In our first issue of “The Black Mirror”, we asked key administrators to share with us their perspectives, vision, and concerns about diversity and inclusion at MIIS. Read on to see what Jeff Dayton-Johnson, Rebecca Henriksen, Laura Burian, and Fernando DePaolis had to say.
Interview with Jeff Dayton-Johnson
| Vice-President of Academic Affairs |
| 7 years at MIIS |
| What is your vision for diversity and inclusion with regards to the student community at MIIS? |
| I aspire to be a campus that draws upon the strengths of diversity in collaboration and team work, and whose inclusive character attracts students and scholars from around the world. Diversity and inclusion in the way we do our work — all of it — will mirror the predominance of diversity and inclusion in our curricula and pedagogical approaches. |
| What are your current concerns about diversity and inclusion in our student community? |
| As an international school — one that draws students, faculty and staff from around the world and from the most heterogeneous backgrounds — a positive and active approach to diversity and inclusion is not an option but a necessity. Moreover, we should lead within Middlebury and in higher ed given our deep international focus. I am concerned that diversity and inclusion in *what* we teach (though far from perfect) is out ahead of diversity and inclusion in the *way* we teach — and in the way we do many other tasks central to our mission. That is, I would like our operations to catch up with our scholarship and our ideals in these areas. |
| What are the current strengths and weaknesses of our student community in terms of diversity and inclusion? |
| Our strength is the international temperament encoded in our academic DNA. This takes the form of an attention to languages, cultures and histories of the broadest variety, and a heterogeneity of disciplinary and analytical approaches that we use to understand the problems of the world. This translates into a critical and sustained attention to differences of language, culture, power, privilege among people, groups, nations. We must nevertheless strive to more consistently bring this attention to diversity in our academic mission to questions of decision making and strategy setting as an institution. |
Interview with Rebecca Henriksen
| Dean, Enrollment, Advising, and Student Services |
| 3.5 years at MIIS -4 years in January. |
| What is your vision for diversity and inclusion with regards to the student community at MIIS? |
| I dream of a MIIS where we are leaders in breaking through the seemingly impossible inequity of access to quality graduate education, a community that embraces diversity and inclusion, and where scholars can achieve their academic and professional potential regardless of their race, ethnicity, religion, region, gender, or socioeconomic situation. |
| What are your current concerns about diversity and inclusion in our student community? |
| About 39% of our 2018 incoming students are not from the US, so in those terms we have a nicely diverse campus. That being said, I am not satisfied with our domestic diversity, and while we are internationally diverse in percentage terms, I would love to see more students from Latin America, Europe, and Africa. We need to continue to work towards greater domestic diversity and broader international diversity. A big obstacle is the cost of our programs — we need to find ways to make our programs more affordable. |
| What are the current strengths and weaknesses of our student community in terms of diversity and inclusion? |
| Strengths: Many different countries are represented, many different languages are spoken, and the vast majority of our community is committed to being a part of an inclusive, welcoming, and diverse campus.
Weaknesses: The cost of our program makes it difficult for us to be socioeconomically diverse. We need to do a better job of attracting and supporting underrepresented domestic and international scholars. |
Interview with Laura Burian
| Dean of the Graduate School of Translation, Interpretation, and Language Education. |
| 19 years at MIIS. |
| What is your vision for diversity and inclusion in GSTILE? |
| Socioeconomically, ethnically, nationally, and politically diverse faculty, staff, and student body in which all parties have a sense of being a valued and respected member of a community. |
| What are your current concerns about diversity and inclusion in GSTILE? |
| We live and operate in silos. Some silos are more diverse and inclusive than others, and some silos are more aware than others in even knowing or appreciating what issues minority voices face. |
| What are our current strengths and weaknesses in terms of diversity and inclusion in GSTILE? |
| Very international faculty and student bodies. Unfortunately, in T&I there is not a lot of cross-over between language programs, but in some ways it is improving. Not sure how deliberately or intentionally diversity and inclusion issues are addressed in the classroom. |
Interview with Fernando DePaolis
| Dean of the Graduate School of International Policy and Management |
| 17 years at MIIS. |
| What is your vision for diversity and inclusion in GSIPM? |
| I’d be arrogant if I were to say I do have a vision for diversity… I don’t, and that’s a problem in itself. |
| What are your current concerns about diversity and inclusion in GSIPM? |
| Despite the institutionally set rules for attracting students, faculty and staff so that we enhance our diversity, we seem not to be having the right conversations so that goal is met. |
| What are our current strengths and weaknesses in regards to diversity and inclusion in GSIPM? |
| I really have no clear opinion about this very complex issue…which clearly shows that we are not aware enough, both collectively and individually, of all the aspects of this issue. |
