Conference Schedule

Check In, 8:00am - 4:15pm

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Reimagining the Academy Teach-In and Luncheon, 9:00am - 2:00pm

Room: Ballroom

Space is limited. Registration required.

Conference Welcome, 9:00 - 9:30am: President Todd Diacon & Amoaba Gooden
Teach-in, 9:00am - 12:30pm: Amoaba Gooden, Cristina Alcalde, Salome Nnoromele
Lunch, 12:30 - 2:00pm

A teach-in is a participatory forum to raise awareness and empower action on or about a topic or issue. This teach-in session re-imagines higher education with an inclusive and transformative lens. Drawing heavily from traditions and scholarship that centers transformational change, this session will explore what lessons we can glean from literature and in practice about mobilizing for change in higher education. Presenters will offer implications for practice and policy to assist in our individual and collective application of institutional access, excellence and change in higher education and beyond. This session will be interactive; participants will be invited to engage in pairs, small and large groups, as well as to individually reflect on their role, commitment, and well-being.

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Session Block 1, 2:00 - 3:00pm

The Power of Counternarratives

Room: 306BC

Workshop

Hiram Ramirez

During this interactive and student-focused session we will explore ways in which personal narratives can help disrupt dominant narratives in the service of transformational change. Participants will go through various exercises individually and as a group, to co-create narratives within the space and practice counterstorytelling.

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Race, Research, and Reimagining: Examining Anti-Racist Queries

Room: 310

Panel Session

Catrina Johnson, Kristenne Robison, Francisco Torres, Shana Klein, Kayon Hall, Astrid Sambolin Morales

This panel features Anti-Racism and Equity Institute scholars whose work focuses on understanding and interrupting structural practices and procedures that lead to inequitable outcomes for people and communities of color. Their work shifts beyond documenting persistent inequality and moves toward engagement with reimagined focus of equitable opportunities and outcomes.

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Reimagining Higher Education: Not Just for the Fortunate Few, but for the Meritorious Many

Room: Governance Chambers

Roundtable

Mark Polataijko, Sean Broghammer, Eboni Pringle, Holly Slocum, Amoaba Gooden

Over the past number of years, under President Diacon's leadership, Kent State University has embarked on an intentional effort to reimagine higher education, "not just for the fortunate few, but for the meritorious many." Kent State employees and students have engaged in multiple professional development opportunities that center equity and access in this reimagining. These efforts have led to dialogues and intentional and collaborative efforts to transform systems of structural inequities at Kent State and have resulted in numerous programs and initiatives that center student success.

In this session, presenters will share examples of how Kent State administrators have grounded equity principles to advance institutional change. Presenters will focus on institutional collaboration and student success and highlight Kent State University's collaborative efforts that focused on increasing student access and equality of opportunity on all campuses. Presenters will focus on (1) Kent State's efforts to increase retention, persistence and graduation rates, (2) Kent State's participation in the University of Southern California Race and Equity Institute and resulting equity initiatives, and (3) Kent State's continued efforts to break down barriers to make real change.

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Infusing Anti-Racism into Graduate Teacher Training

Room: Ballroom Balcony

Workshop

Sarah Beal

During this highly interactive workshop, all who are involved in training and mentoring graduate instructors and TAs are invited to discuss how we can infuse anti-racism into teacher trainings for graduate students to empower them for their future careers. Practical strategies will be provided, but participants will be encouraged to share strategies based on their own expertise and lived experiences. Participants should leave the session with a greater sense for how anti-racism can inform all aspects of our pedagogical approaches, as well as practical strategies for how to center inclusive and equitable practices during teacher trainings.

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Networking Hour

Room: 317

Access Betters the Lives of Everyeone (ABLE), Kent Disabled Students Society, ASL Club

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Session Block 2, 3:15 - 4:15pm

Executive Leadership, Mothering, and the George Floyd Effect

Room: 306A

Workshop

Talea Drummer-Ferrell, Christa Porter

This workshop will begin with an overview of our study, which explored the unique experiences of millennial-aged women of color, who are in executive/senior leadership roles at a college or university and have young children. Their stories both illuminate their experiences before, since, and because of George Floyd's death, and identify implications for practice and policy. This workshop, guided by themes and findings of this study, will provide an opportunity to assist in understanding the unique needs of this population and how colleagues and institutions can support them as we enhance our justice, diversity, equity, and inclusion work institution wide.

