Curriculum Autopsy

What participants gain

• Identify exclusionary language and policies within personal teaching artifacts
• Apply a critical equity lens to standard assessment rubrics
• Recognize the cultural assumptions embedded in required reading lists
• Formulate immediate revisions to increase syllabus inclusivity

Materials needed

• Participants' own printed syllabi and rubrics
• Red, green, and blue highlighters
• Fishbone diagram templates (A3 size)
• Printed reference guides on inclusive language
• Post-it flags for marking pages

How to run Curriculum Autopsy, step by step

1. Frame the activity as an objective medical autopsy, removing ego and focusing purely on the structural health of the document.
2. Pair participants with someone from a different department to ensure fresh perspectives and reduce disciplinary echo chambers.
3. Instruct pairs to exchange their printed syllabi and read them silently for five minutes.
4. Direct participants to use red highlighters for punitive language, green for inclusive support, and blue for cultural assumptions.
5. Guide the pairs to map their findings onto the Fishbone diagram, categorizing issues by Policy, Language, Content, and Assessment.
6. Facilitate a structured interview where each person gently questions their partner on the intent versus the impact of specific clauses.
7. Instruct participants to brainstorm three alternative ways to rewrite the most punitive or biased section of their syllabus.
8. Ask each pair to share one major revelation with the wider group, focusing on the systemic root cause discovered.
9. Conclude by having participants commit to changing at least one major element of their syllabus before the next semester.

Facilitator tips

• Emphasize that finding bias in a syllabus is a success of the exercise, not a failure of the teacher.
• Walk around the room to monitor defensive body language and gently intervene to reframe critique as curiosity.
• Provide concrete examples of punitive language (e.g., 'No late work accepted ever') versus supportive language.
• Keep time strictly during the peer review to ensure both partners get equal time for their materials.
• Encourage participants to look at what is missing from the reading list, not just what is present.

Common challenges

• Participants forgetting to bring their materials. Solution: Have generic, highly-flawed sample syllabi ready as backups.
• Defensive arguments between pairs. Solution: Intervene and ask them to focus purely on how a marginalized student might read the text.
• Focusing only on typos or formatting. Solution: Redirect them to the fishbone categories of Power, Culture, and Assessment.
• Overwhelm at the amount of changes needed. Solution: Guide them to focus on just the top 20% of changes that will yield 80% of the impact.

Running it virtually

Use breakout rooms for pairs and have them share screens with their documents open in a collaborative word processor. Provide a digital fishbone template via a shared drive.

Expected results

Marked-up syllabi with specific identified biases, and a completed fishbone diagram mapping the root causes of exclusionary practices in their course design.

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