天蓝色蒙托亚, 她因促进多样性的工作而受到称赞, 公平与包容, 反思DEI倡议和当前的政治挑战

天蓝色蒙托亚, associate professor of women and 性别 studies at the 博彩平台推荐, is one of four people honored for making significant contributions to advancing diversity, 公平与包容 (DEI) across the university’s four-campus system.

上个月, 科罗拉多大学校长托德·萨里曼宣布了校长多样性奖, 公平共融奖, 它也认可了一个程序.

蒙托亚说，他是米拉蒙特艺术学院的教务主任 & 科学计划，研究种族和性别在美国.S., European and global politics and has published extensively on topics such as 性别 violence, 投票权, 政治代表和社会运动. 

她目前的研究调查了科罗拉多州的拉丁裔领导层, a project that is of both personal and professional interest to this southern Colorado-born professor. 

蒙托亚最近回答了五个博彩app推荐她工作的问题, 全国DEI倡议的现状, 以及严峻的气候. 采访内容如下:

Question: You hold three degrees in political science and a graduate certificate in 性别 studies; what drew you to focus your research, 多样性教学与服务, 公平与包容? 

蒙托亚: I remember growing up and seeing a lot of disconnect between the way I thought or was taught things were supposed to be (in terms of fairness and equality) and the way that they were. Whether they were things that I experienced firsthand because of my 性别, 种族或阶级, 或者我亲眼所见或从别人那里学到的东西, I think I’ve always been curious to better understand these disconnects, 但也要找到解决这些问题的方法. 

我看到了我的研究, teaching and service all as ways to both better understand and address inequality and oppression, 减少可能/应该是什么和现实之间的距离. 

Question: DEI initiatives seem to have been embraced by many universities, although different institutions might choose different strategies to advance diversity, 公平与包容. 在你看来, 是否存在“最佳实践”,” meaning features of a university DEI structure that make it more likely to succeed? 

蒙托亚: I think my biggest frustration with DEI (in any institutional setting—from governments to higher education) is that so much of the change is rhetorical. It is relatively easy to state a commitment to DEI (although even that is being challenged in some states). 投入资源似乎要困难得多, 建设能力, 协调, 建立问责制. 

While I’m heartened by a lot of the work that’s currently being done, 我认为博彩平台推荐还有很长的路要走. 

问:你的研究重点之一是交叉性. To what extent do you think this concept is well understood within and beyond the university? And to the extent it is not well understood, how can that lack of understanding be corrected? 

蒙托亚: There are definitely a lot of misunderstandings about intersectionality, 无论是在学术环境内还是在学术环境外. 随着这个词被主流化或制度化, it has become more disconnected from its origins in social movements, where those at intersectional of multiple marginalities challenged single-axis (race-only, 性别-only, class-only) understandings of oppression that often excluded or overlooked their experiences and sought to combat oppression in all its interconnected, 联锁形式. 

I think of and use intersectionality as a framework for better understanding how something might impact those who are differently situated. 我也认为这是创造包容性社区的一种方式. 有些人把交叉性误解为分裂, 把博彩平台推荐分成更小更有限的身份/群体. But intersectionality can also allow to delve into the messiness of our lived realities, 虽然博彩平台推荐可能在某些方面有所不同, 博彩平台推荐可以在别人身上找到共同点.   

Question: Journalists from around the country have reported on attempts in some state legislatures to restrict DEI programs at colleges and universities. What do you make of such efforts, and how should experts in DEI respond? 

蒙托亚:  We are definitely in a precarious moment of our history, but not an unprecedented one. There have always been differences in how people understand and approach structural inequalities … whether to recognize, 忽略, 对抗或支持他们. How engaged the political parties (either of them) have been on these types of issues has and continues to vary. 

What is particularly alarming about this moment is that several state legislatures have decided to cut off any sort of deliberation or debate about inequality. It is an alarming attack on academic freedom, and a devastating blow to higher education. 

If education holds the potential to be the great equalizer of society, 然后就连说都不说了, 更不用说地址了, 其中的不平等, 是一场悲剧. I think a lot of DEI experts are already aware of the ebbs and flows of governmental and institutional support, 永远不要把任何事情视为理所当然. If ever there were a need for speaking up and showing solidarity, now is the time.   

Question: You’ve won a dozen awards for your teaching, research, service, mentorship and more. 你在DEI的工作得到认可，你有什么反应?

蒙托亚: 我想每个人都希望自己的工作得到认可. But I don’t do the work for the recognition; I do the work because it needs to be done and because I feel the responsibility to do it. 

I’ve been given a lot of opportunities because of the sacrifices made by others, 我的家人, 我的社区, 在我之前的几代人. I feel like it is my responsibility to use whatever talents and resources I have to do the same for others—to pay it forward. 

If I can make someone’s path a little easier where I can, then the work is worth it. I hope that these awards can bring attention and resources to the work being done and that which could/should be done.