Past Event: C+V Special Edition Community Talk: Israel & Gaza
Thursday, October 19, 2023 | 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m. MST | Zoom
Recording can be viewed here: https://youtu.be/hwjDQzANNck
The violence that is taking place in Israel, Palestine, and Gaza is incredibly tragic and painful – it is hard to even find the words to explain it. Our thoughts are with all of those affected by this conflict. We know that this has impacted, both directly and indirectly, many in our community.
We invite you to join us via Zoom on Thursday. Chancellor Haefner will open the session with remarks, and we will then hear from a panel of DU community members from across the University of Denver engage in meaningful discussion and learning. We will explore the human impact, recent events, and geopolitical context.
Our goal is to create a space for empathy and understanding, where participants can gain insight into the perspectives of those affected and engage in constructive reflection and learning. Join us for this challenging and important conversation. It is imperative to note that every DU community member deserves to feel safe and welcome - we do not tolerate antisemitism, Islamophobia, or any form of hate.
It’s important to remember that behind every headline and every statistic is a human story, and that the people impacted by this conflict are not just numbers, but individuals with their own hopes, dreams, and families. We recognize everyone in the community is processing their own feelings, reactions, and thoughts. We know many have family members and friends directly affected by what’s happening. We want to provide a space for learning, support, and nuance around a difficult conversation. We hope you will join us.
Thank you to our panelists who you can learn more about below.
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Resources:
Below are a number of resources for the DU community. This list will be updated as resources, programming, and events are shared. To add a resource or item, please email CommunityPlusValues@du.edu.
Additional Upcoming Events:
Israel: From Internal Crisis to War | Presented by the Josef Korbel School of International Studies
Date/Time: Wednesday October 18, 2023 | 5:00 pm MST
Location: Virtual or In-Person, Sie 5025 Maglione Hall or click here for Zoom link
Featuring:- Professor Micheline Ishay, Director, Center of Middle East Studies
- Dr. Adam Rovner, Director, Center for Judaic Studies
- Dr. Ahmed Abdrabou, Visiting Assistant Professor at JKSIS
- U.S. Ambassador Gary A. Grappo
DU Community Resources:
Health and Counseling Center (HCC) provides many in-person tele-medical and mental health services to undergraduate, graduate, and professional students, including crisis and after-hours support. All University of Denver students have access to free crisis services at HCC, regardless of insurance coverage.
Get confidential support on your phone or computer through the no-cost TELUS Health Student Support Program (formerly MySSP). The TELUS Student Support Health app gives you 24/7 access to counselors who speak Mandarin, Cantonese, French, Spanish, and English. (Other languages may be available by appointment based on availability.)
Dean of Students Office serves as a central hub to connect undergraduate, graduate, and professional students to supportive campus and community resources to successfully navigate their DU experience.
• The Cultural Center provides identity-based student programming, annual cultural signature events, leadership opportunities and support for BIPOC students and LGBTQ+ students. • DUhelp offers a wide range of resources to support your experience and success. • Student Outreach and Support (SOS) helps students connect to support resources, develop a plan of action to meet their goals, and navigate challenging situations. Equal Opportunity and Title IX (EOIX) is responsible for receiving and responding to reports and concerns of discrimination, harassment, and gender-based violence involving students, faculty, staff, and third parties. EOIX provides information about resolution options, coordinates supportive measures, facilitates informal resolutions, and conducts investigations.
International Student and Scholar Services supports internationalization at the University of Denver by serving as a resource to students, faculty, and staff in meeting the needs of the international community on campus.
Employee Assistance Program (EAP) provides support to all benefited staff and faculty at no cost. The EAP is a 100% confidential health benefit, separate from medical insurance, to help you manage a broad range of life's daily challenges, including anxiety, depression, marriage/relationship problems, grief/loss, substance abuse, anger management, work-related pressure, and stress.
Office of Teaching and Learning, Inclusive Teaching Practices, Trauma-Informed Pedagogy: This Trauma-Informed and Healing-Centered pedagogies module is responsive to broad experiences of individual and community trauma in relation to academic settings, teaching, and learning. While the topics discussed herein vary in breadth and depth, the goal is to provide language, guidelines, frameworks, tools, and supportive resources to support faculty members and students as they navigate the complex layers of trauma and healing.
