morning session | afternoon session 1 | afternoon session 2
MORNING SESSIONS (11:00AM - 12:15PM)
"Are You Legal?" The Latino Diaspora and the Role of Culturally Responsive Literacy
This presentation will guide participants through the challenge of engaging in dialogue about race, immigration and inequalities. Participants will be provided with background information and presented with a series of questions to guide the discussion. This session will look at how a Culturally Responsive framework can help participants navigate difficult topics such as immigration.
A Millennial View: Racial Attitudes, Social Justice & Leadership in the African American Community
The millennial generation is touted as the most racially and ethnically diverse generation in US history (Taylor & Keeter, 2010; Apollon, 2011). This workshop focuses on African American women in the millennial generation, providing participants the opportunity to learn about and discuss how race influences the social justice work of young African American women.
Global Inequities in Education: A Human Rights Violation
Education is a fundamental human right and essential for the exercise of all other human rights. It promotes individual freedom and empowerment and yields important development benefits. Yet millions of children and adults remain deprived of educational opportunities, many as a result of poverty. Education is a powerful tool by which economically and socially marginalized adults and children can lift themselves out of poverty and participate fully as citizens. This workshop will explore contemporary issues in global education, including successes, failures, and what's being done to promote this basic human right afforded to all people.
Helping DU International Students by Using Universal Design for Learning Principles and Strategies
The session will introduce the current and historical international student statistics at DU as a reference point. We will also identify particular challenges that learners who come from a different educational system and/or culture and are working in a second language environment may face. Basic principles of Universal Design will be presented, highlighting the emphasis on equal access to learning and its benefits for international students. There will be time for an open discussion at the end of the presentation.
How to Maximize Communication Between Men and Women
Men and women DO have unique communication styles that don’t always mesh well. Code Switching offers a way of “reaching across the aisle” to open the lines of communication. It helps both women and men crack the gender code and speak in common terms, so work gets done, conflict gets resolved, and mutual understanding and respect prevail at work and beyond. Code Switching is the ability to use your knowledge of two or more cultures or languages and switch between them, depending on the situation, to best communicate your message. The concept of code switching is used as a method to improve communication between men and women.
Health and Health Care: Enabler or Barrier to Decision Making for Diverse Populations
The approach to teaching diversity practices has evolved over decades. Today we talk about inclusiveness, wherein communities recognize that solutions will require many sectors and multiple simultaneous approaches if we are to achieve the overarching goal of equity and equality. There are few aspects of the diversity/inclusiveness tapestry more critical to address than health and health equity. Health disparities continue to plague our nation because of the complex interplay between biology and environment and their impacts on individual and community health. In this workshop, using interactive technology and case profiles, participants will have an opportunity to explore their and society’s knowledge, attitudes and behaviors regarding health, health access, and health disparities. The anticipated outcome is that we will walk away with a broader understanding of the requirements to improve health for diverse communities that moves from simply learning about clinical cultural competency to working upstream from the health care setting into the community to consider barriers and potential enablers.
Methodology of Culture: Teaching Diversity through (Foreign) Films
This workshop critically addresses the cross-cultural challenges international and study-abroad students have to face in the process of (geographical and metaphorical) world travel and demonstrates how a better interaction and re-connection with culture can be facilitated with the help of authentic foreign films with intercultural topicality. This project illustrates the importance of intercultural cinematography as powerful means of gaining cultural awareness and promoting inclusive cross-cultural dialogue. The presentation will consist of two parts: theoretical framework and a hands-on workshop with short film's analysis and discussion.
Repairing Impact by Championing Restorative Practices
Restorative Justice gives people the opportunity to share their voices and perspectives on a situation to repair any damage or harm that may have been caused to a community through a person's actions. This workshop will include a panel of speakers moderated to demonstrate the variety of areas where Restorative Justice can be used throughout society. The intention of the session is to provide participants with examples and strategies in ensuring all members of society or communities have a voice in disagreements and can work toward justice and healing.
Strategies for access and success for Post-Traditional students at the Colorado Women's College
The workshop will highlight strategies utilized by the University of Denver – Colorado Women’s College to recruit and support post-traditional students in an all Women's College. CWC has over a 100 year track record of providing college access to historically underrepresented women from diverse backgrounds. Panelists will share examples of how faculty and staff engage in unique ways to encourage women to attend CWC and how they are able to create a supportive and inclusive environment for success. These strategies help to support an increase in equity of college access and retention for historically underrepresented women.
