudice and bigotry; promoting inter-group dialogue and cooperation; social justice, equity and cultural valuing; and equipping individuals with the tools for resilience, and competencies for building community. The academy includes programs that align with the learning outcomes, bring a coherence to campus programming, and provide a platform for empowering people to act in alignment with inclusive excellence values: expect equity, support diversity, practice inclusion, and honor free speech.
OC Confronting Extremism for Inclusion
OC Confronting Extremism reinforces, accelerates and expands campus activities. OC Confronting Extremism for Inclusion is an outreach effort to promote a just society. These outward facing events involve extensive coordination and outreach to engage strategic partners (CEO Roundtable & UCI Foundation), community organizations such as the Anti-Defamation League, Orange County Human Rights Commission, various affinity and civil rights organizations, and others; dean’s external advisory boards, alumni in greater Orange County (Alumni Association), k-14 educational partners (through the Center for Educational Partnership), and community organizations that campus faculty and staff have developed (UCI Engage).
Goals of the UCI Confronting Extremism Initiative
- Build capacity of UCI to serve as the public square for Orange County about compelling contemporary issues
- Harness our research, teaching, and service mission to understand extremism and inform how we respond as a campus and pin partnership with communities served by UCI
- Fortify our aspiration to be a national leader and global model of inclusive excellence as a campus, employer, and change agent that is committed to building a community where all expect equity, support diversity, practice inclusion, and honor free speech
Throughout the funded period of the UCI Confronting Extremism Initiative, we’ve engaged hundreds of individuals at events, sparked and engaged in important conversations, and provided an opportunity for the UCI and Orange County community to confront extremism.
To help us in continuing these important efforts on campus and in our community, please consider a gift to the UCI Confronting Extremism Initiative.
