The College Fix

Education expert says class promotes ‘toxic political agenda’

A Middlebury College campus will offer a class this upcoming fall on “key DEI principles and theories” in localization, according to its course catalog.

The Middlebury Institute of International Studies course, located at the college’s California campus, poses the question: “How are diversity, equity, and inclusion relevant and applicable to the localization field?”

“Localization is the process of adapting the content related to an idea, service, or product to the language and culture of a specific market or region,” according to Middlebury, which offers a master’s degree in localization management.

Other topics include “power, identity, positionality, linguistic imperialism, linguistic variation, linguistic hegemony, AI, and techno-racism.” According to BannerWeb, the institute’s course registration page, the class has a capacity of 24 seats, only five of which are filled as of May 28.

The class drew criticism from education expert Stone Washington at the National Center for Public Policy Research.

He said this type of course is “curricula-based indoctrination.”

“Rather than provide an unbiased exploration of race across international relations and linguistics, Middlebury College appears to be promoting a toxic political agenda masquerading as a legitimate class,” he said. Washington is also a former College Fix fellow.

“DEI in Localization” covers several learning objectives including “identify[ing] key DEI principles and theories,” applying these in wider contexts, and analyzing the role of power and identity relations in localization.

Washington said the class could be “defiant and perhaps reckless” given the Trump administration’s crackdown on ideological courses and programming and subsequent defunding of universities.

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This course is taught by Professors Renee Jourdenais and Michael Reid.

Due to a busy schedule, Professor Jourdenais referred The Fix to two professors that helped create the course. As of May 28, Professors Eva Klaudinyova and Netta Avineri have not responded to several inquiries regarding the syllabus, DEI principles, and examples.

According to his Symmetra website, Professor Reid is a “linguistic and cultural equity consultant, facilitator, writer, researcher and educator” who “specializes in diversity issues in the US, European, and Asian… context.” He did not respond to a request for comment.

Reid “firmly believes that diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice (DEIJ) work must be culturally responsive if it’s to be relevant to the audience at hand and, crucially, if it’s to adhere to the principles of equity and inclusion.”

He included a quote on the website:

Experiences of discrimination, injustice, and inequity are informed by the history, culture, and conditions of the people that experience them and the context in which they take place; we can’t ignore these factors and expect our DEIJ efforts to be effective. In fact, when we ignore these factors, we find ourselves in danger of reproducing the very same inequitable power structures we’re working to dismantle.

However, these claims drew criticism from Washington, with the National Public Policy Center. He said differences in performance are largely “due to the collapse of the two-parent household, underfunded public schools, and multi-generational poverty.”

Likewise, Washington said DEI itself can be used to “discriminate against” “conservative views.”

“There are no conservative principles that are inherently racist; yet, when looking at the world through the prism of DEI, one can brand conservative viewpoints as discriminatory,” Washington said.

Washington, who is a PhD candidate, said DEI can be “used as a weapon to deter any minority perspective from being outspoken, most notably conservatives and libertarians.”

“And any faculty who dares challenge the prevailing dogma of academic DEI will likely face swift punishment and be replaced by someone who upholds its tenets,” he said.

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IMAGE CAPTION AND CREDIT: Several students work on a technology project; Mikhail Nilov/Pexels

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