Department’s IDEA Committee Organizes a Workshop on Classroom Conversation on Race
Communication Department’s Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility (IDEA) committee
successfully organized a virtual workshop for Loyola faculty on “Managing Classroom
Conversations about Race” on Thursday, January 13, 2022. The Center for the Humanities (CFH) and the College of Arts and Sciences Humanities Division supported the committee financially to organize this workshop.
Jessy Molina, nationally known DEI consultant, conducted the workshop. IDEA committee chair (AY2021 – 22) Masudul Biswas moderated this virtual event.
This workshop included breakout room activities which were facilitated by five faculty members – April Newton (Communication), Masudul Biswas (Communication), Elliot King (Communication), Nguyen Nguyen (Communication), Myra Smith (Education Specialties) and Rebecca Trump (Marketing).
Jessy Molina covered useful practical strategies and frameworks that faculty from any discipline could adopt to facilitate a conversation about race, which many find challenging, in their respective courses.
Participants found Jessy’s workshop “phenomenal,” “excellent,” “terrific” and “full of helpful resources and ideas.”
In an email, a faculty member wrote, “This session is one of the best DE&I sessions I have experienced in a long time. Excellent faculty development opportunity.”
Multiple participants mentioned that they liked scenario-based breakout room discussion around racial identity in a classroom. Given how engaging the facilitator was and how relevant the breakout room session was, a participant mentioned that this 90-minute workshop could easily go for 2 hours.
A total of 61 faculty, staff and administrators attended the workshop. Faculty from all three colleges at Loyola University Maryland – Arts and Sciences, Business and Education – participated in this workshop.