Tag Archives: diversity

Miami’s Diversity Symposium next week

The President and Provost invite all members of the Miami community to attend the diversity symposium on the Friday of fall break (Oct. 13). There is no departmental meeting or colloquium on that day to help accommodate this important event in our schedules. Ginger Wickline and Vaishali Raval will be involved as presenters, as well. From the sponsors:

The President, Provost, Office for Institutional Diversity, Center for Teaching Excellence, the Office of Global Initiatives and the College of Arts and Science invite all members of the Miami community to continue the discussion for the 2016-2017 Inclusion Series. This interactive one-day professional development program is designed to provide knowledge, develop skills and engender attitudes necessary to help create a more inclusive Miami. Aligned with Foundation Goal 2 of the Miami 2020 Plan, the Symposium is one step toward creating an even more culturally competent community where members move beyond boundaries to welcome, seek, and understand others from different backgrounds and perspectives.

Please see the website for more information. Note that registration closes this Friday (Oct. 6).

Doctoral students’ diversity-related research

Two separate awards from Miami’s Grants to Support Research in Social Justice, Human Rights, Diversity, and Inclusion feature doctoral students in the department. Sarah Dreyer-Oren (clinical), Anjali Jain (clinical), and Tessa Benson-Greenwald (social) are working on a project to examine how stigma of mental illness and social support relate to mental health help-seeking among domestic and international students at Miami. The project is supervised by their mentors, Elise Clerkin, Vaishali Raval, and Amanda Diekman, respectively.

Psychology graduate students Tessa, Sarah, Anjali, and Amy (L-R) receive funding for diversity and inclusion research.

Amy McConnell’s (clinical) project investigates risk factors for sexual victimization among bisexual women using a mixed methods approach that empowers the stakeholders in the research. The goal is to develop a better understanding of bisexual women’s perceptions of risk factors as well as the effect of minority stress. She is mentored by Terri Messman-Moore.

Opportunities for your female students

There are two opportunities that might be of interest to your female undergraduates. From Monica Schneider, POL:

I am part of a group of people bringing Elect Her to Miami’s campus on November 11. Elect Her is a training program that trains college women to run for student government on their college or university campuses. Research has shown that women who run for student body elections in college are more likely to run for office as adults. The training addresses the disparity between the high percentage of women in colleges and universities and their low percentage in student governments (and in government more generally).

The daylong Elect Her training teaches college women why more women are needed in student government and provides them with the skills to run successful student body campaigns. Students learn how to create campaign messages and communicate them effectively as well as how to reach out and mobilize voters on campus. They will also meet with student government and an elected official. The organization is geared towards student government elections, but the skills will still be relevant for seniors or those thinking of a political career after Miami.

If you know a student that you believe would benefit from the program, please provide their information in this form. They will receive a personalized invitation to attend the workshop, which is free for students. Research shows that women need to be asked – and asked several times! – before they think they will be good enough to run for any type of office. If you know of an excellent student, please don’t hesitate to contact them directly (in person/by email) in addition to submitting their name.

Thanks for helping me get a great turnout for this exciting event! I’m hoping that everyone I know can invite 4-5 women – especially since I know you know a lot of great students on this campus!

And in case you missed her email, from April:

We are very excited to be starting the second year of the Miami Body Project. The Body Project is a cognitive dissonance-based body-acceptance program designed to help college-age women resist cultural pressures to conform to the thin ideal and reduce their pursuit of unrealistic bodies. The Body Project is well supported by research as an effective prevention program for disordered eating (more details here).

We will be offering multiple Body Project workshops this semester and I could really use your help to get the word out. I created a PowerPoint slide that provides information about upcoming Body Project workshops, and I would be very grateful if you would consider showing this slide in your classes, lab meetings, etc. [See April’s email or contact her for the slide].

Please let me know if you have any questions. Also, please consider “liking” our Facebook page and/or following us on Instagram #MiamiBodyProject.

