Assistant professor named to UGA's Diversity Advisory Council

Usree Bhattacharya, an assistant professor in the department of language and literacy education, was recently selected to join the University of Georgia's Diversity Advisory Council to increase inclusive excellence on campus.

Formed in 2014, the council serves as a broad-based advisory group committed to providing a welcoming campus culture and fostering living, learning and working environments supportive of the differences and similarities of all people.

Additionally, the council—which consists of faculty, staff and administrators—advises UGA's vice provost for diversity and inclusion and strategic university initiatives on developing and implementing new ideas to increase the awareness and value of diversity at the University.

"I would like to help contribute towards a more inclusive environment at UGA," said Bhattacharya, who will serve on the council for three years. "I will bring my experiences as someone who has traversed many international, linguistic and cultural boundaries in my professional and personal life."

While Bhattacharya believes the sense of community at UGA is strong, she is excited to enhance inclusion, access and diversity efforts by working with the council to highlight and center discussions across the University.

Inspired by multilingual educational contexts, questions of access, equity and inclusion in language education are all central elements of Bhattacharya's research.

"More recently, since my toddler's diagnosis of Rett Syndrome, I have started attending closely to issues of disability within my research," she said. "These issues intersect powerfully with the principle goals of the council, which strives towards 'inclusive excellence.'"