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Oral Session

Room: 310

Dialogue at the Center: Uplifting Learners Through Inclusive Practices

Astrid Sambolin Morales

This presentation will focus on an assistant professor's experiences participating in culture circles as a graduate student and researcher. Culture circles engage participants in a cycle of problem-posing, dialogue, and problem-solving, opening spaces to critically examine issues and possible solutions in a community. The presentation will explain the background of this Freirean method, how it has been implemented, and its potential as a research and teaching tool. Finally, the presenter will invite participants to reflect on incorporating culture circles to create more inclusive, culturally responsive spaces in their teaching and research.

Diversifying Psychology: Lessons from Kent State's Multicultural and Diversity Committee

Karigan Capps

Psychology is one of the most common majors on college campuses. It is also one of the most difficult fields in which to pursue advanced degrees, especially for students from minority backgrounds. Graduate students in the KSU Psychological Sciences department foster students' post-graduate success through a Multicultural and Diversity undergraduate mentorship program. This program provides students with psychology-specific mentorship, assistance with specific academic barriers (e.g., identifying research experiences, graduate applications), and high impact events as well as workshops. This session will discuss lessons learned and opportunities for psychology-specific DEI programing to increase diversity of the field.

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Advancing Racial Justice by Decolonizing Kent State

Room: Governance Chambers

Roundtable

Elaine (Lan Yin) Hsiao, Lisa Bhungalia, Sharon Koelblinger, Ashley Nickels, Shemariah Arki, Francisco Torres

When it comes to decolonization and anti-racism, one is not possible without the other. It is well known that the structures of racism are rooted in the same oppressive systems as coloniality (i.e., white supremacy, patriarchy, capitalism) and therefore, must be challenged in tandem. This roundtable seeks to recognize the important steps that have been taken, discussing the challenges and limitations of these approaches when applied through administrative systems and in teaching and learning spaces. Discussants, in dialogue with the audience, will identify further action needed to decolonize the university and advance racial justice in practice, policymaking, and programming.

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Inclusivity and Diversity in Teaching Graduate Seminars

Room: Ballroom Balcony

Workshop

Jennifer  Taber

Faculty often receive little to no training in how to effectively teach graduate seminars. In this interactive workshop, Dr. Jennifer Taber will discuss what graduate seminars are and do, why they are important, and how to teach them. The workshop will center on creating an inclusive classroom and adhering to principles of diversity, equity and inclusion across all aspects of the course (e.g., writing the syllabus, selecting readings, structuring course sessions and discussion). Based on research conducted during her time as a KSU Center for Teaching and Learning Faculty Fellow, she will share both faculty and graduate student perspectives on graduate seminars. Attendees will be invited to share their own insights on teaching and learning in graduate seminars in this facilitated conversation. The workshop goals are to 1) think through one's own goals for graduate seminars; 2) link specific course components to these goals; 3) consider how graduate seminars can address issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion, and 4) leave with new ideas for your own teaching.

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Networking Hour

Room: 306BC

Asian, Asian American & Pacific Islander Faculty and Staff Alliance (AAAPI FASA), International Student Council (ISC)

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Networking Hour

Room: 317

Spectrum, Trans* Fusion, PRIDE! Kent

Check In, 8:30am - 3:45pm

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Session Block 3, 9:30 - 10:30am

Equity and Inclusion: Audism

Room: 306A

Workshop

ASL Club, Grace Baker, Catherine Vickery

This session will focus on equity and inclusion for Deaf and Hard-of-hearing individuals. We will begin with a presentation to explain and define the term “Audism”. We will hear from some individuals who identify as Deaf or Hard-of-hearing on their experiences with Audism and what they would have liked to see from the hearing community to support them. Together we will discuss and plan how we can support Deaf and Hard-of-hearing individuals in our day to day lives.

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Oral Session

Room: 310

Inclusive Excellence in Strategic Planning

Elizabeth Kerr

Miami University Libraries' (MUL) strategic planning process is nimble, with priorities identified annually. A critical element of the process is that inclusive excellence is embedded into the plan. Last year, we determined that we could improve inclusion and diversity at MUL by creating a separate DEIA Strategic Plan. A workgroup was formed to identify DEIA goals and objectives and recommend initiatives to meet those goals. This session will explore inclusive excellence in MUL's strategic planning and the steps taken to create a separate DEIA Strategic Plan. This session will contribute to the larger discussion of inclusive excellence in strategic planning.

Global Engagement: Transnational Students' Voices and Higher Education

Priscilla Dzokoto and Gumiko Monobe

Universities and colleges in the United States encourage the presence of diversity and equity among their communities to promote healthy environments and retain a diverse and talented student body. Since 2012, the population of Transnational students, 1st to 2nd immigrant, refugee, migrant and international students in this presentation, has increased from about 900,000 to about 1,095,299 in size (Geary, 2016; Hanson 2022). As the number of transnational students increases, there are concerns about institutions' preparedness to serve this population best.