Senior DU Administrator Forum
AFTERNOON SESSION I (2:15-3:15PM)
Campus Movements in the Age of Social Media Activism
This session will address the many facets of movement organizing. The presenters will share personal experiences as well as case studies, historical background, and strategies for organizing protests and demonstrations. We will integrate the use of social media as the context for creating and developing movements, including interactive activity that will allow participants to apply promising strategies at various stages of organizing. Participants will gain knowledge pertaining to all of the topics and will leave being able to engage in or support current and future campus movements, and will be provided with tools addressing intentionally inclusive movement organizing.
Health Care Reform: Opportunities to Reduce Health Disparities
The Institute of Medicine's (IOM) model of access to health services includes personal, financial, and structural barriers, health service utilization, and mediators of care. This session will focus on the opportunities presented by federal health care reform to reduce health disparities in these multiple dimensions of health care access.
Cultural Intelligence in Health Services
With the increasing diversity of the US population, health service providers must be aware of the influences that culture has on psychological processes, illnesses, service delivery and the ways that different people seek help. They must also be aware of the vast variety within groups. This workshop will provide an overview of the national and state changing demographics, challenges and opportunities within heath service delivery in the face of these rapid changes, and offer tools to address the challenges in the heath services sector. Participants will also learn through hands-on, experiential exercises.
Grassroots Diversity Organization Development
A panel of leaders of grassroots groups serving diverse communities both on campus and in the community will discuss their personal experiences and offer expertise in forming grassroots organizations focused on promoting diversity. The panel will include representatives from the DU Multicultural Interest Group (MIG) in the Psychology Doctoral Program, the founder of the Psychology Advocates for Community Engagement (PACE) group, the president of a grassroots undergraduate group, a pioneer in the community who has founded their own organization, and a faculty advocate for inclusivity at DU. The overall goal of the session is to provide a variety of perspectives on the establishment of grassroots organizations, as well as to provide practical startup tools and techniques, build local connections, and motivate participants to initiate groups focused on diversity within their communities.
Life and We Know It: Deconstructing Gender Inequalities and the Stereotypes they come from
This workshop will provide information that supports the notion that there still remain inequalities in our society based on gender. Examples will be shared from pop culture that examine how male and female gender roles are portrayed in the media. Participants will be encouraged to engage in a discussion from images shared. After these concepts are discussed in the general aspect, questions will be asked that will get the audience to narrow these ideas to the university setting so that they can continue deconstructing their own environment and figuring out ways to address these issues personally.
Managers should sweat the small stuff: Impacts of Micro-aggressions on employees
Managers work their hardest to select and hire the best and brightest candidates as our employees. Yet we often see employees leaving (mentally and physically) and blame them for not fitting in. This session looks at the concept of micro-behaviors (the small stuff!) and how seemingly invisible behaviors communicate that our employees are either “part of the gang” or “forever an outsider.” We explore how our micro messages may influence why some employees flourish while others falter. Learn how your own behaviors can increase retention and keep the talent you’ve worked so hard to get! Whether in a classroom, health clinic, or corporate workplace, the impact of micro-messages contributes to the feeling of equity and inclusiveness in that environment. Supervisors and managers can make a difference by being aware of the communication behaviors and micro-messages they display to employees
Tools to Establish a Safe Environment to Discuss Sensitive Issues
This workshop will present participants with tools to create a safe environment in which to discuss sensitive issues. Participants will learn about tools and ways to establish plans to deal with challenges, through small group discussion using case studies. Participants will leave with a handout of the suggested strategies and examples of ways to implement them.
When Well-intended Diversity Education Fails to Deliver and How to Ensure its Success
Diversity education is a popular approach to promoting equity, in the corporate world as well as in university settings. Most often, this comes in the form of workshops for employees/students and diversity training for management. Despite their popularity, however, these measures reportedly failed to reduce bias over the past 30 years since they started being implemented, and routinely backfire. We argue that, instead of the "one-size-fits-all" approach to diversity education, programs should carefully analyze the needs for promoting diversity in their specific organization, and carefully design their interventions based on that. This workshop will provide examples or good (and bad) practices and will offer participants practical tools to design impactful programs to increase diversity, reduce bias, and better address the pitfalls.
