Important Registration Information:
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Institute Focus:

As we strive to increase diversity in our programs, honors faculty and staff need professional development and support in this area. Because we recognize that this material and exploration can be very taxing for us, particularly for those of us who are directly affected by racism, we believe this work should not be undertaken in isolation. The collaborative setting of an intensive workshop series is necessary to support such vital, difficult work. The goals of this workshop include the development of anti-racist approaches to honors.  Workshop content is centered on understanding and implementing anti-racist theories and approaches for discussion within a community of honors faculty and staff, in local and state contacts that may make implementation challenging.  

Audience:

Staff and faculty that are new to core issues involving diversity, equity, and inclusion in honors, including new deans and directors or others charged with implementing diversity and inclusion intiatives. (Unsure if this session is for you? Contact a facilitator for more information.)

Learning objectives/outcomes for this institute

Participants will:

• Design or re-envision an anti-racism component within the participant’s honors program
• Develop a network of honors faculty and staff invested in anti-racism approaches to honors
• Identify areas of growth and refinement in preparation for developing an internal audit/review process for access, inclusion, equity, and diversity within participant's program/college
• Discover presentation venues for their results, such as an NCHC conference presentation or a contribution to the NCHC Diversity and Inclusion Roundtable

Tentative Schedule

DAY 1:  Anti-Racism as Praxis
10:30-1:00 CDT -  Virtual with one 20-minute break
10:30-11:00  Introductions, Creating Safe Spaces- East Bay Meditation 
11:00-11:20  Anti-racism as Praxis-  Facilitators leading
11:20-11:40  Break
11:40-12:20  Breakout Rooms-  Anti-racism in our own personal spaces - 3 breakout rooms with Facilitators moderating the discussion
12:20-1:00  Feedback and explanation of format for next day’s discussion-  Defining anti-racism in our personal spaces.

DAY 2: Anti-Racism as a Space in Honors
10:30-1:00 CDT -  Virtual with one 20-minute break
10:30-11:20  Feedback from previous days discussion and from homework 
11:20-11:40  Break
11:40-12:20  Speaker- Dr. Vaishali Mamgain 
12:20-1:00  Discussion about the speaker and overview of Homework/Discussion for Day 3 -  What does Anti-racism look like in my honors program?

DAY 3: Anti-Racism within Institutions of Higher Ed
10:30-1:00 CDT -  Virtual with one 20-minute break
10:30-11:20  Breakout room discussion:  What does Anti-racism look like in individual honors programs and at institutions 
11:20-11:40  Break
11:40-12:40  Group discussion:  Approaches to making space for anti-racism within individual programs and institutions 
12:40-1:00  Next Steps and Closing

Facilitators

Fawn-Amber Montoya, James Madison University

Associate Dean of the Honors College and Professor of History at James Madison University. Former Director of Chicano Studies and Professor of History @ CSU Pueblo. She taught courses in race, ethnicity, and gender with a special focus on Mexican-American history. Consulted on the development of a number of museum exhibits for History Colorado: The Colorado Historical Society. These exhibits focused on the history of southern Colorado with a specific emphasis on the 20th century  Exhibits included Borderlands of Southern Colorado, Salt Creek Memory, El Movimiento in Colorado and Pueblo, and The Children of Ludlow. She is the editor of the collection, Making an American Workforce, published by University Press of Colorado in 2014.  Her most recent co-authored book, Practicing Oral History to Connect University to Community was published in 2018 by Routledge.

Rebecca Nisetich, University of Southern Maine

Rebecca Nisetich is an Assistant Professor and Director of the Honors Program at the University of Southern Maine. She serves as co-chair for the Intercultural and Diversity Advisory Council to the President, and leads anti-racist practice groups for faculty, staff, and USM leadership. She co-leads USM’s Summer Anti-racist Institute with Dr. Vaishal Mamgain. She is a member of the National Collegiate Honors Council’s Diversity Committee.

Her scholarship is based in Race and Ethnic Studies, and her published work concerns representations of identity in American literature and culture. Her articles have appeared in African American Review, the Faulkner Journal, Studies in American Naturalism, and a collection of essays on Kate Chopin. Her current work explores representations of racial indeterminacy in 20th century American literature, and interpellations of legal discourse in twenty-first century African American literature and popular culture.

Sherese Williams, The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

A native of Savannah, GA, Sherese Williams is a proud graduate of the Clark Atlanta University where she earned her bachelor’s degree in Mass Media Arts and her master’s degree in History. While earning her master’s degree, Ms. Williams worked in the Honors Program as the Program Manager. She then took her talents to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga where she currently serves as the Assistant Director of the UTC Honors College. 

An advocate for underserved and underrepresented students, Sherese has focused her energy on cultivating spaces and programs for students of color on the campus of UTC. Most recently launching “Sweet Tea with Sherese” a topic-based series that focuses on issues that impact and affect minority women. Topics have included the black community and mental health, mentorship, and managing stress and anxiety. 

Featured Speaker: 
Dr. Vaishali Mamgain 

Dr. Vaishali Mamgain (she/her) is the Associate Professor of Economics and Director of the Bertha C. Ball Center for Compassion at the University of Southern Maine. Dr. Mamgain received her Ph.D. in Economics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her past economics research has focused on the contributions of (im)migrants and refugees in the Maine economy including the role of migrant workers in Maine’s blueberry industry. She teaches a variety of classes: microeconomics theory,  the Economics of Happiness, and in the Honors program a class called "Practicing Nature, Deepening Compassion." 

She is nationally known for her work in Contemplative Pedagogy and is on the Board of CMind, the Center for Contemplative Mind in Society. In her role as the Director of the Center for Compassion and a faculty member for the Courage of Care Coalition, she facilitates antiracism workshops using somatic and immersive nature practices, wherein she invites participants to lean into the difficult work of acknowledging intersecting identities, shedding internalized oppression, and building meaningful communities.  She did a three year retreat (2014-2017) at Samten Ling Retreat Center in Crestone, CO and now lives on an island in Maine where she can be found admiring seaweed, hiking, singing, and swimming in the iridescent Maine waters.

Refunds

All requests for refunds MUST be submitted in writing to the national office and RECEIVED no later than seven days in advance of the NCHC Summer Institute.

• Received prior to 7 days before Institute:          Full refund, less a $50 per person administrative fee
• Received within 7 days before Institute:            No refunds granted

Questions? Contact the NCHC office at (402) 472-9150 or nchc@unl.edu.