"Conceptualizing, Implementing & Sustaining Inclusive Spaces" Workshop & Speaker Series (Spring 2024)
The "Conceptualizing, Implementing & Sustaining Inclusive Spaces" workshop and speaker series ran throughout the Spring 2024 semester, with events open to UAlbany students, faculty and staff, as well as the broader community.
The series provided opportunities for UAlbany community members to build the skills needed to create inclusive spaces in the classroom, across campus and beyond. The program was conceived in response to WCI’s Spring 2023 workshop on intersectional antiracism, which engaged students, faculty and staff. The series also aims to build on conversations kindled during UAlbany’s free speech symposium held in Fall 2023.
The series included five events:
- Keynote Talk: "Creating Brave Spaces for Challenging Dialogues"
- The keynote was presented by Brian Arao and Kristi Clemens on February 23, 2024. The event description was as follows:
"Bravery has always been essential in group-based learning about diversity, equity, inclusion, social justice and belonging (DEIJB). As attacks on DEIJB efforts and minoritized communities escalate in frequency and intensity, the need for brave spaces is more urgent today than ever. Join Brian Arao and Kristi Clemens — the co-creators of the brave space framework — for an intimate conversation about its origins, evolution and future."
- The keynote was presented by Brian Arao and Kristi Clemens on February 23, 2024. The event description was as follows:
- Faculty & Staff Workshop: “Psychological Safety: Building the Foundation for Transparent Communication on Complex Topics”
- The workshop was facilitated by Rachel Breidster on February 26, 2024. The event description was as follows:
"This workshop will engage participants in an exploration of the role that psychological safety plays in building engaged, trusting, collaborative, transparent and productive work environments. Specifically, this workshop will engage with the thesis that psychological safety is a necessary condition for meaningful discussion and action regarding diversity, equity and inclusion."
- The workshop was facilitated by Rachel Breidster on February 26, 2024. The event description was as follows:
- Public Lecture: “10 Commandments for Student Success”
- This lecture was presented by Carol Tonge Mack, author of Being Bernadette: From Polite Silence to Finding the Black Girl Magic Within, on March 11, 2024. The event description was as follows:
"Carol Tonge Mack, assistant dean of retention in the College of Arts and Science at the University of Cincinnati, will visit several WCI classes to discuss her memoir, Being Bernadette, and field student questions. Mack will conclude her visit to UAlbany with a public lecture aimed at empowering students. Her talk will offer strategies for students to support their journey towards personal and academic success."
- This lecture was presented by Carol Tonge Mack, author of Being Bernadette: From Polite Silence to Finding the Black Girl Magic Within, on March 11, 2024. The event description was as follows:
- Faculty & Staff Workshop: “Rejecting Perfectionism: Adopting a Growth Mindset to Foster Inclusion”
- This workshop was facilitated by Rachel Breidster on April 1, 2024. The event description was as follows:
"This workshop will guide participants in uncovering and unpacking the role that a culture of perfectionism plays in stifling growth and transparent conversation about inclusivity for both students and faculty. It will specifically address the parallels that exist between faculty concerns about potentially mishandling sensitive situations involving diversity, and students striving to correct problems in academic settings that preclude inclusivity. After laying this foundation, participants will explore how adopting a growth mindset, particularly in the classroom, can improve their ability to create an inclusive learning space on multiple levels."
- This workshop was facilitated by Rachel Breidster on April 1, 2024. The event description was as follows:
- Finale Talk: “Counterstory and Critical Race Theory”
- This talk was presented by Aja Martinez, author of the multi-award-winning book Counterstory: The Rhetoric and Writing of Critical Race Theory, on Friday, April 12, 2024. The event description was as follows:
"Martinez will discuss how and why the work she began in her seminal 2014 essay, “A Plea for a Critical Race Theory Counterstory,” has evolved. She will discuss how a simple question became a complex, interdisciplinary project, co-researched and co-written with historian and Indigenous studies scholar Robert O. Smith. Drawing on mixed methods, ranging from archival, to ethnographic, to literary and rhetorical analysis, Martinez and Smith reframe the histories of CRT’s origins in legal studies while making provocative claims concerning CRT’s storytelling pedagogy, methodology and theory."
- This talk was presented by Aja Martinez, author of the multi-award-winning book Counterstory: The Rhetoric and Writing of Critical Race Theory, on Friday, April 12, 2024. The event description was as follows:
The series was made possible thanks to support of a Diversity Transformation Award and the following sponsors: Office of Diversity and Inclusion; New York State Writers Institute; Learning Commons and HHMI-STEM; Gender & Sexuality Resource Center; Resource Centers; Department of Women's Gender and Sexuality Studies; Center for the Advancement of Teaching, Learning and Online Education.