Irene Hwang (Lecturer IV in architecture, A. Alfred Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, and director of the Equity in Architectural Education Consortium)
Since its founding in 2018, the Equity in Architectural Education Consortium has conceived, initiated and developed a consortium alliance among Florida A&M University, Florida International University, Hampton University, Howard University, Morgan State University, Tuskegee University, the University of Oklahoma and U-M.
The central activity of the EAEC has been the Stacked Mentorship Program, a new model of mentorship that has included approximately 650 participants from nearly 20 institutions.
The outcome of the EAEC’s SMP has been a meta-mentorship community composed of institutions that vary with respect to size, location, populations served and public/private status. In addition to five core “stacks” of mentorship activities, the EAEC includes several co-curricular events: two student-led speaker series, Under Consideration and Inspired By; two discussion series, the EAEC Spotlight Series and EAEC Focus Group Conversation; and one symposium. Combined they have hosted 57 guest speakers at approximately 30 separate events.
The EAEC’s principal innovation, the SMP, is a new model of mentorship that supports and creates a framework for increased access, representation and self-efficacy, as well as exposure to diverse teaching and learning contexts, new remote teaching and learning methods, advances in inclusive pedagogy, and the development and implementation of co-curricular learning activities.
It also includes the establishment of a meta-mentorship, education-focused community consisting of current students, faculty and alumni of color and other underrepresented groups from all levels of education and experience and institutional types (predominantly white, minority- and Hispanic-serving institutions, historically Black colleges and universities, public, private, small and large, urban, suburban and rural institutions of teaching and learning).
Above photo:
Irene Hwang, Lecturer IV in architecture, A. Alfred Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, and director of the Equity in Architectural Education Consortium
