Rebuilding the canon: Columbia professors push for diversity in their syllabi Brenda Huang / Senior Staff Illustrator As racial tensions in the United States rise, educators at Columbia are inspecting and restructuring their syllabi to form more diverse canons. By Irie Sentner | February 15, 2021, 9:03 PM In honor of Black History Month, Spectator is publishing a series on notable Black alumni, scholars, activists, leaders, students, and more whose stories we wish to honor. As conversations around the persistence of anti-Blackness in American institutions continue to grip the country, some professors at Columbia are seeking to address the lack of diverse representation in their respective fields. Questions regarding which scholars belong in academic canons have long been prevalent at Columbia, especially as they relate to Columbia College’s Core Curriculum. Additionally, Columbia and many of its peer institutions have separated diverse scholarship from established departments and created newer departments and programs that focus on race and ethnicity studies.