Dialogue Across Difference: Building Community with Trust and Empathy In-Person
Building a sense of community and belonging within our courses and across campus is related to a host of positive academic and personal outcomes. It is especially important in creating spaces where we feel a sense of safety in expressing our views and beliefs, particularly in ways that allow us to engage in dialogues across differences. Creating trust and empathy facilitate this process, which will be the focus of this session.
- Date:
- Wednesday, December 4, 2024
- Time:
- 12:00pm - 1:00pm
- Time Zone:
- Eastern Time - US & Canada (change)
- Location:
- Sprague Library Faculty and Graduate Student Commons
- Audience:
- Instructors
Dr. Brad van Eeden-Moorefield is a Professor of Family Science and Human Development and the Senior DEI Fellow for the College for Community Health. His scholarly interests focus on understanding the ways in which relational dynamics are impacted by experiences of different types of stigma and discrimination and how those spill over to impact health and well-being. Much of this work is with queer and stepfamily relationships and uses a queer and intersectional lens. Pedagogically he uses a critical constructivist approach with attention paid to destabilizing educational power dynamics and fostering community.
Dr. Jessica Brater is the program coordinator for the BA and MA in Theatre Studies and the Graduate Certificate in Theatre of Diversity, Inclusion & Social Change. She served as a 2018-2020 Community Engaged Teaching and Learning Fellow, served on the University Senate from 2018-2021, and is the current vice chair of the Graduate Council. She is a leader with the multifaith advocacy organization New Jersey Together, the recipient of a Loving Leadership award from Faith in New Jersey and was recognized as a 2022 NJ 11 hero by Rep. Mikie Sherill for her community organizing work. In 2024 she was honored to receive the Outstanding Service Award from Montclair State's Office of Community Engagement & Partnerships. Brater holds a Ph.D. and M.Phil from the CUNY Graduate Center and a B.A. from Barnard College.
Dr. Vera Senina is a cross-disciplinary teacher and scholar in the humanities, critical theory, medical narratives, and computational linguistics. Vera has experience teaching in diverse modalities, designing innovative student-centered courses, and organizing conference panels and workshops on inclusive curriculum development, assessment strategies, and project-based learning. She also has top-company industry experience in language AI, team development, and project management.