Diversity

West Mall with the UT Tower in the background
DIVERSITY, EQUITY & INCLUSION

At the University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture, we strive for a diverse and equitable community that fosters an open, enlightened, and robust learning environment. In order to create a vital community of learning, the academy must create an environment that cultivates diversity and celebrates difference.

The University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture is committed to creating a workplace in which all faculty, staff, and students are valued for their contributions to accomplishing the School's mission. We work daily to create an equitable and inclusive environment for all people regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, national origin, gender identity, gender expression, sex, sexual orientation, age, level of physical ability, citizenship status, or socioeconomic status.

"Underpinning all that we do at the School of Architecture is a deep commitment to diversity. It guides who we are, what we teach and research, and how we change our disciplines," said Dean Michelle Addington. "Our commitment to diversity goes beyond ensuring that there is equitable participation from under-represented populations; it enables us to open up new avenues of discourse and explore unprecedented opportunities as we bring more voices, more experiences, and more knowledge to bear."

COMMITTEE FOR DIVERSITY + EQUITY

In 2008, former Dean Fritz Steiner commissioned a Diversity Task Force with the charge of gathering feedback from students, faculty, and staff, presenting a report of its findings, and drafting a strategic plan (Framework for Diversity) for addressing diversity and equity within the School. In 2015, the Committee on Diversity + Equity [CODE], a school-wide committee, was formed resulting from this feedback as an ongoing commitment to achieving greater diversity and equity within each program and the school as a whole.

SPEAKER SERIES 

At the end of the 2020-2021 school year, the School of Architecture’s Committee on Diversity and Equity approved a proposal to fund and support a series of equity-focused events. The series, run by representatives from the Planning Student Organization and the Graduate School of Architecture Representative Council, encourages students to discuss, learn, and reflect on the ways in which racial injustice has manifested itself in the built environment and practitioners have confronted these truths through their personal and professional lives. 

RACE & GENDER IN THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT INITIATIVE

In 2016, the school established an initiative to strengthen our teaching and research on the relationship between race and/or gender and the built environment. As part of the initiative, the school first established a rotating Fellow position, followed by a tenure-track faculty member who was hired in 2018, and a senior faculty member, hired in 2022. Partially funded by the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement, the program supports the school's exploration of critical and complex social issues in design and planning pedagogy and practice.

2022-23 CODE MEMBERS:

Todd Brown
Erlene Clark
Tara Dudley
Maggie Hansen
Junfeng Jiao
Alex Karner
Fernando Lara
Charlton Lewis
Bryan Norwood
Robert Paterson
Larry Speck
Kelsey Stine
Kimberlee Walters
Sarah Wu

  • Instagram Post
    We’re still buzzing from all the brilliant work and excitement from last week’s final reviews. <br /><br />Congratulations, students, and thank you to all of the faculty, staff, and reviewers who helped make it happen!
    @utsoa

    We’re still buzzing from all the brilliant work and excitement from last week’s final reviews.

    Congratulations, students, and thank you to all of the faculty, staff, and reviewers who helped make it happen!

  • Instagram Post
    Thankful for you, our UTSOA community 🩵 And this courtyard #HappyThanksgiving
    @utsoa

    Thankful for you, our UTSOA community 🩵 And this courtyard #HappyThanksgiving

  • Instagram Post
    Forward Thinking. Collaborative. Driven by Social Responsibility. This is The University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture.<br /> <br />Applications are open for undergraduate and graduate programs spanning all scales of the built environment. See the links in our bio.<br />
    @utsoa

    Forward Thinking. Collaborative. Driven by Social Responsibility. This is The University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture.
     
    Applications are open for undergraduate and graduate programs spanning all scales of the built environment. See the links in our bio.

  • Instagram Post
    Scenes from Masonry Day 2023 • Each fall, Associate Professor Cisco Gomes’ Construction course introduces students to commonly-used building materials and established construction practices. <br />
    @utsoa

    Scenes from Masonry Day 2023 • Each fall, Associate Professor Cisco Gomes’ Construction course introduces students to commonly-used building materials and established construction practices.

  • Instagram Post
    Tomorrow, Aleida Villasana @aleida.arqui and Simon Butler @simonsks will take over our Instagram to show us what their Advanced Design Studio got up to in Mexico earlier this semester.<br />
    @utsoa

    Tomorrow, Aleida Villasana @aleida.arqui and Simon Butler @simonsks will take over our Instagram to show us what their Advanced Design Studio got up to in Mexico earlier this semester.

  • Instagram Post
    Beautiful Battle Hall • Designed by Cass Gilbert, Battle Hall (aka the Architecture and Planning Library) was the first building on campus to be listed in the National Register of Historic Places. <br />
    @utsoa

    Beautiful Battle Hall • Designed by Cass Gilbert, Battle Hall (aka the Architecture and Planning Library) was the first building on campus to be listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

  • Instagram Post
    On Monday, November 6, Felecia Davis, Associate Professor in the Stuckeman Center for Design and Computation @stuckeman_views, closes out our Fall 2023 lecture series with her lecture “Soft Systems: Crafting an Architecture.”<br />
    @utsoa

    On Monday, November 6, Felecia Davis, Associate Professor in the Stuckeman Center for Design and Computation @stuckeman_views, closes out our Fall 2023 lecture series with her lecture “Soft Systems: Crafting an Architecture.”

  • Instagram Post
    This Halloween, we're throwing it back to two *spooooky* workshops hosted by the @materials_lab: A solar-powered workshop where students got to create a DIY solar-powered jack-o-lantern and a vacuum-formed mask workshop which introduced students to the vacuum former, using a 3D mask form and a sheet
    @utsoa

    This Halloween, we're throwing it back to two *spooooky* workshops hosted by the @materials_lab: A solar-powered workshop where students got to create a DIY solar-powered jack-o-lantern and a vacuum-formed mask workshop which introduced students to the vacuum former, using a 3D mask form and a sheet

  • Instagram Post
    Students in Senior Lecturer @robertstepnoski’s “Reality Capture for Architecture” class documented the entire Zilker Clubhouse site on Barton Springs Road this summer. <br />
    @utsoa

    Students in Senior Lecturer @robertstepnoski’s “Reality Capture for Architecture” class documented the entire Zilker Clubhouse site on Barton Springs Road this summer.