Dr. J.P. Anderson Joins UW American Ethnic Studies Department

Dr. J.P. Anderson, one of Cultures Connecting’s racial equity specialists, recently joined the University of Washington (UW) as a faculty member in the American Ethnic Studies department where he teaches in the Integrated Social Sciences program (ISS).

ISS is designed specifically to accommodate students outside of a traditional campus schedule—and for many, it is their only pathway to a bachelor’s degree. The program serves a wide range of nontraditional students including working parents, people living with serious health conditions, students living abroad, or without stable housing. The common thread is that their lives do not fit neatly into the structure of in-person, daytime classes.

“These are students who deserve access to higher education,” Dr. Anderson explains. “And they wouldn’t be able to get it without a program like this.”

Because of this, all courses in the program are asynchronous. Classes are organized into weekly modules, with carefully scaffolded assignments, clear expectations, and built-in flexibility. But what makes the program truly distinctive is how those classes are built. Rather than relying on a single professor to design a course from scratch, ISS classes are developed collaboratively by faculty and academic advisors. This structure, Dr. Anderson says, makes a profound difference.

“Professors are subject matter experts,” he notes, “but advisors know how students actually experience a class—what gets in their way, what helps them persist.”

When those perspectives are synthesized, the result is a learning experience that is intentional, equitable, and deeply student-centered.

Coming into the program, Dr. Anderson was surprised by how much he still had to learn about teaching. Despite years of experience and strong evaluations as a university professor, he realized that good rapport with students does not automatically translate into good course design.

That realization was humbling but also affirming. Equity, he explains, is not just a value statement; it shows up in the structure of a course, in how information is sequenced, and in whether a student can realistically succeed given the constraints of their life. If the program didn’t exist, Dr. Anderson is clear about the stakes:

“Every single one of my students would be shut out from being able to open up their life through getting a bachelor’s degree.”

Dr. Anderson’s role at UW marks a shift from the traditional tenure-track path he once followed. While he values scholarship, he is candid about what no longer motivates him.

“This position is about serving people, not just advancing your own career,” he says.

That sense of service is personal. Dr. Anderson himself was a nontraditional student, returning to school later in life. He understands imposter syndrome, the balancing act, and the vulnerability that comes with that decision—and that shared experience shapes how he shows up for his students.

“I feel a real sense of kinship,” he says. “I get to be there for people who went through a lot of the same things I did.”

One of Dr. Anderson’s major projects in the coming years is the creation of a pre-law certificate within ISS—a structured sequence of courses designed to help students explore law school as a possibility, build relevant skills, and leave with a credential they can put on a résumé. The goal is not just preparation, but informed choice: giving students the tools to decide whether law school is right for them, without the financial and emotional cost of finding out the hard way.

Alongside his work at UW, Dr. Anderson continues to consult for Cultures Connecting, where his role is to facilitate conversations centered in DEIBelonging and supporting organizations. Rather than seeing his university and consulting work as separate, Dr. Anderson views them as mutually reinforcing.

“I was called to service,” he says simply. “This is work that matters—to people I have a lot in common with.”

In both spaces, the throughline is clear: equity is not abstract. It lives in design choices, institutional priorities, and the willingness to build systems around real human lives—not idealized ones.

Dr. Anderson will be presenting a talk on “status inversion” at the UW 2nd Annual Civil Rights & Title IX Summit on Thursday, February 26th. He is also offering a Cultures Connecting lunch & learn workshop on this topic on February 27, 2026 titled “DEI Facilitation and Social Status” which you can enroll for here.