Category Archives: Academic Articles

Academic Articles, Advisors

Defining, Practicing, and Protecting Dialogue in Higher Education – by Dr. Carlos E. Cortés

What role can faculty play in changing the national conversation about campus dialogue? 

That’s actually two questions in one.  First, what national conversation –- or conversations — are we talking about?  Second, what role -– or roles — can faculty play?  I’ll take these questions one at a time.  But first let me tell you where I’m coming from.

No, I’m not indulging in today’s identity politics.  I’m not positioning myself by race or sex or gender identity or religion or sexual orientation?  But I am going to play the age card.  At 89, that’s one of the few cards I’ve got left.  And it’s relevant to today’s discussion because age rhymes with experience, and three aspects of my personal journey inform what I’m going to say.

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Academic Articles, Authors A-H, Of Women, Social Issues

Where Are the Women’s Voices? – by Sheryl Axelrod

Aside

legal The Under-Representation of Women at the Highest Levels of the Legal Profession 

The extent of gender diversity at the highest levels of the legal profession, is dismal.  

I. BY THE NUMBERS: AT THE UPPER ECHELONS OF THE LEGAL PROFESSION, WHITE WOMEN ARE OUTNUMBERED BY MEN BY A FACTOR OF ALMOST AT LEAST 2 TO 1, AND THERE ARE NEARLY NO WOMEN OF COLOR AND LGBT+ WOMEN
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Academic Articles, Advisors, Authors R-Z, Inclusion

Embracing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion – Dr. Nagwan Zahary

A Business Perspective

Promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) becomes a business necessity rather than a choice. Organizations – including businesses, non-profit organizations, colleges and universities  have to reconsider that U.S. is projected to become a majority-minority nation for the first time in 2043 and by 2060, 57 percent of the U.S. population will consist of racially ethnic minorities.1 This change towards a more diverse population will have substantial impact on the workforce and how organizations rethink its processes to manage opportunities and challenges related to DE&I. 

In fact, there is no shortage of suggestions to create inclusive environments. However, it is crucial to think about the role and positioning of DE&I within an organization’s structure. The question here is whether organizations consider DE&I a HR policy, a management-led initiative, an objective, a trend—or a mixture of all four? Some organizations still struggle to properly define DE&I, which impact the development of appropriate DE&I initiatives to empower and engage underrepresented groups. Making progress on that front requires a deep understanding of the concerns, experiences, and perspectives of people with different ethnicities, nationalities, educational backgrounds, sexual orientation, religion, and gender.

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Academic Articles, Authors A-H, Education, Trends 2023

Increased Youth Engagement and Educational Productivity – by Ainesh Dey

Abstract

“Education is a passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those, who prepare for it today”, as proclaimed by eminent civil rights activist, Malcolm X, bears a deeper intellectual connotation. It brings out the very holistic foundation of education as an instrument of social awareness and development,  with a subtle mention of its contemporary beneficiaries, “the Youth”. Yes, it is the young people who through their rational interpretation of core educational principles, harness the progressive socio-political development of the world. 

The recent phenomenon of the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent shift to the digital mode of learning, have accentuated the need for increased efforts towards larger educational accessibility, quality and affordability, central to the role of global development in complete coherence with the recently initiated in the “Education for All” under the broader purview of the “Millennium  Development Goals”, laid out by the United Nations, thereby demanding more nuanced responsibility of the young blood in spearheading a meaningful atmosphere of social inclusion , cohesion and stability.

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Academic Articles, Authors I-Q, Social Issues

Antisemitic Rhetoric on Chattanooga Campus – by Rabbi Craig Lewis

1 Comment

Of all the times to learn that about antisemitic literature circulating in my city, the news reached me during the intermission of “Fiddler on the Roof.” It is a great show that captures a moment in time, combining the folklore of Sholom Aleichem, the imagery of Marc Chagall, and great music by Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick to tell a story from the collective Jewish memory. As with true Jewish history, it includes the good and the bad parts of being Jewish. We love “Tradition,” but much of our tradition has been built under the weight of oppression. “Fiddler” does not ignore this as the Russian constable’s promise of a pogrom, a violent attack against Jewish communities, mostly in the Russian Empire. Like Chekov’s gun, the mention of a pogrom comes to fruition and disrupts the joyous wedding scene. Being that this is still musical comedy, the pogrom is sanitized: a few goose pillows are torn up, a table flipped over, and one wedding guest is beaten. There is just enough to suggest what really would have happened.