Mental Health & Psychosocial Support Network: Experiencing grief, sadness and a felt sense of compromised safety can lead to a wide range of physical, mental health, and social problems. These can include increased stress, hypertension, poor sleep, depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress, anger, shame, suicidal behaviors, social isolation, and relationship issues. Entire communities that share identities with individuals who are targeted in hate crimes may also experience similar impacts. It is essential to recognize everyone may respond differently to current events. For many, mental health and psychosocial care may be helpful. If you or someone you know may be in need of mental health or psychosocial support, please contact the University of Denver's MHPSS Network - https://psychology.du.edu/content/mhpss-basic-home
Trauma Disaster Recovery Clinic (TDRC) The University of Denver’s community-facing clinic, the Trauma Disaster Recovery Clinic (TDRC), also offers psychotherapy services to individuals and communities affected by trauma and adversity, including hate crimes. For assistance, contact us at gsppinfo@du.edu or 303-871-3736.
Department of Campus Safety: In a crisis or emergency situation, call 911 and 303-871-3000. We are advocators and facilitators of a healthy and safe educational, professional and residential University of Denver (DU) community. Our Department logs over 13,000 calls for service and 62,000 computer-aided dispatch events every year, writing approximately 1,000 reports annually. We take your safety seriously, preventing and preparing for emergencies and crime while providing training and outreach services, comprehensive resources and reporting options. We foster a culture of trust with personable, timely service and transparent information on the challenges our campus faces.
DU Community Speakers:
Jeremy Haefner, Opening Remarks
Chancellor, University of Denver
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Learn more about Chancellor Haefner
Jeremy Haefner is the University of Denver’s 19th chancellor. He brings to DU over three decades of leadership experience in higher education at both public and private institutions.
Chancellor Haefner strongly believes DU is an institution uniquely able to serve students as they prepare for successful careers and meaningful lives—today and into the future. And he is deeply committed to upholding the University’s long-held mission of serving the public good.
As a mathematician, Chancellor Haefner studies integral representation and module theory. He has a Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Wisconsin. He was born and raised in Iowa with strong mid-Western values, is a triathlete, and a lifelong Star Trek fan—especially for its themes on equality and hope for the future.
Ahmed Abdrabou
Assistant Professor, Josef Korbel School of International Studies
University of Denver
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Learn more about Ahmed
Prof. Abdrabou is an assistant teaching professor at Korbel school of international studies and the director of US-Japan Diplomacy Program at Korbel School. He is specialized on Middle Eastern and East Asian Politics.
Micheline Ishay
Professor of International Studies and Human Rights
Director, Center for Middle East Studies; Director of Political Theory
Josef Korbel School of International Studies
University of Denver
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Learn more about Micheline
Micheline Ishay’s primary areas of research and teaching are the Middle East and human rights; these are core concerns of the Center for Middle East Studies at the Joseph Korbel School. She lived for many years in the region, including visiting professorships at Khalifa University in Abu Dhabi, Tel Aviv University, and Hebrew University inJerusalem. She published widely on human rights, and the Middle East, including her 2019 Yale University Press book: The Levant Express, The Arab Spring, Human Rights and the Future of the Middle East. Her most recent publication was an article caIled Israel’s Golem and the Crisis of Israeli Democracy, which appeared on October 3 in Newsline Magazine and was reprinted soon after in Jordan News.
https://newlinesmag.com/argument/israels-golem-and-the-crisis-of-democracy/
Angela Michener, she/her
LCSW, Health and Counseling Center
University of Denver
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Learn more about Angela
I find myself driven to work with communities and individuals who have had the door shut on them. My work is informed by my core social justice beliefs. I work with clients to see what we can challenge and change on the individual, community and structural level. I understand all healing as a radical act.
My past work experience has included working in health care and community settings, in Toronto, Edmonton, Phnom Penh and now Denver.
I have experience and practice in the following modalities: DBT, CBT, CPT, Motivational Interviewing, CRA, Psychotherapy and Narrative Therapy.
