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
    Join us Monday at 5:00 p.m. for Hector Esrawe’s lecture “No Boundaries: Transiting the Intersections Across Creative Disciplines.”<br />
    @utsoa

    Join us Monday at 5:00 p.m. for Hector Esrawe’s lecture “No Boundaries: Transiting the Intersections Across Creative Disciplines.”

  • Instagram Post
    Designing for the blind and visually impaired offers a unique perspective on the built environment that is valuable for architects and architecture students who strive to become better, more inclusive designers.<br />
    @utsoa

    Designing for the blind and visually impaired offers a unique perspective on the built environment that is valuable for architects and architecture students who strive to become better, more inclusive designers.

  • Instagram Post
    Barkow Leibinger’s exhibition “American A-Frame” is now on display in the Mebane Gallery through the end of October.<br />
    @utsoa

    Barkow Leibinger’s exhibition “American A-Frame” is now on display in the Mebane Gallery through the end of October.

  • Instagram Post
    Associate Professor Cisco Gomes’ Construction class recently visited the @continentalcutstone quarry just outside Liberty Hill.<br />
    @utsoa

    Associate Professor Cisco Gomes’ Construction class recently visited the @continentalcutstone quarry just outside Liberty Hill.

  • Instagram Post
    Join us on Wednesday for a lecture from our new Professor of Practice Dora Epstein Jones. The lecture, “The Order of the Orders,” kicks off at 12:30 p.m. in the Goldsmith Lecture Hall. Link in bio.<br />
    @utsoa

    Join us on Wednesday for a lecture from our new Professor of Practice Dora Epstein Jones. The lecture, “The Order of the Orders,” kicks off at 12:30 p.m. in the Goldsmith Lecture Hall. Link in bio.

  • Instagram Post
    On Monday at 5:00 p.m., Frank Barkow (@fbarkow) of Barkow Liebinger joins us in the Goldsmith Lecture Hall for his lecture “Sticks and Stones.” <br />
    @utsoa

    On Monday at 5:00 p.m., Frank Barkow (@fbarkow) of Barkow Liebinger joins us in the Goldsmith Lecture Hall for his lecture “Sticks and Stones.”

  • Instagram Post
    Multispecies Lounge is a series of urban furnishings on display in downtown Toronto through Sept. 24 that invites interspecies encounters with urban wildlife. <br />
    @utsoa

    Multispecies Lounge is a series of urban furnishings on display in downtown Toronto through Sept. 24 that invites interspecies encounters with urban wildlife.

  • Instagram Post
    Congratulations to our 2022-24 Emerging Scholar Tyler Swingle, whose Spring 2023 Advanced Studio “Time for Timber” received an Honorable Mention in the @acsanational / Softwood Lumber Board 2023 Timber Education Prize!<br />
    @utsoa

    Congratulations to our 2022-24 Emerging Scholar Tyler Swingle, whose Spring 2023 Advanced Studio “Time for Timber” received an Honorable Mention in the @acsanational / Softwood Lumber Board 2023 Timber Education Prize!

  • Instagram Post
    Next Monday, September 11, @craigdykers and  @elainemolinar of @snohetta kick off our Fall 2023 lecture series with their lecture “Toward a Peaceable Kingdom.” The lecture is free and open to the public and will take place at 5:00 p.m. in Jessen Auditorium. <br />
    @utsoa

    Next Monday, September 11, @craigdykers and @elainemolinar of @snohetta kick off our Fall 2023 lecture series with their lecture “Toward a Peaceable Kingdom.” The lecture is free and open to the public and will take place at 5:00 p.m. in Jessen Auditorium.