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Radical Hospitality to Engage, Educate, and Empower toward Social Justice

Room: Governance Chambers

Roundtable

Stephanie Danker, Zack Tucker, Reilly Powers, Jojo Peregrina, David Shuppert

Radical hospitality emphasizes creating an inclusive and welcoming environment for all individuals, regardless of their background or status. It involves actively making people feel valued and respected. By creating a supportive environment that encourages individuals to share their voices and take action, radical hospitality can inspire people to become agents for positive change in their communities and beyond. This presentation will provide individual and collective perspectives of experiences working with radical hospitality through involvement with the Electric Root Festival, a community arts festival in Oxford, OH. Attendees will gain strategies for including radical hospitality in their own contexts.

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Fostering Multicultural Student Outcomes Through DEI and Student Success Partnerships

Room: 306BC

Workshop

Russell Morrow, Melissa Kulp

In many institutions, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) work is centralized, often limiting academic and student support units' notions that this work should also be incorporated into their individual operations. Recognizing this issue, leaders from our college's DEI and student success offices collaborated to create a foundational approach that integrates vision, strategy, and programming to accomplish holistic student outcomes. In groups, participants will learn about how presenters have created this collaboration and explore ideas for applying this strategy to their own situations. They will focus on integrating DEI into academic, social, emotional, and career-focused outcomes.

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Murmurs of a People

Room: Ballroom Balcony

Workshop

Ambre Emory-Maier

Dance can be used as a form of protest and activism. This session provides a viewing of excerpts from Chilean American Choreographer Michael Uthoff's ballet, Murmurs of A Stream or Reflejos del Arroyuelo. This ballet, whose music was once banned by the Chilean government, was implicitly created in response to the 1973 Chilean Coup d'etat. In this work, Uthoff delves into the concept of a stream as the veracious witness to Chilean life. Participants will view a live performance of excerpts from Uthoff's work, and participate in dialogue and movement around questions that examine bodies, oppression, resistance, and celebration.

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Networking Hour

Room: 317

Latino Networking Caucus (LNC), Spanish and Latine Student Association (SALSA)

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Wellness Break, 10:30 - 11:00am

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Keynote Presentation and Luncheon, 11:00 - 1:30

Room: Ballroom

Carol Anderson, Ph.D.

Space is limited. Registration is required.

Doors open 10:30am

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Session Block 4, 1:30 - 2:30pm

Reimagining Mentoring: Supporting Racially Minoritized Graduate Students and Faculty

Room: 306A

Workshop

Christa Porter

In this interactive workshop, participants will have the opportunity to consider and discuss how their positionalities influence advising and mentoring practices that impact racially minoritized graduate students and faculty. Participants will identify systemic barriers that perpetuate inequities and opportunities to reimagine mentoring in efforts to advance a critical praxis that enhances belonging for students and faculty.

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Sharing Power in the Classroom: Utilizing a Consent-Forward Framework

Room: 306BC

Workshop

Courtney Brown

In this practical (and hopefully fun!) workshop, faculty, students and staff will explore collaborative tools that are consent-forward, and trauma informed, including: how to build in and on consent, communicate, respect, and validate boundaries, increase cultural competency, and ultimately, create a space of mutual learning.

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Oral Session

Room 310

LGBTQ Curricula and Discourse Bans Across the U.S.

Ren Davis

With the rise of anti-LGBTQ bills looking to ban LGBTQ curricula and discourse in U.S. public schools, it is important to discuss what this will impact, why it is happening, and how we can stop it. This session will mainly examine the climate of LGBTQ curricula and discourse in the U.S., why this issue is important, and will propose ways this study could be implemented as institutional change for public schools in the U.S.

How to Develop Student Activism

Linda Piccirillo-Smith

Currently in Ohio, there is a movement to discourage student engagement and student activism by those who see activism as dangerous or 'indoctrination'. Contrary to those beliefs, students who learn to think critically, who are taught the facts of the historical past of our country, and who are given examples of what activism looks like can begin to see their own agency as activists. Two goals for this presentation are to present tools that can enhance students' critical thinking on issues related to social justice and to discuss the ways in which students can begin to see themselves as agents of change.

