SCS Ph.D. Students Designed, Taught New Course To Make Computer Science More Welcoming, Inclusive

The Computer Science Department's new course focusing on issues of justice, equity, diversity and inclusion in computer science and society got its start when a group of graduate students decided to create the training they wished they had received. And after hundreds of hours of work by 15 Ph.D. students --pilot programs, countless conversations with faculty and students, data gathering, and developing and tweaking course material -- CS-JEDI: Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion is now a required part of the curriculum for incoming Ph.D. students in computer science. It's also being looked at as a model by both other departments in the School of Computer Science and universities elsewhere. The course was created and taught by Abhinav Adduri, Valerie Chen, Judeth Choi, Bailey Flanigan, Paul Göelz, Anson Kahng, Pallavi Koppol, Ananya Joshi, Tabitha Lee, Sara McAllister, Samantha Reig, Ziv Scully, Catalina Vajiac, Alex Wang and Josh Williams -- all doctoral candidates in SCS who represent nearly every department in the school. The team received Carnegie Mellon University's 2022 Graduate Student Service Award and will be honored during the Celebration of Education Award Ceremony on Thursday, April 28.