Congrats to yet another grad student!

In further testament to our outstanding graduate students and their mentorship, Angie Jain has won an award from the highly competitive M.I.A.M.I. WOMEN Giving Circle Hawk Tank! Angie successfully “pitched” her idea to implement a Dialectical Behavior Therapy program at Miami. Congrats to Angie and her mentor, Vaishali Raval!

Faculty audience and assistance at commencement

The College and President’s Office are both requesting that faculty consider assisting with commencement ceremonies by participating in the processions (i.e., just attending and sitting there). They are also requesting help as faculty Marshals, which basically just means sitting at the end of a row. We have some regalia in the department and others may be willing to share if faculty are interested but do not have attire. Please let me (or Kris Zomchek directly) know if you will be attending the ceremony, and especially if you are willing to serve as a Marshal.

Diversity and inclusion events next week

Black Women Empowered’s Annual Hair Expo
When: Sunday, 4/14 @ 12-4pm
Where: 322 McGuffey
Description: This is Black Women Empowered’s signature spring event, which is intended to create a space of self-care and empowerment through workshops and panels.

Constancio Arnaldo Jr.: Rethinking Sport Cultures Beyond Black, White, and Male: Sports as Sites of Possibility, Contradiction, and Social Change
When: Monday, 4/15 @ 6-7:50pm
Where: 001 Upham Hall
Description: Dr. Arnaldo is an assistant professor in Asian/Asian American Studies at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. His research “examines the cultural politics of sport among Filipino and Filipino Americans” in several U.S. locations.

21st Century Indian Country: Interrupting the Dominant Narrative
When: Monday, 4/15 @ 7pm (Reception at 8:30pm)
Where: 121 Peabody Hall
Description: This year’s Robert E. Strippel Memorial Continuing Dialogue on Justice and Human Rights event will feature Judith LeBlanc as the keynote speaker. Ms. LeBlanc is the director of the Native Organizers Alliance and Roddenberry Fellow. She will address colonial legacies that are being interrupted by Native Americans claiming their own contemporary narratives to counter discrimination and invisibility.

Safe Zone 101
When: Tuesday, 4/16 @ 11:30am-1pm
Where: 316 Mosler Hall (Hamilton campus)
Description: This Safe Zone 101 training will teach participants how to be informed, active allies to the LGBTQ+ community.

Further than Falafel: Israeli Dinner and Discussion
When: Tuesday, 4/16 @ 6-7:30pm
Where: 1086 Armstrong
Description: In this Further than Falafel event, a free Israeli dinner will be served and the question of the role the Holocaust memory plays in Israel will be discussed.

Mauritanian Refugees in Ohio: What ICE is doing in our own backyard: The deportation crisis facing Ohio’s Mauritanian communities
When: Wednesday, 4/17 @ 4-6pm
Where: 002 Upham Hall
Description: Dr. Christopher Hemming will present a talk on ICE’s deportations of members of Cincinnati’s and Columbus’s Mauritanian communities, which are two of the largest Mauritanian communities in the U.S.

American and Muslim Women’s Taaruf
When: Wednesday, 4/17 @ 5-6:30pm
Where: Lane Library, Helen Weinsberger Activities Center
Description: This is a gathering of women interested in building community between Muslim and Middle Eastern with American women. The event is open to anyone interested in developing a broader understanding and a sisterhood across faith, culture, and identity.

SDAC Coffee and Conversations
When: Thursday, 4/18 @ 5-6pm
Where: McGuffey 121
Description: We welcome all to attend to hear a panel of students who identify as having a disability speak about their experiences and life here at Miami both as students and as members of the community as a whole.

Racial Legacies & Learning, featuring P. Frank Williams
When: Thursday, 4/18 @ 6-9pm
Where: Dave Finkelman Auditorium (Middletown campus)
Description: P. Frank Williams is an internationally recognized expert on hip-hop and pop culture, and is an Emmy Award winning TV/Film producer, writer, journalist, author and commentator.

Access for All
When: Friday, 4/19 @ 8:30am
Where: Shriver Center, Heritage Room
Description: Miami’s 5th annual Accessible Technology Symposium is free and open to anyone interested in learning more about ways to remove barriers to learning for individuals with disabilities. Register here.

Vodou Dancer/Drummers Performance
When: Friday, 4/19 @ 6-9pm
Where: 322 McGuffey
Description: Nancy St. Léger is the Artistic Director of the NSL Dance Ensemble in Miami Florida, where she teaches Vodou dance classes, choreographs, and performs. She was born in Port-au-Prince and now lives and works in the Little Haiti neighborhood of Miami, FL.

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.