Rev. Tutu is the third child of Archbishop Desmond and Nomalizo Leah Tutu. She was born in South Africa and had the opportunity to live in many communities and countries. She was educated in Swaziland, the US, and England, and has divided her adult life between South Africa and the US. Growing up the ‘daughter of …’ has offered Naomi Tutu many opportunities and challenges in her life. Perhaps one of the greatest challenges she has struggled with is the call to ministry. From early in her life she would say, “I have my father’s nose, I do not want his job!” Yet this call refused to be silenced. Even as she carried her passion for justice into other fields, the call to preach and serve as an ordained clergyperson continued to tug at her. Finally, in her 50’s she responded to the call and went to seminary.

Her professional experience ranges from being a development consultant in West Africa to being a program coordinator for programs on Race and Gender and Gender-based Violence in Education at the African Gender Institute at the University of Cape Town. In addition, Rev. Tutu has taught at the University of Hartford, the University of Connecticut, and Brevard College in North Carolina. She served as Program Coordinator for the historic Race Relations Institute at Fisk University and was a part of the Institute’s delegation to the World Conference Against Racism in Durban. 

She started her public speaking as a college student at Berea College in Kentucky in the 1970s when she was invited to speak at churches, community groups, and colleges and universities about her experiences growing up in apartheid South Africa. Since that time, she has become a much sought-after speaker to groups as varied as business associations, professional conferences, elected officials, and church and civic organizations. 

Rev. Tutu is the recipient of four honorary doctorates from universities and colleges in the US and Nigeria. She is currently the Associate Rector of All Saints Episcopal Church, Beverly Hills, CA, and the single mother of two daughters and a son. 

Session Description: This session will offer research-based information that will empower educators to navigate the complexities of the current education culture wars and demystify the polarizing language and debates that are constructing a divide between communities and educators. Participants will leave with a clearer understanding of how media portrayals of Critical Race Theory have fueled an uptick in book bans, new legislative attempts to limit educators’ pedagogical autonomy, and widespread confusion about the goals of anti-racist and anti-bias teaching. This session aims to build schema which will increase educators’ confidence in their instructional decisions, curricular materials, and equitable practices, and strengthen their ability to effectively communicate about these choices with parents and caretakers. This session also offers strategies for developing the skills and dispositions to engage in and facilitate civil discourse in the classroom, and in conversations with parents and caretakers, toward mutual understanding. 

Presenters: Ms. Katie Cubano (she/her), Ms. Beth Pandolpho (she/her) & Mr. Justin Dolcimascolo (he/him)

Session Description: The presenters will reflect on the lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic and other past crises, and discuss the need for institutional crisis management plans that account for the social positionings and intersectional realities and needs of graduate students, particularly those who hold (multiple) minoritized identities. The presentation will be interactive, allowing for organic conversation amongst attendees. As a group, we will discuss considerations and co-construct recommendations for developing intersectional institutional crisis management plans that reflect the heterogeneous needs of the various subgroups of graduate students within the academy.

Presenters: Dr. Raquel Wright-Mair (She/her), Candice Peters (She/her), Gabby McAllaster (She/her)

Catalyst for Change: The Case for Cultural Competency Curriculum in Higher Education

Session Description: The goal of this equity workshop for faculty, administrators and staff members, is to explore the need for cultural competence (the ability to understand, interact effectively with people from other cultures and a readiness to accept and respect those differences) as a central principle in higher education to increase equity and meaningful inclusion in the classroom. Participants will learn, practice, strategize, and discuss methods of cultural competence, curriculum development, pedagogical practices, empowerment, and collective healing. The workshop will highlight two courses at Rowan University and Rutgers University-New Brunswick, which intentionally discuss diversity, equity, inclusion and social justice concepts and topics. 

Session Description: This presentation unpacks the ways in which Du Bois’ double consciousness and a Psychological lens of Labeling Theory and Imposter Syndrome can be overcome when we understand the ways in which these phenomena are socially and culturally constructed.  For those of us who are first-generation, it is not uncommon to experience and internalize imposter syndrome (Peteet et al., 2015). In addition to this real phenomenon, Du Bois’ theory of double-consciousness is also present and presents a solid foundation for understanding the underlying systemic issues and barriers that first-generation students face. In addition to this real phenomenon, Du Bois’ theory of double-consciousness is also present and presents a solid foundation for understanding the underlying systemic issues and barriers that first-generation students face.  For example, people with close proximity to wealth and whiteness, do not experience the oppressions of double consciousness because they are already part of the dominant culture that would seek to shape how they should understand themselves. Through careful consideration of the deep-reaching ways in which systemic oppression creates the experience of imposter syndrome, we can begin to unpack, unlearn, and even subvert white, Euro-centric, and upper-class values.  

Session Description: This presentation shares a unit from a writing course on self-publishing where students conducted primary and secondary research to recover histories of activist authors who have used small presses, grassroots organizations, zines, & radical bookstores to promote anti-racist discourse and challenge white supremacy.

 

Session Description: This panel of anthropologists will provide an overview of the most recent research on the biology, archaeology, and culture of race and racism, and discuss how misunderstandings of race lead to continued misrepresentations, inequalities, inequities, and mistreatment in important areas of social life including healthcare and public policy in the U.S. and abroad.  

