Conference Agenda

Workshop A1:
Incorporating LGBTQ Curriculum in the Classroom

This panel representing all the schools at the University of Rochester, will offer concrete examples of how they infuse LGBTQ (the commonly used acronym for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer) research and curriculum into their classrooms and their teaching practice, from undergraduate programs through doctoral studies programs.  Small group discussion with time for questions will follow the panel presentation.

Ed Brockenbrough, Assistant Professor of Teaching and Curriculum at the Warner School

BJ Douglass, LCSW, Adjunct Faculty for the Susan B. Anthony Institute for Gender and Women Studies, and the Warner School

Panel: Anne Nofziger, Chunkit Fung, Craig Sellers, Katherine Ciesinski,  Rachel Remmel, Karen Mackie, Logan Hazen, Jeffrey Tucker, James Johnson

Workshop A2:
Language in Action: How Conversation Leads to Institutional Change at the Eastman School of Music

This workshop outlines the Eastman Diversity Committee's evolving conversation, including the challenges and insights, in defining diversity for our musical institution. In the musical context, who is underrepresented? This workshop will trace Eastman's conversation, leading to the Dean's proposal of a revised mission statement to include diversity as a core mission.

Caterina Falli, Associate Professor of English as a Second Language at the Eastman School of Music

Catherine Branch, Flute; Katherine Ciesinski, Professor of Voice;  John Fetter, Assistant Professor of Music Education; Ellen Koskoff, Professor of Ethnomusicology. All the presenters serve on the Eastman Diversity Committee.

Workshop A3:
Responding to Power Inequities in the Workplace: A Process Development Case Study

Using an adapted health care quality improvement model, participants will process a case study of an adverse organizational event involving power inequities and ineffective management that results in harmful, dissatisfying outcomes for employees. Participants will be invited to develop recommendations for improving work climates and evaluate the model’s potential utility.

Daryl Sharp, Associate Dean for Faculty Development and Diversity and a Faculty Diversity Officer in the School of Nursing

Workshop A4:
Mastering Inclusive Leadership

This workshop will present a framework to consider multiple aspects of diversity, and explore the dynamics of learning and contributing in diverse communities. Participants can expect to leave this interactive workshop with an enhanced ability to understand and enact inclusive practices.

Valeria Sinclair-Chapman, Director of Graduate Programs within the David T. Kearns Center for Leadership and Diversity in Arts, Sciences and Engineering

Workshop A5:
A Global Dialogue: Understanding the International Graduate Student Experience

This session will explore the experiences of international graduate students on campus. We will highlight various challenges and discuss how University divisions approach such issues, which strategies are successful, and where further development could be helpful. Opportunities will also be available to discuss programs and brainstorm future initiatives.

Stephanie Beetle, Senior Immigration Advisor, International Services Office

Panel: John Hain, Logan Hazen, Wendi Heinzelman, Laura Gavigan, and Linda Lipani

Workshop B1:
Using a Hands-on Interactive Approach to Connect your Ideas with Diverse Group

Presenters will share their experiences in using interactive methods to increase access and engagement to community groups, and outline a framework for developing an interactive event.  Participants will have a chance to work with presenters to develop their research and health messages into preliminary interactive programs.

Shaw-Ree Chen, Assistant Director of the Life Sciences Learning Center

Panel: Cathy Bunce,
Liam Casey, and
Cody Gardner

Workshop B2:
"But Beyonce Can't be Black...She's Hot."

This title illustrates an actual statement from a classroom discussion. This workshop will devise effective responses to real-life examples of insensitive, uninformed, and/or offensive statements from classroom and workplace settings.  We’ll discuss, dissect critical incidents and responses, and challenge ourselves to not be shocked into speechlessness but instead to engage in productive conversations.

Ronke Tapp, Assistant Director for Multiculturalism, University Counseling Center

Workshop B3:
Championing Inclusion: Exploring the Role of Affinity Groups in Changing the Conversation

Affinity Groups are an essential component of diversity and inclusion efforts for all organizations. Members of Affinity Groups volunteer their time to sponsor cultural and networking events to engage both the University and Greater Rochester communities. Join representatives of the University's five Affinity Groups in an interactive discussion to explore the contributions of Affinity Groups in supporting the University's mission of inclusion.