Areas of interest include: addictions, queer experiences, experiences of homelessness or precarious housing, childhood trauma, intergenerational trauma, identity-based trauma and oppression, as well the healing power and resiliency fostered in identity-based communities.
Gwen Mitchell, she/her
Associate Professor, MA program in International Disaster Psychology: Trauma and Global Mental Health
Graduate School of Professional Psychology
University of Denver
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Learn more about Gwen
Dr. Gwen Mitchell, PsyD, is an Associate Professor and Co-Director of the International Disaster Psychology: Trauma & Global Mental Health program at the University of Denver. With a rich background that includes roles with Doctors Without Borders, The Center for Victims of Torture, the United Nations, and Open Society, Dr. Mitchell brings extensive experience in humanitarian work across Southeast Asia, the Middle East, the Caribbean, and Africa. Her research interests span diverse areas, encompassing trauma recovery, post-traumatic growth, global mental health, women's health, group psychotherapy in Myanmar, moral injury, and psychological responses to disasters. Dr. Mitchell's multifaceted expertise makes her a valuable contributor to the field of international disaster psychology, where her work focuses on the well-being and resilience of individuals and communities in crisis-stricken regions worldwide.
Experiencing grief, sadness and a felt sense of compromised safety can lead to a wide range of physical, mental health, and social problems. These can include increased stress, hypertension, poor sleep, depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress, anger, shame, suicidal behaviors, social isolation, and relationship issues. Entire communities that share identities with individuals who are targeted in hate crimes may also experience similar impacts. It is essential to recognize everyone may respond differently to current events. For many, mental health and psychosocial care may be helpful. If you or someone you know may be in need of mental health or psychosocial support, please contact the University of Denver's MHPSS Network - https://psychology.du.edu/content/mhpss-basic-home
The University of Denver’s community-facing clinic, the Trauma Disaster Recovery Clinic (TDRC), also offers psychotherapy services to individuals and communities affected by trauma and adversity, including hate crimes. For assistance, contact us at gsppinfo@du.edu or 303-871-3736.
Ann Petrila, she/her
Professor of the Practice
Graduate School of Social Work
University of Denver
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Learn more about Ann
Professor Ann Petrila is the Coordinator of Global Initiatives, Coordinator of the Global Social Work Certificate, and Director of Global Practice Bosnia at the University of Denver Graduate School of Social Work. Ann is co-author, with Hasan Hasanović, of the book "Voices From Srebrenica: Survivor Narratives of the Bosnian Genocide", as well as the Methodology for the Srebrenica Genocide Memorial Oral History Project. Her areas of expertise include global cultural perspectives, cumulative and collective trauma, crimes against humanity, genocide, and post-conflict regions. She has co-authored an educational documentary and curriculum modules entitled "The World Speaks and We Listen", which elevates the voices of people from throughout Bosnia who survived the war and the genocide and who have wisdom to share with U.S. students of social work and human rights. This documentary and accompanying curricula will be made available to every school of social work in the U.S.
Jonathan Sciarcon, he/him
Associate Professor of History and Judaic Studies, Chair of the Department of History
University of Denver
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Learn more about Jonathan
Jonathan Sciarcon has taught Middle Eastern history at the University of Denver since 2010. His research expertise is on late Ottoman Jewish history. He is currently an Associate Professor of History and Judaic Studies, and Chair of the Department of History.
Jeff Banks, Panel Moderator
Vice Chancellor, Human Resources & Inclusive Community
University of Denver
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Learn more about Jeff
Jeff Banks is the Vice Chancellor for Human Resources at the University of Denver and leads the Office of Human Resources and Inclusive Community. Prior to joining the University of Denver in March 2022, Jeff served as the Senior Associate Vice President for University Personnel at Sonoma State University.
Jeff began his career in higher education at the University of Arkansas for twelve years culminating as the Assistant Dean for Human Resources and Organizational Development for the University of Arkansas Libraries. Jeff also served twelve years as an officer in the US Air Force. Throughout his career, Jeff has been a champion for diversity, equity, inclusion and social justice efforts.
Additional panelists coming soon.