Jennifer Miyuki Babcock, adjunct assistant professor, History of Art, presented her paper, “Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Access: How Local Communities and Public Education Can Serve Egyptology, and Vice-Versa,” in early August 7 at the International Congress of Egyptologists XIII (ICE) in Leiden, the Netherlands. In her paper, Babcock was able to explain to international colleagues how community and junior colleges, which are almost exclusive to the United States and Canada, are platforms that provide access to diverse populations.
Babcock shared the curricula and events that she has been developing with colleagues within the History of Art department to introduce and foster an interest in Egyptology within the student body, many of whom are underrepresented in the field. She shared her ideas on how Egyptologists can open and diversify the field to current and future students. Her talk was praised for providing tangible solutions to the question of how to promote diversity, equity, inclusion, and access within academia.
Babcock also discussed the “Bridging Time” lecture series hosted by the History of Art Department, and shared the content of two of her courses, The Art, Architecture, and Archaeology of Ancient Egypt and Repositioning Ancient Egypt.