Providing students with the education, training and experiences needed to help them realize their power to reduce racial/ethnic tension and address issues of equity in American communities.
Mission
Providing students with the education, training and experiences needed to help them realize their power to reduce racial/ethnic tension and address issues of equity in American communities.
Our Program
Deconstructing Diversity Initiative (DDI) was founded in 2015 with seed money from the UC Irvine Chancellor’s Advisory Council on Campus Climate, Culture & Inclusion to address concerns about the campus racial climate. DDI was inspired by the Olive Tree Initiative's experiential learning model. A cohort of students are chosen each year to take part in an intensive DDI seminar series and then travel to sites of historical and contemporary importance to the experience of race in America. By pairing classroom learning with travel experience across the States, DDI provides college students as well as community and campus participants the education, training and experiences that enable them to better understand, negotiate and resolve racial and ethnic tension.
Vision
Prepare students to engage in a diverse environment by providing opportunity for meaningful intergroup interactions and promoting a deeper understanding of race issues central to U.S. society.
Enhance the knowledge of identity formation, structural inequalities, historical context, and current debates through meetings with research experts.
Participate in travel to strengthen students' skills at navigating important – and often controversial – topics with sensitivity to the diverse narratives that underlie issues of race in America. Students will learn how to incorporate such sensitivity into their own interactions both on campus and in the broader community.
Develop leadership by equipping students to be agents of change on their campus and within their communities.
Promote positive cross-racial interaction and increase cultural empathy by raising awareness of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Facilitate introspection to better understand and articulate one’s own world view and that of others.
What We Do
DDI is a year-long program that combines learning and dialogue with travel to help students investigate the institutional and contextual forces and power differences that are at the heart of racial/ethnic tensions and should be considered in developing and implementing strategies for improving race relations.
Upon being accepted to the program, DDI participants attend seminars presented by UCI faculty, staff and community leaders to explore critical issues that are impacted by race and race relations in America, such as psychological approaches to racial identity formation; structural approaches to race such as critical race theory; differential racialization; intersectionality; anti-blackness and white privilege; race and education; diversity initiatives; the Asian American achievement paradox; allyship and the politics of solidarity; anti-blackness and the queer rights movement; immigration, labor, and race; art and racial resilience.
Additionally, participants go beyond seminar-style learning to partake in staff-led trips to several cities throughout the U.S. to sites of historical and contemporary importance to race in America. They meet with community members, leaders, policy makers, and organizers spanning a range of political opinions from nonprofit organizations, academic institutions, religious organizations, and government entities to provide insight into the varied experiences and efforts of people addressing issues of race in their communities.
Students return to campus with a greater nuanced understanding of contemporary issues, and they continue to hold meetings and reflections to process their experiences, hosting events for the campus relaying what they have learned and creating change-agent projects to implement in their own communities.
The combination of seminar learning, dialogue, experiential learning, and leadership development, DDI provide students with the education, training and experiences needed to better understand, negotiate and resolve issues of race.
DDI participants are encouraged to become leaders of campus programs, and serve as
mentors to high school students in the Diversity, Inclusion, and Racial Healing (DIRHA)
program.
-
Overview
Program Description
DDI is a year-long program that combines learning and dialogue along with travel to sites of historical and contemporary importance to race in America to allow students to investigate institutional and contextual forces and power differences that are at the heart of racial/ethnic tensions, and should be considered in developing and implementing strategies for improving race relations.
PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES
The objective is to provide students with the education, training and experiences needed to better understand, negotiate and resolve issues of race. More information on DDI may be found at: deconstructingdiversity.uci.edu
Benefits
- Raise your awareness of diversity, equity, and inclusion through in-class and experiential education around race issues in the U.S.
- Network with students, faculty, and community
- Build confidence to engage in difficult dialogue and navigate issues of race and equity
- Gain essential leadership experience for working in diverse environments
- Take your scholarship and research to action as community change-agents
- Earn a Certificate in Racial Justice & Healing
Participation Requirements & Time Commitments
Attendance is required for all three components of the program.
- DDI seminars: variable Wednesdays from 3:30-5:30pm (approximately 4 or 5 times per quarter).
- DIRHA mentorship: variable Wednesdays from 4 - 7:30 (approximately 2 per quarter).
- Travel: three trips are planned and will be paid for students that meet attendance and participation requirements.
The combined participation in DDI+DIRHA will amount to approximately 7 or 8 times per quarter.
DDI Seminars
DDI Seminars serve as an introduction to issues of race that are central to American society.
DIRHA Mentorship
DDI participants will serve as (paid) mentors to high school students in the Diversity, Inclusion, & Racial Healing Ambassador (DIRHA) program.
DDI Travel
- Winter quarter: San Francisco, Berkeley, and Oakland.
- Spring break: Atlanta, Montgomery, and New Orleans.
- Spring quarter: Chicago and possibly Washington D.C.
-
How to Join
Who We Are
The Shared Table Perspective is a year-long program combining learning, dialogue, and free travel focused on race in America.
Qualifications & Prerequisites:
- No Major Requirements — all students encouraged, including Graduate Students.
- Desire to improve equity in your community.
- Interest in mentoring high school youth.
Program Benefits
- Expand understanding of equity and inclusion.
- Network with students, faculty, and community.
- Gain leadership and professional experience.
- Earn credit toward the Social Justice Advocacy Certificate.
Responsibilities & Time Commitment
- Meetings in Fall and weekly in Winter.
- Mentorship roles in the ECHO project.
- Two planned travel experiences.
Application Deadline:
November 25, 2025 | Online Application -
Curriculum Review Committee
Teresa Neighbors, Ed.D.
Director, Deconstructing Diversity Initiative (DDI)Long Bui, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Global & International StudiesCecelia Lynch
Professor, Political ScienceDavin Phoenix, Ph.D.
Undergraduate Honors Director, Political ScienceSal Zarate
Assistant Professor, AnthropologySponsors:
Samueli Foundation
UCI School of Social Sciences
UCI Office of Inclusive Excellence
UCI Student Affairs
Questions?
Please contact Dr. Teresa Neighbors at ddi@uci.edu