Kristin Hocker, Organizational Development Specialist, Human Resources Department

African American Network, Latino Professional Alliance, Pride Alliance, Young Leaders @ UR

Workshop B4:
Redefining Inclusivity: Intersectionality and the Black Female Experience

Performance and panel discussion with the cast and production crew of For Colored Girls Who Considered Suicide When The Rainbow Is Enuf written by Ntozake Shange. There will be two readings from the play that will serve as a basis to discuss the black female identity in the new era of diversity.

Makia Green, Sophomore, McNair Scholar, majoring in Psychology and minoring in Theater.

Workshop B5:
Respect, Trust- Whose Job is it Anyway?

This session explores how the workplace looks and feels when respect and trust are high, and what it looks and feels like when relationships have eroded into conflict. We will begin with a group dialogue about your personal experiences with micro-aggressions. Using the analogy of taxes and dividend, we will examine the toll and the rewards that are experienced in the absence or the presence of these qualities. Time will be allotted for you to plan and rehearse a respectful response to an actual or simulated conflict situation with the goal of instilling respect and rebuilding trust in the workplace.

Kathy Sweetland, University Intercessor

Stanley Byrd,
Human Resources Manager-Multicultural Affairs and Inclusion

Harriette Royer,
Trainer and Coach in the Career Management Center at the Simon School

Workshop C1:
Closing the Achievement Gap:  Increasing Success in First and Second Year Chemistry for Students Underrepresented in STEM

This workshop focuses on the results of a five year long chemistry study group program at UR, designed to support underrepresented minority, low-income, and first generation college students during their first two years of chemistry. Since its pilot year in 2007, the program has increased the passing rate to an average of 92%, from 7% before the program began. This project has been cited by the National Science Foundation as a promising practice that should be replicated at other institutions

Charlana Simmons, Associate Director of Pre-College Programs in the David T. Kearns Center for Leadership and Diversity in Arts, Sciences and Engineering

Workshop C2:
What About Me? Addressing Generational Diversity

For the first time in US history, classrooms and workplaces now include four generations of employees and students. Members of each generation bring distinctive values, attitudes, and behaviors to the workplace and classroom. This workshop explores the impact of this significant demographic shift; it poses challenges and opportunities for educational and organizational leaders who must understand and leverage this generational diversity in order to create cultures of collaboration, high performance and inclusiveness.

Maria Marconi, Assistant Professor of Clinical Nursing

Workshop C3:
Understanding Language Diversity: Creating Inclusive Linguistic Communities

This workshop examines the role of language diversity in the community. We’ll discuss the diversity of languages, and attitudes toward this diversity in our community. Issues concerning what linguistic diversity is, how it affects us, the role it plays, the need for tolerance and inclusion of language differences.

Scott Paauw, Assistant Professor of Linguistics

Joyce McDonough, and
Wilson Silva

Workshop C4:
The Interrelationship Between Language and the Environment – A Native American Perspective

The presentation will briefly outline the profound history and makeup of the Haudenosaunee and their impact on local and national history, as well as the environment. He will then discuss contemporary environmental issues of the Seneca, Cayuga, Tuscarora, Onondaga, Oneida, and Mohawk Nations and their respective territories in NYS, and how we can help in the preservation of the totality of the environment surrounding us.

Neil Patterson, a member of the Tuscarora Nation and works for the Haudenosaunee Environmental Task Force, centered at the Onondaga Nation.

Coordinated by: Christopher Bethmann, Joe Latimer, and Carlie Fishgold

Workshop C5:
Health Disparities for the LGBT Community:  Can Changing the Conversation Improve your Health?

According to Healthy People 2020, “LGBT individuals face health disparities linked to societal stigma, discrimination, and denial of their civil and human rights."  What are these health disparities?  How are we at the University of Rochester educating ourselves and our future health care providers in order to better care for this group of patients?

Sharon Glezen,
Assistant Professor of Clinical Internal Medicine