Author Archives: johnsojg

Luxembourg opportunities for faculty

The annual call is open for proposals from faculty interested in a teaching appointment at the Miami University John E. Dolibois European Center (MUDEC) in Luxembourg for the 2020-21 academic year, and subsequent summer. From Erik Jensen, committee chair, and Dean Leterre:

We are pleased to invite proposals from qualified faculty interested in a teaching appointment at the Miami University John E. Dolibois European Center (MUDEC) in Luxembourg for the 2020-2021 academic year, and subsequent summer. MUDEC is one of the oldest and most well-established American study abroad programs. Since its inception in 1968, it has welcomed over 11,000 students from Miami and partner universities. The Center is housed in a beautifully renovated 15th-century château in Luxembourg’s third-largest city, Differdange, lying 17 miles southwest of Luxembourg City and in the heart of western Europe. Approximately 110 Miami students attend MUDEC each semester, living with host families and engaging in a rigorous curriculum that focuses on European studies. A smaller summer program has also been in place since 2008.

There are several options for teaching at MUDEC, and we invite you to take the first step in the process by submitting a one-page statement of interest. The due date for the statement of interest is Monday, April 22, 2019.

Interested faculty can see me for more information, Paul for personal experience, or Erik Jensen or Kerry Strader with the program.

Nominate outstanding undergrads for alumni board

At their recent meeting, the alumni board decided on recruiting two undergraduate student members. Eligible students should have received an email, but you are also encouraged to reach out to your talented research assistants, etc. Erika Minnick (B.A. ’11) is organizing a selection process for the board, and writes:

The Psychology Alumni Board is looking for a rising Junior (graduating in ‘21) and a rising Senior (graduating in ‘20) to join them as student representatives on the board for the 2019-2020 school year. This is a great opportunity to get involved in the Miami Psychology community and to connect with Alums. As an Alumni Board Student Liaison, your role would involve: Representing the voice of the Psychology Major Miami student to the Alumni Board meetings (2x per year – Sept/March); and providing feedback on proposed Alumni board areas of focus and events to ensure the board is best serving the Miami Psychology Majors.

Point your interested and eligible students to the application link, or to Erika or Vaishali for further questions. This is a great opportunity for any of our majors, especially if it can offer broader representation to the board.

Intergroup dialogue FLC

Tarah Trueblood from the Center for American and World Cultures (CAWC) has been coordinating the intergroup dialogue sessions this semester, in which some of our majors, 112 students, and graduate students are participating. Next year, they are extending this to faculty and administrators as an FLC; she writes:

I want to give you a heads up that the CAWC will be facilitating an FLC next year to help develop a strategy for embedding intergroup dialogue campus-wide. We are hoping to create a group with about 50% faculty members. Would you share the information below about this FLC with your faculty?

The Center for Teaching Excellence has accepted the proposal to fund a 2019-20 Faculty Learning Community (FLC) called Intergroup Dialogue for Miami Faculty, Staff, and Administrators.

The purpose of this FLC is to forge an internal partnership of faculty, staff, and administrators dedicated to learning and embedding IDG pedagogy. The FLC will work to adopt an IGD model/s, assessment plan, and strategy for embedding IGD theory and practice among Miami faculty, staff and administrators. Such embedding will involve the formation of peer-facilitated intergroup dialogue groups who will engage in purposeful, facilitated, dialogue across social identity differences.

Application Deadline: Friday, April 19, 2019

This FLC will be co-facilitated by Alicia Castillo Shrestha and Tarah Trueblood starting in the fall. We will work out a meeting day and time that works with most schedules. I hope you will join us!

Contact Tarah directly for more information if you are interested, but I would encourage you to consider this opportunity.

Diversity & inclusion events next week

John Singer, PhD: Black Male Athletes’ Education Matters: What’s College Sport Got to do with It?
When: Monday, 4/8 @ 6-7:50pm
Where: 001 Upham Hall
Description: Dr. John Singer will present a talk on his research, which identifies “intersections between race, gender, sport, and education…and diversity and social justice matters in sport organizations, with an emphasis on historically underrepresented and marginalized groups.

Chinese Skit Competition
When: Tuesday, 4/8 @ 6-8pm
Where: Leonard Theatre Peabody Hall
Description: The Confucius Institute and the Department of German, Russian, Asian, and Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures is co-hosting this event for Chinese language students, where they will act out skits and demonstrate their Chinese fluency.

Valeria Luiselli: Asylum Under Siege: Nations, Borders, and Refugees in the Age of Global Migration
When: Wednesday, 4/10 @ 5:30pm
Where: 1000 Farmer School of Business
Description: Working as an interpreter for Spanish-speaking children in the New York City Immigration Court, Valeria Luiselli realized that rather than just translating 40 questions on an intake questionnaire, she was “providing triage to a humanitarian emergency.” She will be presenting a talk related to her book entitled “Tell Me How it Ends: An Essay in 40 Questions.”

