Higher Education Anti-Racist Teaching (H.E.A.R.T.) Podcast

Transformation Through Social Justice

Dr. Mark Overmyer-Velázquez, University Campus Director of UConn-Hartford and Dr. Joshua Abreu, Director of the Center for Teaching & Learning Excellence at Albertus Magnus College, share how they have witnessed and been part of social justice-guided transformational practices, given that it is a central pillar of the Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation (TRHT)™ framework being advanced by the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. We discuss ways in which institutional transformation can take place to better support students, faculty, staff, and communities. 

Racial Healing Practices

Michael Vidal, Interim Director of PRLACC & Director of Diversity and Inclusion Initiatives at the University of Connecticut, Sharon Stroye, Director of Public Engagement in the School of Public Affairs and Administration at Rutgers University–Newark, and Dr. Apryl Alexander, Metrolina Distinguished Scholar in Health and Public Policy at UNC Charlotte, share insights about racial healing practices, given that it is a central pillar of the Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation (TRHT)™ framework being advanced by the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) and the Kellogg Foundation. We discuss approaches to working together in higher education to both advance and center our humanity.

Changing the Narrative with Counternarratives

Dr. Saran Stewart, Associate Professor of Higher Education and Student Affairs & Director of Global Education at the University of Connecticut and Dr. Chayla Haynes, Associate Professor of Higher Education Administration at Texas A&M University, provide their approach to and practices related to counternarratives as part of the Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation (TRHT)™ framework that the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) and the Kellogg Foundation are advancing. We collectively speak about how we can change the racial narrative on college campuses by engaging with counternarratives as a tool both inside and outside of the classroom. 

Truth, Racial Healing, & Transformation Framework

Dr. Frank Tuitt, Vice President, Chief Diversity Officer, and Professor of Higher Education and Student Affairs at the University of Connecticut and Dr. Lynn Pasquerella, President of the American Association of Colleges & Universities, provide their vision and intentionality surrounding the Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation (TRHT)™ approach that the W.K. Kellogg Foundation has been leading for over half a decade. Together, we explore the foundations of this initiative, the vision for implementing this framework at UConn, and the potential impact it can have for antiracist teaching in higher education. Join us to hear more about their unique and shared history in both planning and implementing mission-driven institutional diversity efforts that will have impacts beyond the academy.

HIV-Prevention & Mental Health

Professor Martine Granby, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Journalism at the University of Connecticut and Manuel Gutierrez, a PREP Navigator with Chicanos Por La Causa in Phoenix, Arizona, share how they bring intentional strategies in their work to help capture the needs of historically marginalized populations in order to bring about substantive change. Based on their professional, academic, and personal experiences, our guests touch on elements of storytelling, representation, and how historical inequities show up in their daily work. Join us to hear more about how we, as a society, should extend elements of care, trust, and affordability to populations wishing to seek out HIV-prevention and mental health services.

Building Equitable & Sustainable Cities

Dr. Davis Chacón, an Assistant Research Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Human Rights Institute at the University of Connecticut and Mr. Enrique Bojorquez, a Planner III with the City of Phoenix Planning and Development Department, both discuss the societal dilemmas and implications surrounding the work of building equitable and sustainable cities. Pulling from their professional and academic backgrounds, our guests touch on the importance of this work especially as we consider energy needs, pollution, and population fluctuations as we look towards the future. Dr. Chacón and Mr. Bojorquez also provide suggestions as to what educators, policymakers, and community members can do to get involved in this movement to ultimately create more humanistic spaces across the globe. 

Building Community Oriented Research Labs

Dr. Loneke Blackman Carr, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Nutritional Sciences at the University of Connecticut and Dr. Anna Marie LaChance, a chemical engineer and STEM educator at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, both discuss the ways in which they cultivate community oriented lab spaces. Pulling from valuable sources of literature and former professors who they have worked with, they are deeply intentional about including and uplifting our communities to incorporate their voices in the process and impact of their research. Join us to learn more about their current work, their research practices, and how they continuously incorporate reflexivity in their respective fields.

The Role of Dialogue in Community Organizing & Community Partnerships

Dr. Sandra Quinones, the Director of School-University Partnerships at the Neag School of Education at the University of Connecticut and Mr. Robert Goodrich, the co-founder of Radical Advocates for Cross-Cultural Education (R.A.C.C.E.) in Waterbury, Connecticut, both work closely with communities to develop tangible solutions toward dismantling systemic oppression to achieve collective goals. Join us to know more about how they cultivate and practice non-traditional ways of building bridges of dialogue with community members that largely guide how they actively work to dismantle systems of power that are part of the status quo.

Supporting Undocumented/DACAmented Students & Communities

Susie Ximenez, the Program Director for Adelante Student Voices in New York whose mission is to support undocumented students’ journey towards higher education and Reyna Montoya, the founder and CEO of Aliento in Arizona who transforms trauma into hope and action for those most impacted by the harms associated with lacking immigration status, are grassroots organizers that focus on the upliftment of students and parents. In spite of discriminatory state policies and violence in their home countries, they sought a better future for themselves and for future generations. Join us to hear about how they work to fight for rights to help undocumented and DACAmented communities to support their trajectory to achieve a higher education.

Antiracist Teaching as a Reclamation of Self

Dr. Dorinda Carter Andrews, a Professor and Chairperson of the Department of Teacher Education at Michigan State University, and Dr. Maria Salazar, a Professor of Curriculum & Instruction and Teacher Education in the Morgridge College of Education at the University of Denver, are mother-scholars who center race in their academic work. Whether it's applying humanizing pedagogy in their classrooms or actively modeling antiracist teaching, they discuss the cost of engaging in this work, particularly at Predominantly White Institutions (PWIs). Join us to hear how they actively work to build capacity and continue to grow as scholars, mothers, and human beings in this field.