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Internal DEI Grants: Building Institutional Capacity

Room: Ballroom Balcony

Workshop

Krista McDonald, Cara Calabrese, Elizabeth Kerr

Since 2021, Miami University Libraries (MUL) has provided the opportunity for staff to apply for funding for projects that promote inclusive excellence through an internal Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Grant program. This program is an opportunity for the MUL community to seek funds for DEI-focused projects that are not regularly funded through departmental budgets. This workshop will share the structure, format, and best practices of MUL's DEI Grants; provide participants with an opportunity to identify projects they would pursue if their institutions had a similar program; and allow participants to brainstorm how they could adopt similar programs at their institutions.

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Networking Hour

Room: 317

Women of Color Collective (WOCC), Sister Circle

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Session Block 5, 2:45 - 3:45pm

Using an Anti-Racist Framework to Inform Co-Curricular Program Design

Room: 306A

Workshop

Cicely Schonberg

This interactive workshop will explore the ways in which higher education practitioners can use an anti-racist framework to guide the design and implementation of their co-curricular programming. After a brief presentation of strategies for developing an anti-racist framework, participants will have the opportunity to share their own strategies and examples. Participants should gain an understanding of how an anti-racist framework can inform programming decisions to support students' well-being and sense of belonging.

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Supporting Under-Represented Students in the Classroom: Strategies and Challenges

Room: 306BC

Workshop

Kim Hahn, David Hahn, Ja-Young Hwang

Under-represented groups of students, such as low-income, minority, and first-generation students, face a number of challenges that can impact their academic performance. These challenges may include limited access to resources, lack of academic preparation, and bias from teachers and peers. In this workshop session, we will explore strategies for supporting under-represented students in the classroom, as well as the challenges that may arise when implementing these strategies. Our aim is to create a space for participants to share their experiences and ideas for creating a more inclusive and supportive learning environment for all students.

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Oral Session

Room: 310

Identity-Conscious Leadership & Supervision

Talea Drummer-Ferrell

What does it look like for higher education professionals to be their true, authentic selves in the workplace? Elliott, Desai, and Brown (2021) share, "supervision can be a powerful and effective tool for creating an environment centered on equity, justice, and liberation" (p. 53). As such, applying the identity-conscious supervision model allows a fluid, open, and transparent supervisory relationship to flourish in the world of work. In addition, "identity-conscious supervision practices creates opportunities for individual conversations regarding identities" (Brown, Desai, & Elliott, 2020, p. 9), thus allowing staff to feel empowered in sharing their identities with colleagues and students alike.

Fostering Racial Literacy in White Students

Elizabeth Kenyon

A crucial component of reimagining our academies is ensuring that all members are developing their racial literacy. This session explores how white undergraduate students' racial literacy develops as a way of considering how instructors can intentionally develop racial literacy in their courses. Ideas include the importance of explicitly teaching about structural racism and its continued impact, creating opportunities and supporting students in critically reflecting on how racism has impacted their lives and the lives of their family, incorporating current events in courses, creating classroom spaces of vulnerability and courage, and shifting agency for learning onto the students.

We Need to Survive: Young Researchers and Epistemological Racism

Chengyuan Yu

This duoethnographic study reports on the dialogical reflection of two Asian young researchers' experiences of surviving in the current neoliberal higher education context. One researcher holds a doctoral degree from an Asian university and is pursuing a second doctoral degree in the US, while the other researcher received his doctoral degree from a British university and is currently working at an Asian university. Both young researchers attempted to challenge neoliberalism and epistemological racism, but ultimately found themselves surrendering to accept this reality. This presentation intends to invite the audience to understand and challenge these two Asian young researchers' paradoxical experiences as they negotiate their scholarly identity in their respective contexts.

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Diversity Audits: Bringing Inclusive Excellence to the Library

Room: Ballroom Balcony

Workshop

Krista McDonald, Cara Calabrese

A diversity audit is a tool used by libraries to analyze collection data to ensure we include a wide variety of points of view, experiences and representations within our collection. Rentschler Library at Miami University Hamilton has completed a diversity audit of its children's and young adult book collection. In this session, we will discuss the importance and complexity of conducting this type of analysis, how we have administered our review, our next steps, and how this fits into our broader DEI strategic plan.

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Racial Equity Workshop

Room: Governance Chambers

Workshop

Takeia N.K. Howard

Anti-racism work requires sustained, proactive education and engagement as well as systemic, intentional efforts at micro- and macro-levels. We will learn about our responsibilities in racial equity and how to prevent racism. We will discuss how to identify racist behaviors both in ourselves and in others and how to counter and dismantle such behaviors. The workshop will also provide tools and strategies for having conversations around racism and how to prevent, stop, and unlearn racial prejudices.

