Oswego cinema and screen studies faculty member Amy Shore is one of nine faculty members from across the SUNY system who were selected for the SUNY Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Social Justice (DEISJ) Fellowship for 2025–26.
The faculty fellows “provide support for other faculty to incorporate diversity, equity, inclusion and social justice into existing courses to meet DEISJ student learning outcomes in the general education framework,” according to SUNY Chancellor John B. King.
Shore says that the fellows’ role will be to support faculty across SUNY campuses and subjects in this effort, both with theoretical guidance and practical application.
“We can meet with fellow faculty and do everything from a Zoom session with information and discussion, to really helping walk them through the process of developing the content and instructional approaches that align with that content,” said Shore. “The emphasis is on service, and by carrying out that service, the fellows get what we want out of it, which is further developing our own skills and our own knowledge.”
DEISJ in the classroom
Shore’s own research focuses on the use of film within social movements. As a feminist film historian, she has written about the eclipsed histories of women filmmakers; in 2014, she published a book, “Suffrage and the Silver Screen,” that studies films made by and about the American women’s suffrage movement.
Shore describes the reason she came to SUNY Oswego as being based on the campus’s commitment to DEISJ.
“One of the things we believe about film at Oswego is that it should be inclusive and accessible,” said Shore. “Film studies has had major financial barriers for as long as there have been film schools, and that has kept the film industry very middle-upper-class and white in America. So, if we really want to diversify who's involved in filmmaking, we have to start in those early places of access like undergraduate film programs.”
While Shore is passionate about integrating DEISJ principles into courses and curriculum, she emphasized the importance of putting those practices into action in the classroom to promote diversity of thought and experience.
“One of the areas I’m interested in is identifying the competencies faculty need to apply principles of equity and inclusion in any classroom,” Shore said. “That means creating learning spaces that support a diversity of opinions and experiences. In some ways, it overlaps with the idea of civic discourse. So while I’m very interested in the content of courses that fulfill the DEISJ general education requirement, I’m particularly focused on the pedagogical practices — how we teach — that bring those values to life.”
Shore said this initiative from the SUNY system is crucial at a time when she believes there are widespread misconceptions about the purpose and goals of DEI initiatives.
“In a time when people have, I would say, gross misunderstandings of what DEI and social justice mean, having fellows who can speak to why these are part of our American values — and how they help advance civic discourse and pluralism — is an essential counterbalance to that kind of reactionary thinking,” Shore said. “Diversity, equity and inclusion in practice means students can contribute, talk and share their experiences across the political, social and cultural spectrum.”
Those interested in learning more about the fellowship can do so on the SUNY website.