Presenter: Dr. Maria Rosado (she/her)

Dr. Rosado is a Professor of Anthropology, and Chair of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Rowan University. Her research focuses on bioarchaeological studies of Pre-Columbian Andean peoples and osteological conservation. Dr. Rosado is the Co-curator of the Museum of Anthropology at Rowan University. With Dr. Jane Hill, Dr. Rosado has contributed two chapters on bioarchaeology in the book King Seneb-Kay’s Tomb and the Necropolis of a Lost Dynasty at Abysdos. Since 1991, Dr. Rosado has been an Adjunct Investigator of physical Anthropology at the Museo Arqueológico de La Serena, Chile where she conducts research on paleopathology with Rowan students.

Session Description: In this roundtable session, members of the Rowan University Libraries’ DEI Committee will discuss this committee’s work to date. Now in its third year, the DEI Committee has led the Libraries in identifying and working toward an initial set of transformative strategic goals. These have led us to develop and implement more equitable and inclusive hiring practices, conduct user research on how we can reduce barriers to our services for marginalized members of our communities, and make regular conversations about DEI a part of our organizational culture. We will describe our strategies and results, the supports and challenges we have experienced, and the next steps we anticipate in the future. We also greatly encourage the participation of representatives from other DEI bodies at Rowan and beyond in this discussion, so that we can exchange ideas and compare experiences in moving our communities forward.

 

Session Description: Programs and initiatives across the university are committed to racial equity, but, as institutional assessment has revealed, that commitment does not always manifest in grading outcomes and other tangible performance measures. In this roundtable, faculty from the First-Year Writing Program will discuss how, when confronted with a racial disparity in grading and assessment, we made use of existing required assessment practices and data collection to promote more equitable grading practices and make progressive change in student grading outcomes. Reviewing how we used tools ranging from professional development sessions to university dashboards, we will propose a model for how programs and departments might use existing data to advance transformative DEI work. This roundtable will culminate with a guided reflection and open discussion to help other faculty, program coordinators, or department chairs work through the challenges of creating buy-in and tangible change.

Session Description (roundtable): Rowan University recently conducted a climate survey focused on neurodiversity.  Responses to the survey by faculty and staff will be shared in a brief presentation.  This will guide questions and conversations by a panel of Faculty and Professional Staff members of the Rowan community who identify as neurodivergent, as they discuss their lived experiences of working at Rowan University.  

 

Session Description: This presentation will review the benefits of captions and transcripts for students and will provide suggestions for mitigating challenges with the creation and distribution of these materials. Checkpoint 1.2 in the Guidelines for Universal Design for Learning (UDL) indicates to “Offer alternatives for auditory information” (Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST), 2018). Alternatives, such as captions and transcripts, benefit learners in several ways allowing them to mitigate challenges such as hearing disabilities, memory difficulties, lack of organizational cues in presented material, presenter accent or pace, etc. Further, captions and transcriptions can provide learners the ability to review the content of a presentation at their own pace and clarify their understanding of key concepts and ideas. Captions and transcripts can also enable technical affordances such as the possibility of keyword searching of a single presentation or across all presentations in a course.

 Presenter: Dr. Steve Garwood (he/him)

Session Description (roundtable) : Diversity and inclusion have been a trend in the sports industry in recent years. With most North American men’s professional sports leagues and teams starting their diversity and inclusion efforts in form of diversity pipeline programs, the industry is still largely dominated by white, heterosexual males and little diversity efforts have been effective at both the league and team levels according to the racial and gender hiring reports conducted by The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport (TIDES). 

Session Description: This qualitative approach to understanding the recent spike in antisemitic/religiously based hate crimes against Jewish individuals in the United States showed that there is a correlation between lack of Holocaust and genocide education and antisemitic ideals, thus causing a spike in antisemitic hate crimes. This research can be used to help policymakers understand the importance of nationwide mandates on Holocaust and genocide education. This type of research should be on the forefront of curriculum development because it exemplifies the ways that lack of education on the Holocaust and genocide manifest itself in real-world application.

Session Description: The presenters will discuss the data from a study centering the voices of black and white girls in high school using Visual Arts-Based Educational Research methods. In a display of findings and recommendations, higher education and K-12 educators will engage in holistic and innovative ways to conduct research while also learning to create more inclusive school environments for girls. Core discussion points include: engaging student voice, curriculum as the reproduction of inequity, belonging, and student perceptions on experiences of discrimination.

Session Description: Food insecurity and access to fresh produce, in particular, is a threat to low-income families and individuals with disabilities. Two grant-funded projects focused on the use of local and/or home gardening as a way to increase access to fresh foods for these populations. Glassboro Grows enabled 13 low-income Glassboro residents to create, grow and harvest produce from a home garden. Supported by trained health coaches, these participants reached goals to eat more fresh foods. The Fresh Foods Initiative made gardening more inclusive of people with disabilities. Seven community gardens and 5 group home gardens were built/renovated using Universal Design principles. A 5-module training program was created to teach health professionals how to lead fresh-foods based cooking classes for people with disabilities. Dietetics, physical therapy and occupational therapy students completed the training and led these classes in group homes. These studies will inform larger-scale implementation of these programs.

Event Description: I will present a series of artworks designed to create space for solidarity and social justice before leading an art workshop designed around the theme of the conference (after speaking with the organizing members of the conference to determine what would be most interesting to the audience, similar to the Art & Power Workshop from the last DEI event in October 2021).

Session Description: The workshop will focus on giving teachers tools and strategies that would make their classroom more culturally responsive. Using the works of Zaretta Hammond, Sara K. Ahmad, and Cornelius Minor, we will explore what equitable practices look like in the K-12 setting and the effect it has on student outcomes. 

Presenter: Mrs. Samantha Laiso (she/her)