PANEL & ROUNDTABLE: You are Teaching this Class? Strengthening your Teaching Persona to Foster Inclusive Teaching (40 mins)

Authors

  • Millie Rivera George Mason University
  • Crystal Anderson George Mason University
  • Fatou Diouf George Mason University
  • Jessica Rosenberg George Mason University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.13021/itlcp.2020.2780

Abstract

Research indicates that female faculty and female faculty from underrepresented groups or who have a foreign accent often encounter students who challenge their authority and the right to be in charge of a class. In this roundtable several female faculty members of color share their experiences claiming their power as teachers in order to strengthen their teaching persona and better manage their classroom and foster inclusive teaching.

Author Biographies

Millie Rivera, George Mason University

Dr. Milagros (Millie) Rivera is an accomplished and results-driven academic with exceptional teaching and facilitating skills and proven experience developing educational/training programs.

She has an extensive international network and experience working with and managing culturally diverse teams, supervising and mentoring young academics as well as undergraduate and graduate students. She also has experience supporting and mentoring cultural students’ groups.

Dr. Rivera is currently the Director of Faculty Diversity, Inclusion and Well-Being at George Mason University, where she creates and participates in collaborative and interdisciplinary alliances around diversity, inclusion, and well-being initiatives; develops and assesses new strategies and structures for recruitment and retention of diverse faculty; develops and shares resources to improve campus climate for existing faculty, including faculty from underrepresented groups; cultivates mentoring, growth opportunities, and well-being initiatives that sustain Mason’s goals of retaining a diverse faculty; and creates, implements, and assesses—in collaboration with campus stakeholders—new initiatives regarding inclusion, equity, and well-being.

She also works with the Office of the Provost and other stakeholders to identify and address barriers for women and underrepresented faculty.

Crystal Anderson, George Mason University

Crystal is a faculty developer and cultural studies scholar, working in transnational American Studies and global Asias. She draws on her 20 years of experience by teaching courses that range from first-year writing, to graduate seminars to help faculty develop dynamic classroom environments. In her own classes, she helps students to participate in their own learning through creative projects that involve critical thinking and develop skills using digital tools. She works with faculty to incorporate high impact practices, including active learning and collaborative learning into classes of all sizes. She also brings her expertise in undergraduate research and curricular development to university initiatives. Her interdisciplinary scholarship focuses on bi-directional cultural flows between the United States and East Asia. Her first book, Beyond the Chinese Connection: Contemporary Afro-Asian Cultural Production (2013), uses the films of Bruce Lee to read cross-cultural negotiations with global culture in novels, film and anime. Her current research focuses on Korean popular music (K-pop). She is currently working on her second book, which explores the impact of African American music on K-pop. She also manages several digital humanities projects on K-pop.

Crystal received her PhD in American Studies from the College of William and Mary, where she focused on 20thcentury American literature and the history of race and ethnicity, labor and civil rights. Most recently, she served as Director of the Office of Student Research and Director of the Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) at Longwood University.

Fatou Diouf, George Mason University

Fatou Diouf joined George Mason University from Old Dominion University where she taught Business Analytics.  She holds a PhD in Electronics with a specialization in statistical modeling and simulation from Université Blaise Pascal in France, and an MBA from Old Dominion University, with a specialization in Business Analytics and Big Data.

She was a Marie-Curie Research Fellow and worked for several years as a research scientist and a consultant in The Netherlands. 

Jessica Rosenberg, George Mason University

Dr. Rosenberg teaches both introductory physics and astronomy courses ranging from the undergraduate introductory courses to graduate-level astrophysics. She brings her research and teaching experience with active-learning pedagogies into all of her courses.

My astrophysics research is focused on understanding the evolution of galaxies over cosmic time primarily by studying the baryonic content of galaxies and the intergalactic medium. My work in STEM education research spans undergraduate education, graduate education, and faculty development. I am interested in how we expand the use of research-based teaching practices as a mechanism to improve student learning in the undergraduate classroom through graduate student and faculty development. With the Quantum Materials Center I am exploring how we can prepare students coming from a broad range of STEM backgrounds for the quantum information science workforce.

Published

2020-07-31

Issue

Vol. 12 (2020): Teaching Towards the Future

Section

WEDNESDAY 11:00 - 11:40 am