PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT/SHARE WITH STUDENTS: Psychology Dept.’s The Black Scholarship Speaker Series
The Psychology Department is excited to announce the next two installments in the Black Scholar Speaker Series...please download the flyers and share with your students.
- Shawn Jones will be joining us for several days of virtual engagement on September 14, 15, and 17, 2021.
- Dana Miller-Cotto will be joining us for two days of virtual engagement on October 18 and 19, 2021.
The Black Scholar Speaker Series was created to showcase the work of Black scholars and scholarship. Please see below and attached for more information, and to register.
Please forward this opportunity to your networks and encourage them to join us. We are particularly excited to make this opportunity available to undergraduate students at UIC.
I hope to see you there,
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Jessica Shaw, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Psychology, University of Illinois at Chicago
Visiting Scholar, Boston College School of Social Work
https://www.genderjustice-uic.org/
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The University of Illinois at Chicago’s Psychology Department Presents
The Black Scholar Speaker Series 2021-2022
We welcome our September 2021 speaker, Dr. Shawn Jones
September 14, 15, and 17, 2021
Dr. Shawn Jones is an Assistant Professor in the Counseling Program in the Psychology Department at Virginia Commonwealth University. He received his doctorate in Clinical Psychology with an emphasis on Children and Families from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and was a Child Clinical Psychology Predoctoral intern at UCLA. He also holds a Master of Health Science in Mental Health from Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health (2010) and a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Duke University (2008). Dr. Jones endeavors to impact the psychosocial wellbeing of Black youth and their families by: a) exploring mechanisms undergirding culturally-relevant protective and promotive factors; b) translating basic research into interventions that harness the unique strengths of the Black experience; and c) disseminating this research to be consumed, critiqued and enhanced by the communities the work intends to serve.
Main Lecture: Tuesday, September 14, 2021, 12:30-2pm CT
Using Family Systems to Promote Dignity & Prepare for Discrimination: Racial Socialization of Black Youth: Keniston (1978) asserted that Black youth are “the most endangered children in our society.” Indeed, Black children and teens are exposed to myriad risks, particularly those that emanate from the legacy of racism in this country. Yet, despite historical deficit-oriented narratives concerning them, Black youth—and their families—have continued to demonstrate positive psychosocial outcomes. Moreover, assisting diverse family structures in cogently providing racial socialization may optimize the historical psychosocial protection of this racially-relevant factor. In this presentation, conceptual and empirical work on mechanisms undergirding the salutary benefit of familial racial socialization will be discussed. Specifically, mixed-methods (i.e., survey, observation, interview) research will be presented that addresses how diverse families of Black youth navigate teaching their children about race. This presentation will conclude with a discussion of ongoing and future research, including how both experimental and prospective studies can serve to promote the resiliency of Black youth. Register for this event here.
Affinity Session: Wednesday, September 15, 2021, 1-2pm CT
The Affinity Session provides the opportunity for Black students, staff, and faculty to come together in community with each other and the visiting scholar to collectively reflect on their realities of being Black and in the field of psychology. Register for this event here.
Special Session: Friday, September 17, 2021, 10-11am CT
Belonging Required, Fitting In (Optional): Graduate School for Trainees of Color: Graduate training in psychology is both a challenging and exciting endeavor for all students. However, the historical and contemporary realities of race and culture both in society and our discipline often make the training experience for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) students a unique journey. In this session, we take up three points. First, we outline the quantitative and qualitative experience, noting common inhibiting factors to thriving as a BIPOC trainee. Second, we introduce a number of culturally-relevant strategies for navigating one’s time in graduate school. Third, we underline the importance of thriving (as opposed to simply surviving) in graduate school as a BIPOC student. We conclude with a set of BIPOC graduate student provided affirmations for doctoral students from underrepresented backgrounds. Register for the event here.
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The University of Illinois at Chicago’s Psychology Department Presents
The Black Scholar Speaker Series 2021-2022
We welcome our October 2021 speaker, Dr. Dana Miller-Cotto
October 18-19, 2021
Dr. Dana Miller-Cotto is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Delaware and will be an incoming Assistant Professor of Psychological Sciences in the Fall 2022 semester. Dr. Miller-Cotto earned her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology at the City University of New York (CUNY) Lehman College and her PhD in Educational Psychology at Temple University. Following graduate school, Dr. Miller-Cotto completed post-doctoral work at the Learning Research and Development Center (LRDC) at the University of Pittsburgh. She then joined the non-profit sector, working briefly with the NewSchools Venture Fund’s EF+Math Program.
Dr. Miller-Cotto’s research aims to understand the cognitive and affective mechanisms underlying success in mathematics. Using experimental, longitudinal, and meta-analytic techniques, she examines the role of children’s early childhood experiences at home and in schools that may promote or inhibit executive functions, or the ability to regulate and control actions and cognitions, in the context of mathematics and how these experiences may differ based on race/ethnicity and family resources.
Main Lecture: Monday, October 18, 2021, 9-10:30am CT
Working Memory and Early Math Skills: A Culturally Sensitive Perspective on Ethnic Minority Children's Development: In this session, Dr. Miller-Cotto will present her recent work on examining family practices that promote executive functions in the context of math taking a culturally responsive approach to understanding differences between ethnic/racial groups. After presenting the research findings, Dr. Miller-Cotto aims to engage the audience in fleshing out the normative perspectives that are often used to understand family practices, ones that often present these practices as deficient, and instead present African, Latinx, and Asian values as a lens to understand these practices and the contexts that ethnic minority children thrive academically. Register for this event here.
Affinity Session: Monday, October 18, 2021, 10:45-11:45am CT
The Affinity Session provides the opportunity for Black students, staff, and faculty to come together in community with each other and the visiting scholar to collectively reflect on their realities of being Black and in the field of psychology. Register for this event here.
Special Session: Tuesday, October 19, 2021, 12:30-1:30pm CT
What Can I Do with My PhD? Insights from My Year in the Nonprofit World: Dr. Miller-Cotto will share her perspectives about working in the non-profit sector and take questions about using skills gained in PhD programs that transfer well to jobs outside of the academy. She will speak from her experience as a Equity Research Manager at the NewSchools Venture Fund’s EF+Math Program. Register for the event here.