Posters (Asynchronous Session)
Culturally Responsive Interventions to Increase Educational Equity for Somali Refugee Students in Green Bay Wisconsin: Incorporating Community Services Agency and United ReSisters Projects into Schools and Promoting an Alternative Narrative
Poster Session Katherine Stockman
Incorporating Somali community organizations and Somali-focused projects into Wisconsin’s public school districts is imperative in promoting educational equity with a trauma-sensitive lens for the East African Refugee population currently residing in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The local school district, through collaboration with COMSA (Community Services Agency), a refugee-focused non-profit organization, and utilization of “The First Winter,” a memoir published by twelve young Somali refugee women in Green Bay, creates space for Somali students to find their voice, assists with social emotional learning, promotes positive academic growth, and diversifies curriculum, attempting to close district achievement gaps.
Four Academics and a Pandemic: How Gender, Race, Disability, and COVID Have Impacted Professional and Personal Lives View Digital Media
Poster Session Diana Rios, Graciela Quinones Rodriguez, Mary Helen Millham, Karin Haberlin
University women are coping within a nexus of political turmoil, economic disparities, civil rights turning points, and public health crises. COVID-19 in particular has added additional layers of responsibility related to the well-being of diverse students they teach, how they should teach, how to continue research, and how to effectively work from home. These layers also extend to emotional, cultural, practical, and medical support for family. Professional women may be perceived by society and family as trying to be “unsinkable” during normal times. However, women cannot perfectly achieve the ideal demands they place on themselves and that society places upon them. During this “apocalyptic reckoning” of multiple crises, women need self-care and allyship to sustain, maintain, and advance. Using feminist lenses, we examine first-hand experiences, challenges, and coping mechanisms of four academic women with unique roles in higher education using auto-ethnographic methods. This is a well-established approach by female scholars/scholars of color/educators because it gives voice to historically under-examined issues. Auto-ethnographers are: a seasoned faculty member at a state flagship university; a faculty member at a private college; a manager in a state agency and a doctoral student; and, a distinguished psychotherapist counseling campus students and city community members.
Heightened Concern, Sense of Hope for Students: Pedagogy During Health Crises and Black Lives Matter View Digital Media
Poster Session Mary Helen Millham, Diana Rios
Our heightened concern is forged with a sense of hope for students as we ponder effective and compassionate teaching and how newly acquired skills by all can be used in a future atmosphere of a new normal. The pandemic crisis and racial/civil rights flash points have impacted university teaching, advising, and planning in unfathomable ways. Instructors want to be fair to diverse students, who differ by economic class, race, political activism, and more, who have been impacted by emotional illness, physical illness, finances, and social/human rights movements. Instructors also strive to maintain the integrity of course pedagogy, and learning building blocks that are important for students’ content mastery and critical thinking. The intersections of human qualities and external forces are complex. We are conscious of our important roles in this historical moment and wish to compare and contrast the public and private universities by examining how pressures have created long-term urgency in the face-to-face and online classroom, focusing on students: financial impact, digital divides, emotional and physical wellness; and political activism for racial justice. In our study, we draw from current experiences and conundrums in USA higher education as well as select global, federal, and state institutional, financial, wellness indicators, trend data, racial justice reports.
Social Media Political Discourse Among Students: Potential Areas of Inquiry View Digital Media
Poster Session Douglass Smith, Will Senn
In today’s polarized social environment, many extremist groups exist online and use social media as a way to recruit and indoctrinate members. These groups exist to reward and reinforce homogeneity of thought and behavior around an extremist ideology. Specialized social media platforms have come into existence that support groups including extremist groups. This study looks at the dynamics of social media platforms, diversity, and student perspectives around using these platforms in the context of political discourse.
Addressing the Absence of Health Disparities Education in Clinical Rotations View Digital Media
Poster Session Keerthi Gondy, Divya Gumudavelly, Samantha Gondy, Sanaya Irani, Samantha Lyons, Kavya Davuluri
At the University of Michigan Medical School (UMMS), the Student Diversity Council (SDC) is a student-led consortium that seeks to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) through education, outreach, and activism. An aim of the education committee is to develop a clinical health disparities curriculum as there is no national, standardized curriculum that addresses healthcare disparities across the clinical clerkships in the United States. The Clinical Trunk Health Disparities Curriculum involves creating a health disparities lecture for 15 clinical clerkships in order to improve students’ understanding of structural determinants of health and healthcare disparities among marginalized patient populations. To this end, the committee recruited 64 students and 31 faculty across 15 clinical rotations. Per clerkship, 4 students were paired with 2-3 faculty for support and mentorship. A 50-page DEI Lecture Framework with inclusive language and visual recommendations, learning objectives, and curricular cultural competencies was provided for reference. A faculty committee review team of individuals experienced in curriculum design was assembled to review each lecture. Implications of research education around healthcare disparities in medical schools is limited in terms of dedicated hours, breadth, and depth. However, knowledge of this topic is necessary and essential towards developing informed and culturally humble physicians. The development of these lectures enabled students and faculty to learn about the spectrum of health inequities across various specialities. Students will present these lectures through a longitudinal Health Equity Series for clinical students. Additionally, these lectures may be incorporated into each specialty’s residency education series as warranted.
