UMass Dignity and Respect in Action: The Podcast

Sara and Jeff join Nef Walker to discuss the updated smudging policy at UMass. Smudging is traditionally a ceremony for purifying or cleansing the soul of negative thoughts of a person or place practiced by many Indigenous tribes. Through the collaboration of the Native Advisory Council and the Public Health Promotion Center, UMass Amherst has adopted one of the most inclusive policies around smudging on a university campus.

Christian and Hope join us to talk about the services they have at CCPH and about taking care of ourselves during times of stress. After a particularly difficult year, more people are seeking and in need of professional mental health counseling. Christian and Hope tell us how CCPH has had to adapt the services they provide in light of the pandemic. They also discuss the need for culturally appropriate mental health services that address the specific needs of underrepresented communities.

In this episode we welcome Dr. Micere Keels, Associate Professor in Comparative Human Development at the University of Chicago and the author of "Campus Counterspaces". Micere and Nef talk about the importance of counterspaces - spaces that provide a sense of belonging, connection, and challenging conversations about marginalization. They discuss the power students can have in shifting culture and creating change on a college campus, the struggles some have faced in grappling with their multifaceted identities, and how we can create support systems for students grappling with racial trauma.

Vice Chancellor Nef Walker interviews Melinda LeLacheur, Michele Cooke, and Samm Delorey from the UMass Allies for Illness and Disability Access (UMAIDA) Network. They discuss the work of UMAIDA, their personal experiences with disability, finding community, and the challenges and benefits of returning to in-person work.

This week we talk with Celia Almeida, who is both a staff member and student at UMass Amherst. Celia moved to the U.S. at the age of 17 from Cape Verde and recounts her challenges as a teenager struggling to learn english, and the friendships and support systems that helped her through this time. She also tells us about the Building Bridges: Our Immigrant Voices project at UMass that she's participated in, and her experiences as part of the UMass community.

Dr. Genevieve "Ginny" Chandler's research and work focuses on resilience, which she defines as “recognizing your internal and external supports to manage stress.” She joins us to talk about her concept of resilience and how it is being used to empower UMass students and staff with skills that will strengthen them as they move forward. 

Resources 

This week, we welcome Dr. Laurel Smith-Doerr, Dr. Ethel Mickey, Dr. James Allan, and Dr. Nilanjana Gupta for a conversation on the NSF grant funded ADVANCE program at UMass Amherst. Launched in 2018 by an interdisciplinary group of UMass faculty in STEM and a five-year, $3 million grant, ADVANCE promotes gender equity and has been working towards transforming UMass Amherst into a place where every faculty member, regardless of gender, race/ethnicity, or sexuality, feels respected and has equal professional opportunities. UMass ADVANCE initiatives include conducting research on diversity, equity and inclusion, offering extensive programming, and creating resources and tools available to the UMass community.

This week, we welcome Kalpen Trivedi, Associate Provost and Director of the International Programs Office and Chrystal George Mwangi, Associate Professor of Higher Education and Chancellor's Leadership Fellow. They will be discussing the upcoming International Education Week and the importance of this celebration within the UMass community. The episode will also cover the work of the IPO as it relates to the advancement of diversity, equity, and inclusion on our campus, the challenges faced by our international community due to the Covid pandemic, what "internationalization at home" means, and more.

International Education Week takes place November 16-20, 2020, and IPO has a long list of ways you can participate. Learn more about the International Programs Office and International Education Week events at:

Dr. Nefertiti Walker interviews Jeff Edelstein and David Paquette from the Alliance Against Ableism (AAA), formed in February 2019. The AAA aims to hold conversations around disability identity and inclusion, address ableism and barriers to inclusion and equality on campus within the disability community, and incorporate disability into larger systemic conversations.