Projects that are making a difference, improving lives, and building communities.
Woke people don’t stereotype, right? And, of course, white men can’t jump. Hm. Consider the following.
For relaxation, my wife Laurel and I attend a bi-weekly creative writing workshop. For a recent assignment, our instructor Jo Scott-Coe asked us to write about chocolate. Each of the other participants wrote about food. Not me. For whatever reason, Jo’s assignment triggered thoughts of former National Basketball Association guard Jason Williams.
No person looks forward to a visit to the hospital or other similar healthcare settings. Oftentimes, being in the hospital is a process that is scary, uncertain, and full of anticipation for answers and recovery. Research has shown that healing is made better by the arts, which bring humanity to institutions such as hospitals, elder and hospice care, as well as those living at home with chronic diseases like cancer or Parkinson’s.
Despite research that supports arts in health, many health institutions do not have programs incorporating the arts. This is why the National Organization for Arts in Health (NOAH) has remained committed to expanding awareness and acceptance of the arts as a vital component for healing, public health, and wellbeing.
Continue reading Integrating the Arts in Health – by Patricia Lambert
What is the future of the media and its attempts to reach a diverse audience? We can better understand the upcoming generation’s issues concerning diversity and the media with this collection of quotes from articles by Communication students at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. These issues include race, gender identification, intellectual disabilities, healthcare, cultural differences, stereotyping and discrimination of women, as well as microaggressions.
Note that some of the quotes include links to a full article.
In a world where diversity and inclusion in popular media is becoming a more commonly discussed topic, the possibilities of meaningful stories being told are endless. The push for diversity encompasses people of all races, abilities, ethnicities, and genders, including people with intellectual disabilities, including Autism Spectrum Disorder. As the push to create media that tells the stories of people of varying backgrounds and life experiences continues and production companies purposefully try to create inclusive content, it is important that these stories are told with grace, truth, and reality.
Continue reading Inaccurate Depiction of Autism in Film – by Vanessa Willis
Imagine this – you work for a popular, international retail brand that has spent an abundance of money on their marketing strategy across all platforms, such as social, broadcast, and print media. You are given specific, detailed distribution instructions to follow based on the elaborate strategies they have paid to create, yet you notice flaws in their plans. Do you alter their plan on your distribution end in an effort to correct the issues, or do you ignore what you know is wrong because it is technically not your decision? Does your opinion change if it is a diversity-related issue, and it becomes an ethical feeling that the brand should have done a better job?
Bridgerton, released in December of 2020, is a popular television series on Netflix created by Van Dusen and produced by Shonda Rimes. The show is based on Julia Quinn’s novel series which depicts the Regency-era in London during the late 1700’s and early 1800’s. The show follows the many romances and dramas of London’s elite and is narrated by an unnamed writer who shares the town’s latest gossip in her weekly column. The series caught the attention of many viewers not only for the dramatic plot line, but for the inclusive and diverse cast, which is uncommon among many historical dramas. Although the series certainly grabs viewers’ attention and has quickly made its way to being one of Netflix’s most viewed shows, it has been met with much criticism about what seems to be a colorblind cast.
Continue reading Colorblind Casting in Bridgerton – by Mackenzie Bradford
When I was seven years old, I had my first MRI, or Magnetic Resonance Imaging – a medical imaging machine that generates internal images of the body. The tubular machine was quite large in comparison to my petite body. I can still remember how scared I was as they placed headphones twice the size of my head over my ears and pushed me back into the small cylinder. Or how the nurse called the IV that shot cold, contrast dye throughout my bloodstream a “butterfly clip” to ease the nerves. The MRI was ordered to examine my neck and upper spine because I was experiencing a lot of unusual pain there for a child that young. What my family and I didn’t expect was to be in that room for two more hours as they caught a glimpse of something concerning in my lower back.
Continue reading Afflictions of American Health Care – by Eliana Teel
Well folks, darn, he’s back in the limelight. Ben Carson that is. Can’t say that we missed him. Last we heard was when he left his gig as a failure as Housing and Urban Director under the previous administration.
Now maybe I missed the memo but for the life of me I cannot recall any grandiose retirement parties on “doc’s” behalf at the White House – or while he threw down on caviar and grilled mushrooms at Mar-a-Lago – before he slipped off to who knows where. What I do recall were high fives, fist bumps, “good riddance” and other sighs of relief.