April is also looking for peer leaders for the Miami Body Project. Peer Leaders will be expected to attend a training (that will take 1.5 days) and run 1-3 Body Project workshops over the course of this semester. The 1.5 day training will take place on Friday, September 29 (9am-5pm) and Saturday, September 30 (9am-1pm). Please have students contact April by Monday, September 25.

 

Cross-cultural mentoring of graduate students

From Valerie Robinson in the Graduate School on a relatively new program:

In Fall 2015, the Graduate School introduced a program in Cross Cultural Mentoring. We partnered interested faculty with diverse doctoral students with all but dissertation status. It was a successful initiative by a number of measures and we want to extend it this year to include more graduate students. We hope you consider participating.

We seek doctoral level faculty/staff who will engage the student not as an advisor, but as a role model, counselor, and experienced future colleague, providing support for the research process and preparing for life after the dissertation.

We seek diverse doctoral students in at least their second year who are interested in a mutually beneficial mentoring relationship with a faculty or staff member.

We are planning a kick-off meeting in mid-September. If you are interested in participating or have questions, please contact Valerie.

CTE seminar calendar posted

The Center for Teaching Excellence has not only retained its name for two years in a row now, but they have updated their calendar to reflect offerings for the CTE as well as some other partners. The calendar can be found here, and includes sessions on funding opportunities, service learning, study abroad, diversity, the new Title IX reporting requirements, and more; specialized topics such as Chinese names, Peer review of writing, or Teaching large classes; and systems and software such as Qualtrics.

I would encourage you all to check it out and think each of you might find something to contribute to your professional development.

CTE resources for difficult classroom dialogue

 

The CTE is extending support for all instructors who may encounter “hot-button issues,” especially in their discussion-based courses. They write:

Given recent events in Charlottesville and elsewhere in the US and around the world, those of you teaching courses focused on domestic and global political or cultural issues may experience some difficult and controversial classroom conversations or even encounter classroom incidents of incivility. Of course, the most important stance as a faculty member is to maintain a neutral tone that encourages a trusting learning environment and the respectful exchange of differing perspectives. However, in some cases, setting an unbiased and welcoming tone might not be enough. So, we wanted to provide you with a few resources that may help you and your students make the most of these challenging situations.

Lee Warren’s “Managing Hot Moments in the Classroom” as well as the University of Michigan’s Center for Teaching & Learning “Responding to Difficult Moments” webpage offer some thoughtful ways for converting hot button issues into productive teaching moments.

In addition, there are numerous programs and workshops focused on a wide array of teaching-related topics provided by the Center for Teaching Excellence as well as other centers and offices. The University will be hosting an Accessible Technology Symposium on October 12-13 and an Inclusion Symposium on October 13, both of which are designed to assist faculty in advancing an inclusive learning environment.

Please know that we and the CTE staff appreciate all that you do to promote student learning and stand ready to support you in the classroom.

Diversity symposium and grad recruiting

There is an upcoming regional event that may be of interest to many: the 2017 Diversity Research Symposium (September 22-23) at Ball State University (Muncie, IN). In addition to workshops, speakers, posters, etc. at the symposium, the organizer also writes:

I would like to invite representatives from your graduate programs to participate in our networking sessions as exhibitors/recruiters. Undergraduate and MA level graduate students with strong interest in cultural diversity issues who are seeking graduate programs will be participating at these networking sessions.

This could be an excellent, relatively easy opportunity to speak with local students with graduate school intentions and allow us to recruit a more diverse pool as well. Those interested can contact me for more information or visit diversitysymposium.org. Registration closes September 8.

Gender neutral restrooms

Signage identifying one of two gender neutral restrooms now available in the Psychology Building.

As we get into gear for the semester, a reminder that the two gender neutral bathrooms downstairs are completed and available to all. Both restrooms (037, 038) are located on the Lower Level of the building outside of the back entrance to the Psychology Clinic.

Both restrooms have locks on them. If an emergency should occur in the restrooms both Janie Schuppie (Psychology Clinic) and Quentin have keys to access the restrooms.

Here is a link to the rest of the gender neutral restrooms on campus (and other info helpful to many of our students).