Kate Welling Lecture: Intelligent Lives
When: Wednesday, 4/10 @ 7pm
Where: 152 Shideler Hall
Description: The first part of this event includes a screening of a film called Intelligent Lives, which details the lives of three young adults with intellectual disabilities. After the film, the night’s host will lead a Q&A.

Dr. Mich Nyawalo: “I’m Muslim Don’t Panic”: Responding to French Islamophobia through Hip-Hop
When: Thursday, 4/11 @ 5:30-7:30pm
Where: 040 Irvin Hall
Description: Dr. Mich Nyawalo will present a talk entitled “I’m Muslim Don’t Panic”: Responding to French Islamophobia through Hip-Hop.

CUR student travel awards

The Psychology Division of the Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR) offers travel awards to students presenting at regional and national conferences. The deadline for the current cycle is April 22, but this is another source for your research assistants to complement department and ORU support. Miami’s institutional membership makes all of our students eligible.

NIH R15 funding prospects

From Jim Oris, OARS:

You may not be aware that NIH recently updated criteria for NIH R15 AREA grants. These grants have always been focused on universities that have a relatively small profile at NIH and have an undergraduate component. The new change gives high priority for research with an undergraduate focus. We predicted that this will allow Miami proposals to be more competitive, and now, based on input from Gary Lorigan (who has served on these panels), it appears that our predictions are correct.

More information can be found here. Both Jim and Gary are willing to consult with faculty interested in pursuing this funding mechanism. I would encourage any of you who are considering options for external funding to take a look at this; the next deadline is June 25.

Diversity & inclusion events next week

Please remember that next week is our very own Diversity & Inclusion Celebration Week, with programming all week and our two workshops on Friday. The associated (public) events are also included below and denoted with **.

Screening of One Day at a Time**
When: Monday, 4/1 @ 3pm
Where: PSY 343
Description: For the first event of the Department’s Diversity and Inclusion Celebration Week, Unidos will present a screening of a TV episode detailing the lives of a modern day Cuban-American family. The episode focuses on what it means to identify as Latinx in the wake of micro-aggressions and hateful comments.

LGBTQ+ Allyship Workshop**
When: Tuesday, 4/2 @ 1-2pm
Where: PSY 134
Description: This is the second event of the Department’s Diversity and Inclusion Celebration Week. Hannah Thompson will host this workshop, where participants will learn the importance of using inclusive language, gain empathy, build cultural respect, and explore ways to create a more inclusive environment.

Coffee with ABPsi**
When: Wednesday, 4/3 @ 9:30-10:30am
Where: PSY 130
Description: In the third event of the Department’s Diversity and Inclusion Celebration Week, members of the Association of Black Psychologists will host a coffee conversation about adversities individuals from diverse backgrounds face on college campuses.

How to Have Difficult Conversations**
When: Wednesday, 4/3 @ 1-2pm
Where: PSY 328
Description: In the fourth event of the Department’s Diversity and Inclusion Celebration Week, Pankhuri Aggarwal and Natalee Price will host a workshop on how, when, and why faculty, staff, and students should have explicit conversations about the impacts privileged and marginalized identities have on power differentials in academia.

César Chávez Day – Transforming America
When: Wednesday, 4/3 @ 5-9pm
Where: 212 MacMillan Hall
Description: The theme of the César Chávez Day Celebration is “Transforming America: Civil disobedience, social change, and environmental justice.” A reception begins at 5:45, followed by film screening of Dolores, who was an equal partner in co-founding the first farm worker union with César Chávez. After the film, a panel discussion will take place, featuring Miami students and professors.

Healthy Masculinities Workshop**
When: Thursday, 4/4 @ 11am-12pm
Where: PSY 134
Description: In the fifth event of the Department’s Diversity and Inclusion Celebration Week, Miami’s Men and Masculinity Committee will host an introduction to masculinity, with a specific focus on the complexities of college-aged men.

Ain’t I a Woman: My Journey to Womanhood
When: Thursday, 4/4 @ 8-11pm
Where: Hall Auditorium (101 S. Campus Ave)
Description: Laverne Cox is the first openly transgender person to be nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award in an acting category, and in addition to her career, she is a prominent equal rights advocate. Laverne Cox will share an “empowering message of moving beyond gender expectations to live ore authentically.” This is event is free but ticketed.

Diversity Teach-In**
When: Friday, 4/5 @ 3-5pm
Where: PSY 125
Description: In the final event of the Department’s Diversity and Inclusion Celebration Week, Marie Parsons, Annika Goldman, Alejandro Trujillo, and Sarah Dreyer-Oren will present talks on Modifying Intergroup Anxiety, Ageism and Mental Health, Confronting Racist Incidents on a College Campus: Who Should Respond and Why, and Culture and Help-Seeking: Collecting Cross-Cultural Data at Miami.

Asian Cultural Festival
When: Friday, 4/5 @ 5-7pm
Where: Oxford Uptown Park
Description: The Asian American Association is hosting this event to allow the community and Miami students to learn more about the diverse Asian countries. There will be free food, prizes, and performances.