SANDY GRANDE
“Being ‘in but Not of’ the University”
In this workshop participants will (re)consider their roles as faculty members in an institution designed to function as an arm of the (settler) state and tool for social reproduction. As the post-pandemic, neoliberal university continues to place profits over people, participants will explore how we can do more than survive the logics of extraction and accumulation and work instead to build collectivities of resistance and refusal. We will think alongside scholar-activists like Robin D.G. Kelley, Stefano Harney and Fred Moten, Ruthie Gilmore, Linda T. Smith, Leanne Simpson, and Sara Ahmed as we aim to build collectivities of care and mutual aid.
Sandy Grande, PhD is a Professor of Political Science and Native American and Indigenous Studies at the University of Connecticut. Her research and teaching interfaces Native American and Indigenous Studies with critical theory toward the development of more nuanced analyses of the colonial present. In addition to her academic and organizing work, she has provided eldercare for her parents for over ten years and remains the primary caregiver for her 93-yr. old father.
Her book, Red Pedagogy: Native American Social and Political Thought was published in a 10th anniversary edition and a Portuguese translation is anticipated to be published in Brazil in 2021. She has also published numerous book chapters and articles including: “Accumulation of the Primitive: The Limits of Liberalism and the Politics of Occupy Wall Street,” The Journal of Settler Colonial Studies; “Refusing the University” in Toward What Justice?; “American Indian Geographies of Identity and Power,” Harvard Educational Review; and “Red-ding the Word and the World” in Paulo Freire’s Intellectual Roots: Toward Historicity in Praxis. She is also a founding member of New York Stands for Standing Rock, a group of scholars and activists that forwards the aims of Native American and Indigenous sovereignty and resurgence.
JACQUELINE S. MATTIS
“Value Based Mentoring”
This workshop centers values and mattering in the mentoring relationship. Using positive psychological and place-based frameworks as our foundation, we will explore the ways in which mentoring efficacy is informed by such virtues as honesty and compassion. We will identify the personal values that fruitfully animate our relationships. We also will explore the ways in which (mis)alignments between personal and institutional values inform mentoring. Practical guidelines for working with mentees will be explored. Mentors will complete the VIA-IS Strengths Questionnaire prior to the workshop.
Jacqueline S. Mattis, PhD is Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences at Rutgers University-Newark. She earned her B.A. in psychology from New York University, and her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Michigan. Her research focuses on the role of religion and spirituality in the lives of African American and Afri-Caribbean youth and adults, and on the factors that are associated with positive psychological and psychosocial development of urban-residing African American and AfriCaribbean youth and adults. In particular, she uses quantitative and qualitative methods to explore the factors that contribute to volunteerism, civic engagement, altruism, compassion, empathy, forgiveness, optimism, and positive parenting among urban-residing African American and Afri-diasporic people. She has co-authored numerous articles and has served on the editorial boards of numerous journals. She co-authored (with collaborator Fulya Kurter) two books on counseling in the Turkish cultural context, including a handbook entitled Culturally Sensitive Counseling from the Perspective of Turkish Practitioners (Bahcesehir University Press). This handbook explores the topic of culture, cultural diversity, and intercultural dynamics within Turkey as these issues apply to the practice of counseling.
Among the honors. Dr. Mattis has received over her career are the Distinguished Psychologist Award from the Association of Black Psychologists (2014); and NYU’s Martin Luther King Jr. Award (2011) for teaching excellence, leadership, social justice and community building. She has been recognized for her mentorship and teaching. She received the 2020 Paul M. Fitts Graduate Mentor Award from the University of Michigan Graduate Leadership Council) for outstanding mentorship of graduate students in Psychology, and the 2020 Cornerstone Award for unique contributions to enhancing the academic and social progress of African American students at the University of Michigan. She also received the Outstanding Mentor Award from the University of Michigan’s Undergraduate Research Opportunities program (2019).
AUDREY J. MURRELL
“Mentoring Matters: Unlocking the Power of High-Quality Relationships”
This workshop explores the range of different mentoring relationships along with the compelling research on the effectiveness and impact of mentoring. Participants will enhance their understanding of the different types of “functions” of mentoring along with how diverse forms of mentoring can help support personal, career and leadership development. We will also explore specific steps to be taking to cultivate a diverse mentoring network as part of this session.
Audrey J. Murrell, PhD conducts research, teaching and consulting that helps organizations better utilize and engage their most important assets – their human and social capital. She is currently Professor of Business Administration with secondary appointments within the Department of Psychology and the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Pittsburgh. Previously, she served as the Acting Dean of the University of Pittsburgh’s Honors College, Associate Dean of within the College of Business Administration and as the Director of the David Berg Center for Ethics and Leadership. She received her BS from Howard University, magna cum laude and an MS and PhD from the University of Delaware. She is the author of several books including: Mentoring Dilemmas: Developmental Relationships within Multicultural Organizations (with Faye Crosby and Robyn Ely); Intelligent Mentoring: How IBM Creates Value through People, Knowledge and Relationships (with Sheila Forte-Trummel and Diana Bing); Mentoring Diverse Leaders: Creating Change for People, Processes and Paradigms (with Stacy Blake-Beard); and, the recent book entitled, Diversity Across Disciplines: Research on People, Policy, Process and Paradigm (with Jennifer Petrie-Wyman and Abdesalam Soudi).
Audrey Murrell has received numerous recognitions including the Mayor’s Citizen Service Award which proclaimed Aug. 12th, “Dr. Audrey Murrell Day” within the city of Pittsburgh. Some of her awards include the Pittsburgh Business Times “Woman of Influence Award”, the SBA Minority Business Champion of the Year award, the University of Pittsburgh Student Choice Award, and the “Women of Distinction” award from the Girls Scouts of Southwestern Pennsylvania. Dean Murrell serves as a consultant in the areas of mentoring, leadership development, diversity and inclusion. Audrey’s community service activities include having served on a number of non-profit and community boards and was recently appointed by the Mayor to serve on the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority board of directors.