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Networking Hour

Room: 317

Pan-African Faculty and Staff Association (PAFSA), Black United Students (BUS), Anti-Racism and Equity Institute (AREI)

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Closing

Room: Governance Chambers

• 4:00 - 4:30

Session Block 1, 2:00 - 3:00pm

Disability Justice in DEI Work

Join Session

Workshop

Sarah Doherty, Lisa Flowers Clements

In this session participants will learn about ableism, its connections to racism and white supremacy culture, the Disability Justice movement, and ways ableism/white supremacy culture show up in DEI work. Participants will hear from diverse disabled/chronically ill people about DEIBJ. Participants will think deeply about ableism/white supremacy culture at work & how to infuse Disability Justice into DEI work. Participants will analyze their campuses/offices to identify practices and cultural norms that do/do not support Disability Justice, and identify resources, roadblocks, and opportunities to bring a DJ lens to institutional social justice work.

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Session Block 2, 3:15 - 4:15pm

Oral Session

Join Session

Racism and the Epistemology of Ignorance in Higher Education

Charmaine Crawford

"Ignorance allied with Power is the Most Ferocious Enemy Justice Can Have," James Baldwin.

In this paper, I will examine how a neo-conservative attack on diversity, equity, and inclusion as well as Critical Race Theory and non-Eurocentric worldviews in public higher education signals a precarious relationship between race, education, and liberatory pedagogy in the United States during the 21st century. In the post-Brown v. Board of Education era, white privilege and power continue to operate in innocuous ways to reproduce itself in education, institutions, media, law, and state through different methods, including hermeneutically through an epistemology of ignorance. In this presentation, the audience will learn how ignorance is weaponized to discriminate against BIPOC and other marginalized groups and why epistemic justice is important to anti-racist organizing in academia.

 

Session Block 3, 9:30 - 10:30am

Collective Self-Advocacy Strategies for Anti-Racist Institutional Excellence

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Roundtable

Teresa Villa-Ignacio, Calle Watkins Liu, Wanjiru Mbure, Shani Turner

This roundtable's participants collectively founded and co-chaired a Faculty of Color Association (FOCA) at a predominantly white small liberal arts college. We will discuss the self-advocacy lessons we learned and how we implement them in our current positions. Topics include student-centered, curricular, and faculty recruitment and retention strategies; advocating for sustainable funding; avoiding burnout; creating community by celebrating music, food, and culture; creating an information and action network for addressing crises in real-time, and leveraging partnerships with other minoritized groups such as the LGBTQ+ community and international students. This presentation will appeal to faculty and staff engaged in anti-racist efforts.

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Keynote Presentation, 11:00am - 12:00pm

Join Session

Carol Anderson, Ph.D.

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Session Block 4, 1:30 - 2:30pm

Disability Justice in DEIBJ Conversation

Join Session

Roundtable

Lisa Flowers-Clements, Sarah Doherty

A conversation between diverse disabled DEIBJ practitioners about personal and professional experiences of navigating PWI higher education institutions, working to enact inclusive excellence, belonging, and social justice as diverse disabled and chronically ill people, and the triumphs and frustrations of working as change agents in institutions that would prefer not to change. They will share survival strategies, lessons learned from DEIBJ work, and what makes them hopeful for a more just future in higher education.

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Session Block 5, 2:45 - 3:45pm

Teaching and Learning from International Students in a Global Village

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Roundtable

Rekha Sharma, Yesim Kaptan, Mitchell McKenney, Ikram Toumi

This roundtable discussion centers on intercultural communication in pedagogy/andragogy, emphasizing ways to encourage agency and interaction to foster learning and belonging. The discussion will incorporate interviews of international students and reflections from instructors regarding interpersonal, intercultural, and organizational communication practices that enhance education and connection for everyone involved. Presenters will share research and insights regarding potential dissimilarities about how instructors and students may view their roles, responsibilities, and norms in academic situations. Participants will be invited to discuss proactive behaviors and teaching methods used to engage and empower students, creating a microcosm of the world in online and face-to-face settings.

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Reimagining the Academy: Lived Experiences at Miami Supporting Inclusive Excellence Across our Institutions

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Panel Session

Jacqueline Johnson, Jody Perkins, Alia Levar Wegner

Librarians will discuss an interdisciplinary project that brings together faculty, professional staff, students and community members across the disciplinary, racial, geographic and socioeconomic barriers that typically divide us to develop an online resource archive that begins to tell the story of race at Miami and in the surrounding community. It includes oral histories, documentaries histories, and archival documents from and about Black alumni, students, faculty, and staff at Miami University. The project serves as a catalyst for the importance of teaching Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at a time when teaching this topic is being thwarted by lawmakers.