An informed viewer of the show knows it more likely looked like the description from Chayim Nachman Bialik’s poem, “The City of Slaughter,” written about the 1903 pogrom in Kishinev. Here are a few excerpts:

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Academic Articles, Authors A-H, Social Issues

The Ministry of Conversation – by Minister William H. Hicks

“For wherever two or three are gathered (drawn together as My followers) in (into) My Name, there I AM in the midst of them.” [Matthew 18:20AMPC]
(Part of the Series of Practical Instruction for Disciples of Christ)

What is ministry? “A person or thing through which something is accomplished.” [Merriam-Webster Online dictionary]; to serve the needs of others, especially their spiritual needs.

What is conversation? Conversations are discourses, usually between two (2) individuals or, at most (in numbers) small groups of 6 to 9 persons. Conversations are characterized by: intimacy and proximity (although this latter has been redefined by modern communication technology); respect; good listening skills; patience; good intentions; positive energy/passion; no fear; trust/honesty and honest differences of opinion; integrity; hope for a strengthened relationship from having participated in the conversation.

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Academic Articles, Advisors, Authors A-H

Equity Rising: DEI Expertise in the Boardroom – by Dr. Deborah Ashton, Tracie Hall

Abstract

After the killing of George Floyd, Equity Rising, a group of Black professionals, came together to address social justice and equity in the government and in corporations. They believed that diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) expertise is essential to the total sustainability strategy of corporations and, therefore, is an essential boardroom function. The DEI expertise brings both functional and demographic diversification of board members.  This article contends that since traditionally the DEI function has been populated primarily by people of color and women, DEI expertise will add to the demographic diversification of the board. With the increase in demographic diversity for other functional board positions, DEI experts will aide in establishing a critical mass of women and people of color in the boardroom. 

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Academic Articles, Social Issues, Wellness

Challenges of Teaching about Diversity and Health Equity – by Carlos E. Cortés

A Difficult Conversation about Difficult Conversations forDeveloping Medical Educators of the 21st Century:
New Ideas and Skills
for Adaptable and Inclusive
Learning Environments Conference

February 4, 2022 (Revised, February 6, 2022)

 Let’s start with today’s ground rules.  None.  No rules; no powerpoints.

But three hopes.  That you speak honestly without obsessing about maybe saying the wrong thing, a bane to diversity discussions.  That you contemplate divergent ideas.  And that you reflect openly on your own perspectives by posting comments and questions in the chatbox as we go along.   

So let’s turn to our theme, difficult conversations about diversity and health equity.  Health equity conversations necessarily involve discomfort because they address the idea of group diversity, not just random individual differences.

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Academic Articles, Authors A-H

Speech vs. Diversity, Diversity vs. Speech – by Carlos E. Cortés

 Edward A. Dickson Lecture
University of California, Riverside

In February, 2018, I began a new scholarly odyssey.  I became an inaugural fellow of the University of California National Center for Free Speech and Civic Engagement.

In my fellowship application I proposed the following question: “over the past fifty years, why have so many diversity advocates become opposed to our nation’s hallowed tradition of free speech?”  However, I soon discovered that I had asked the wrong question.  Instead my question became “over the past fifty years, what has happened when two worthy values collide: inclusive diversity and robust speech?”

Today I invite you to accompany me on part of my personal odyssey.  This involves two acts followed by a brief epilogue.  Please join the conversation by posting questions and comments in the chat box.  I’ll also pause for a few minutes of discussion following each of the three segments.  And if the digital gods should step in and freeze me for a minute or so, please hang around.  Like the Terminator, I’ll be back.

Act One will focus on speech, primarily through the lens of diversity.  Act Two will address diversity, primarily through the lens of speech.  In the epilogue, I will suggest what I think lies ahead for the intersection of diversity and speech.

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Academic Articles, Authors I-Q

12 Steps to Diversity Recovery – by Susan McCuistion

Abstract

Our approach to Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) is broken. We have done the same thing over and over for years, expecting better representation and more equitable treatment, all to no avail. In fact, many people still don’t know exactly what D&I is.

At every turn, there’s news about people being mistreated, excluded, and harmed. The social and political unrest often seem impossible to escape. Situations arise on a regular basis that create a social media nightmare for organizations resulting in public shaming and forced apologies. The mental, emotional, and physical toll this turmoil takes impacts us all, regardless of our role— victim, perpetrator, or observer.

We can’t fix the mess we’re in with a 2-hour training session. Creating a world that is truly more equitable for everyone is a process. It takes time and practice.

Cultivating compassion can help us nurture more connected communities and workplaces. On the surface, compassion sounds like a soft skill. However, compassion isn’t just about being kind to other people and doing nice things for them. Instead, it’s an active process through which we build skills and knowledge to understand what kind of help is wanted, rather than assuming what is needed.

This article is distilled from my book, “The D Word: 12 Steps to Diversity Recovery,” which is focused on building the skills needed to bring a more humanitarian approach to D&I using compassion and resilience.

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