Continue reading Political Commentary #2: Ketanji Brown Jackson – by Terry Howard
Carlos: Shannon, I must confess that your book, Neuroscience of Inclusion, has deeply affected the way that I view diversity. Now it’s great to be working with you in workshops on brain-based approaches to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Shannon: Agreed! That has been a highlight of my path, getting to collaborate with talented and wonderful people like yourself. The book was certainly a labor of love. I wanted people understand that good intentions to be inclusive are not enough. No matter how well intentioned one is, the brain can trip us up. That’s why a brain-based approach to inclusion is so important.
Carlos: You are so right. In diversity work, we need to continuously recognize the brain’s possibilities and limitations. What do you think is the most fundamental brain idea that we need to be aware of?
Shannon: That when it comes to inclusion, the brain can work both for us and against us. That idea is fundamental to everything else. When diversity specialists and people they educate grasp this idea, they are better positioned to recognize not only the ways the brain works against us, but also how we can intentionally strengthen the brain to work for us.
Carlos: Shannon, you talk about BrainStates. Could you briefly explain that concept?
Shannon: Certainly. We created the BrainStates Management model and associated social skills and strategies to help individuals increase awareness, which is critical in being inclusive. That idea focuses on three neuroscience-based aspects of the brain: Perception; Self-Awareness; and Choice. Each BrainState (Higher, Middle, and Lower) represents the interplay of three factors: thinking patterns; feeling patterns, and behavioral tendencies.
Carlos: So how does this apply to diversity?
Shannon: Our BrainState impacts our ability to be inclusive. By learning to manage BrainStates, we can access higher levels of awareness, better hold multiple perspectives, and make intentional choices to behave in ways that are more inclusive.
Carlos: Does this process help us become more consistent in acting inclusively?
Shannon: Absolutely! We can learn to override the brain’s base instincts and survival mechanisms to behave with kindness, care, and compassion. By practicing these brain-based skills, we can actually rewire and strengthen the brain’s social circuitry. For example, through a brain-based approach, diversity specialists can help people engage more readily across differences, even in situations that normally could create discomfort.
Carlos: Partly because of your insights, I’ve become more acutely aware of the importance of simultaneously understanding differences and recognizing commonalities. A total emphasis on differences isolates people from each other. A difference-blind emphasis on commonalities obscures the real and significant differences that make each person’s experiences unique.
Shannon: Definitely. We need to consciously pay attention to both. In as little as 200 milliseconds of seeing someone, the unconscious brain is already assessing them: like me/not like me; familiar/not familiar.
Carlos: That quickly?
Shannon: Yes. And in 50 milliseconds it is registering such things as their gender, culture, and race. Because the brain never stops processing similarities and differences, it inevitably affects how we interact with others. So when we focus consciously on similarities and differences, we can become more aware of how our unconscious brain has been dealing with them and can make better choices. For example, learning to lean into and override discomfort or tempering a similarity bias.
Carlos: One of the great pleasures of co-presenting with you is that we both believe that people can truly make a difference, bring about inclusivity, and move us toward greater equity. You don’t trap yourself in “admiring the problem.” You do something about it.
Shannon: Yes, that’s true. I believe people can learn brain-based skills, develop tools, and use strategies for being more inclusive. And through this process they can build and strengthen brain neuropathways that directly support people’s ability to be inclusive. This is the crux of creating sustained behavior change. Our choices today can shape an inclusive brain of tomorrow. An awareness of these possibilities should give all diversity specialists hope that they can create positive change.
Carlos: Thanks, Shannon. You always leave me feeling more hopeful.
Landmark Project with Innovative Curriculum, Facilities, and Increase in Faculty Will Transform the Next Generation of Advertising and PR Professionals
The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, (UT) and Knoxville-based advertising agency Tombras have partnered to create a first-of-its-kind landmark program and investment plan to modernize and expand advertising and public relations education.
Key goals for the newly named Tombras School of Advertising and Public Relations, which will be housed in UT’s College of Communication and Information, are to double the number of Black, Indigenous, and people of color entering those industries after graduating from UT and to help make advertising and public relations industry demographics more representative of state and national populations.
Continue reading Expanding DEI in Advertising & PR Education
