February 11, 2022

MSPW & MSTI Academic Directors Awarded Faculty Innovation and Antiracism Microgrant

In collaboration, Kristine Rodriguez Kerr, EdD, Academic Director of the MS in Professional Writing, and Annelise Finegan, PhD, Academic Director of the MS in Translation & Interpreting, have been awarded a Faculty Innovation and Antiracism Microgrant by the NYU Office of Global Inclusion. This microgrant will fund a project titled Alum-Informed Digital Inclusion Curricula, which will bring together a focus group of MSPW and MSTI graduates across the 2022-2023 academic year. 

The project aims to build on the two programs’ existing commitment to humanizing online learning practices in ways that acknowledge the whole student (and teacher) in online learning spaces by inviting participating graduates to share their experiences, review syllabi, and reimagine traditional assessments in partnership with faculty. In framing this work, Rodriguez Kerr and Finegan want to acknowledge the unique perspectives and experiences of their programs’ graduates more fully: 

“We acknowledge that there is often overlooked diversity and complexities in the lived experiences of students studying in fully online programs. These are diverse students that are local, global, and in motion; students that balance work, home, health, family, and school lives; students that seek to engage in a community of learners and have adapted to form meaningful connections across digital asynchronous, synchronous, and physical spaces.”

With both programs focused on languages and usage in professional contexts, these Academic Directors feel their faculty have an added layer of responsibility to be culturally responsive in assessments and feedback.  “We understand that seemingly benign corrections from faculty about language use may be centering the voices of privileged groups and omitting the relevance of cultural knowledge and communication practices.” This project will welcome the voices of participanting graduates into an ongoing conversation that seeks to identify and reframe feedback from faculty to highlight pedagogical practices that are inclusive and responsive.  

Congratulations to Kristine Rodriguez Kerr and Annelise Finegan!


To learn more about the MS in Professional Writing program at NYU School of Professional Studies, visit sps.nyu.edu/mspw

To learn more about the MS in Translation & Interpreting program at NYU School of Professional Studies, visit sps.nyu.edu/translation


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