Your Role in Assistive Technology: What it is, how it works, and what you can do to facilitate equal access to electronic media
With the increasing focus on electronic media and technology, it is important for all people‚ both with and without impairments, to understand how these documents and technology interact with assistive technology devices. This workshop will introduce attendees to types of assistive technology (AT) commonly used by people with impairments that make reading and hearing difficult (e.g. vision impairments, learning disabilities, brain injuries). Participants will learn how AT interfaces with media and technology produced in the world, including websites, videos, PDFs, Word documents, and how AT can ease the reading and hearing process. Lastly, participants will receive information on free and paid software to minimize obstacles for people with impairments.
Crafting a Brand, Making a Mascot
A mascot is a rallying point of a University/College, professional sports team, brand, military unit, etc. We will discuss a brief history of mascots and transitions in relation to the University of Denver and elsewhere; and how one person can make a difference, even in the face of long standing conflict. We will further discuss the process of the new University of Denver official mascot initiative: how it was begun, the steps we have taken to involve members of the community, and where we hope to finish.
DU Faculty Forum
AFTERNOON SESSION II (3:30-4:30PM)
Continuing to Fight: Students of Color in Higher Education Prep Programs Speak
Presenters will share research exploring the experiences of 29 students of color (in Higher Education and Student Affairs programs) across the US in coping with racial microaggressions. While many studies broadly document the experiences of graduate students with regard to racial microaggressions, little research explores the experiences of Students of Color specifically in student affairs and higher education graduate programs. Study participants who reported racial microaggressions in their graduate programs have found ways to cope with these situations. Thus, we will use data from a larger study to highlight the strategies used to cope with racial microaggressions.
Creating Inclusive Possibilities within your Student Organization
Creating a space for inclusivity within student organizations begins with its leaders. Building off of experiences of the Graduate Student Government’s implementation of Inclusive Excellence throughout the organization, this workshop will provide guidelines for incorporating inclusive leadership and membership within student organizations. Beginning with actively recruiting leadership with similar goals to creating events that uphold the agenda of the organization, this workshop will discuss how to engage inclusivity at all levels of the student group.
Enhancing Service Quality for Deaf and Hard of Hearing: Transformational Ideas for Systems Change
This workshop will describe the work of the Colorado Daylight project that began in September 2009. This project was designed to advance access to mental health and substance abuse services for Coloradans who are deaf or hard hearing and their family members facing disparities in accessing needed services due to linguistic, communication and cultural barriers. Rather than focusing on acquiring new dollars to provide direct services, the plan focuses on improving the quality of the currently available publicly funded mental health and substance abuse services provided in Colorado.
Lessons Learned in Student Programming - Championing Equity
Participants will hear from student leaders who worked to ensure programs sponsored by the DU Planning Board were more inclusive. Through discussion, participants will gain insights on how to challenge student leaders to be mindful when planning events and work toward providing new opportunities for broader participation in student-led events at DU.
Privilege in Distress: Religion in Different Contexts
Historically, Christians in the US have enjoyed privileges throughout most contexts; however, recent strides toward religious equality have caused the privileged majority to confront a loss of privileges in certain settings. Our workshop will educate individuals about Christian privilege in the US, and will introduce the concept of distressed privilege. Discussion will focus on understanding how challenges to religious privilege in specific situations can lead to distress for members of the privileged group, and on connecting this experience back to religious privilege in US society as a whole. We will demonstrate how religious privilege influences systems in education (e.g., Christian prayers in public schools), mental health care (e.g., faith in substance abuse treatment), and community interactions (e.g., nativity scenes on government property), and highlight the contrast between discrimination and distressed privilege through the experiences of privileged and unprivileged groups within these systems.
TRIO Student Support Services Program: A Look at the First-Generation Retention Program at the Community College of Denver
This workshop will look at TRIO programs as models for retention and persistence among first-generation students, primarily focusing on TRIO Student Support Services (SSS) at the Community College of Denver. This workshop will provide the history of TRIO programs and TRIO SSS at CCD. Foundational theories of the program will be provided as well as an assessment of the program success. Organizational structure and examples of cultural, social, and academic aspects of TRIO SSS will also be discussed.
