Towson University’s Diversity Faculty Fellows Program (DFF) supports the university’s vision for diversity by providing selected faculty members with opportunities to infuse diversity into existing curriculum, create models to improve classroom dynamics in support of social justice, or identify strategies to enhance institutional practices. The Program provides support for TU faculty who are interested in developing or redesigning courses for major or core curriculum, developing curricular practices to support inclusive classroom environments, supporting research and teaching projects, developing pedagogy and research toolkits, and/or identifying the needs of the university or developing models to affect change.
Dr. Debbie Seeberger, Assistant Vice President of Diversity & Inclusion (Office of the Provost), is pleased to announce the 2016-2017 cohort of Fellows:
Dr. Lisa Barker (Assistant Professor, Department of Secondary and Middle School Education, College of Education). Dr. Barker will redesign a required course for majors. The course aims to “promote social justice and critical engagement with complex issues related to maintaining a diverse, inclusive, equitable society.”
Dr. Jameta Barlow (Assistant Professor, Department of Women’s & Gender Studies, College of Liberal Arts). Dr. Barlow will “develop a digital teaching praxis and pedagogy toolkit that will introduce concepts of intersectionality, matrices and systems of oppression, unearned privilege to faculty. It will feature tips, offer techniques and highlight resources for faculty to effectively convey difficult conversations and critically engage students.”
Dr. Danice Brown (Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, College of Liberal Arts). Dr. Brown will coordinate an “annual brown bag series that showcases multicultural/culturally diverse research and scholarly activities being conducted by faculty on campus. This [is an] opportunity or faculty conducting research on diverse populations to present and engage in discussions regarding” their research.
Dr. Jacob Bustad (Lecturer, Department of Kinesiology, College of Health Professions) Dr. Bustad will develop a TSEM course that will “explain and explore concepts of social identity and social determinants of health, and thereby provide students with a fundamental understanding of how dimensions of social diversity can and do have specific correlations with health practices and outcomes.”
Dr. Michael Duffy and Professor LaShay Harvey Jones (Lecture & Adjunct Professor, Department of Electronic Media & Film, College of Fine Arts & Communication). Dr. Duffy and Ms. Harvey Jones will “create a course that allows EMF students to examine and develop knowledge of African American women’s experiences within the larger context of American culture, as expressed in film. Critical attention will focus on the structure and content of the films as well as consideration of larger sexual, social, cultural, economic, and political contexts of the society in which the films were produced.”
Professor Diane Kuthy (Lecturer, Department of Art & Design, Art History, and Art Education, College of Fine Arts & Communication.) Professor Kuthy “will develop and disseminate an arts-infused toolkit for introducing the history of structural racism in Baltimore. The tool-kit will be piloted and assessed with art education classes as they prepare for teaching and for other community centered experiences in Baltimore.”
Dr. Mariana Lebrón (Assistant Professor, Department of Management, College of Business & Economics) Dr. Lebrón will conduct research exploring “how social identity, Towson University’s organizational justice climate and power of the promotion, tenure, review and merit (PTRM) committee chair interact to influence FOC attrition, retention, and performance.”
Dr. Shannon McClain (Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, College of Liberal Arts) Dr. McClain will conduct research to “qualitatively explore Black college students’ perceptions of student-faculty relationships, with a specific focus on students’ trust of their instructors.”
Dr. Darnell Morris-Compton (Assistant Professor, Department of Family Studies & Community Development, College of Liberal Arts). Dr. Morris-Compton will develop a Core 10/major course on urban families with a focus on disability, class, age, ethnicity, race, religion, gender, and sexuality.
Dr. Jessica Shiller (Assistant Professor, Department of Instructional Leadership & Professional Development, College of Education) Dr. Shiller will take Towson Education faculty to visit with Baltimore City schools. Participants will “debrief and discuss what [they] have learned, and what the visits provide that might inform [the department’s] courses which prepare future teachers to work in urban schools.”
