Use this guide to learn about Equity, Diversity, Belonging, and Inclusion (EDBI) initiatives. Currently, most of the resources relate to anti-racism and eugenics. Resources supporting other important initiatives will be added over time.
Have questions or ideas about resources to add to this guide? Contact us below.
Want to get more familiar with terminology and basic ideas in these areas? Try the following resources:
A CaltechNews article about Grant Venerable, Caltech's first Black graduate, and the establishment of the Grant D. & Naomi T. Venerable Memorial Book Fund. From Caltech CampusPubs.
An Oral History Interview with Lee F. Browne, Lecturer in Education, emeritus who served as Director of Secondary School Relations and Special Student Programs at Caltech from 1970 until 1990. From the Archives' Caltech Oral Histories Collection.
An article about the Black Students Union of Caltech in the 1975 Big T student yearbook. From Caltech CampusPubs.
Edray Goins (BSc Mathematics and Physics, 1994) attended Caltech from 1990 to 1994, and was highly involved with and celebrated for his work in supporting Caltech's Black and minority communities. He later received his PhD in Mathematics from Stanford, and returned to Caltech to teach as a postdoc. His SURF project, "The History of Caltech's Underrepresented Students", outlines prominent Black figures at Caltech from 1928 to 1993. Goins currently works as a Mathematics professor at Pomona College.
Most of the collaborators responsible for this guide are cisgender white women who benefit from white supremacist systems and types of oppression outlined in this guide, and there are limits and hidden biases at work that stem from our privileges and perspectives. We have attempted to bring together relevant resources on anti-racist issues for the Caltech community, and we welcome feedback and suggestions for the guide, particularly from the perspectives and experiences of Black, Indigenous, and non-Black People of Color (BIPOC) members of the Caltech community.
This statement was adapted with permission from the Denver University Libraries' Guide on Anti-racist Resources.
Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom by 
Algorithms of Oppression by 
The Diversity Bonus by 
Woke Gaming: Digital Challenges to Oppression and Social Injustice by 
Racial Battle Fatigue in Faculty by 
Coming for to Carry Me Home: Race in America from Abolitionism to Jim Crow by In response to recent events and requests for EDBI-related materials, we are trialing a new ebook platform, OverDrive. Here are the books available on this platform:
To learn more about accessing books on OverDrive, please visit the OverDrive page on our ebook guide.
A handful of the Library's ebooks have permissive licenses that allow an unlimited number of people to read the book at the same time, thus making for good book club picks. The following ebooks allow for multiple simultaneous users:
We have curated these lists of links to outside reading lists to supplement our collections. Thank you to all the authors and creators for sharing your work.
*Credit: UCLA Library
Decolonising Science Reading List
Chanda Prescod-Weinstein, PhD, professor of physics, core faculty member, Women's Studies Program, University of New Hampshire
Decolonise science – time to end another imperial era
Rohan Deb Roy, Lecturer in South Asian History, University of Reading - links to many useful resources to learn more.
Decolonizing technology: A reading list
Beatrice Martini, a research fellow at the Stanford Digital Civil Society Lab and the Harvard Kennedy School, exploring the implications of Internet infrastructure design on human rights, and serves in a formal advisory role with the Center for the Cultivation of Technology and OpenArchive.
Beyond the Trend of Decolonizing Science
Union of Concerned Scientists - April 2019
This webinar features a conversation led by Indigenous and Black scholars around what it means to "decolonize science." Using the controversy over the Thirty Meter Telescope and the sacred mountain of Mauna Kea as a case study, speakers share examples of the role of colonialism in science.
Featuring: Chanda Prescod-Weinstein, PhD, professor of physics, core faculty member, Women's Studies Program, University of New Hampshire; Eve Tuck, associate professor of Critical Race and Indigenous Studies, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE), University of Toronto; Iokepa Casumbal-Salazar, PhD, assistant professor, Native American and Indigenous Studies, Center for the Study of Culture, Race, and Ethnicity, Ithaca College; David Uahikea Maile, PhD candidate, instructor Department of American Studies, University of New Mexico.
Libraries Respond: Black Lives Matter
Webinar Archives - Office for Diversity, and Outreach Services
Dismantling White Supremacy in Archives - An Incomplete List of White Privileges in Archives and Action Items for Dismantling Them by Gracen Brilmyer
Becoming Caltech - A series of presentations from Caltech Archives highlighting sets of archival materials based on themes such as The Cosmopolitan Club and Students of Color and Women at Early Caltech.
A collection of resources about libraries, colleges/universities, critical theory, and social justice:
Use our database subscriptions to learn more about Black and Indigenous history in America, philosophy, and race and science. For example:
Learn about Indigenous Philosophy of the Americas and African-American Philosophy in PhilPapers
Explore SagePub's Structural Racism and Police Violence pathfinder
DocuServe - Borrow from another library.
Suggest a purchase - Suggest an item to add to the collection.
Ask a Librarian - We're here to help online, in person, or over the phone during our open hours.
Email library@caltech.edu | Text 626-587-4833 | Phone 626-395-3404
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