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Courageous Conversations series features Richard Milner

By Diana Fedinec

RichardThe first of the Reimagine Southwest Courageous Conversations series kicked off Southwest’s 2021 Winter Recharge for faculty and staff with keynote speaker Cornelius Vanderbilt Professor of Education in the Department of Teaching and Learning at Vanderbilt Peabody College Richard Milner IV.

Dr. Milner is a well-known researcher, scholar, teacher and urban education thought leader whose research on equity and diversity has influenced institutional practices and curriculums in school districts across the nation.

The intent of the Courageous Conversations series is to engage employees in honest and uncomfortable conversations about social justice issues impacting the college and community and is part of President Tracy D. Hall’s vision to “Reimagine Southwest” as a place where institutional barriers no longer hinder students and employees from reaching their goals. Reimagine Southwest Work Group 3, charged with reviewing the college’s policies, practices and procedures for positive systemic change, and the Teaching Academy, were instrumental in bringing Milner to the Winter Recharge event through Title III grant funding.

Dr. Milner’s virtual keynote presentation, “Are We Really in the Fight for Racial Justice Together?”, focused on relationship-centered practices in advancing the work of equity at Southwest. “Each of us on this call operates in a world of privilege or some level of formal educational privilege,” Milner said during his presentation. “Understanding the complexity of that is important in thinking of your own work, your own practices and your own way of being.”

Milner emphasized that relationship building is a key element in cultivating conversations that lead to policies and practices that have the potential to be transformative. He suggested that one of the most effective ways of building relationships with students is through classroom talk and immersion into communities where young people socialize. On an institutional level, Milner suggested the College bring people together to advance the work of equity and relationships with diversity and equity-themed activities. He recommended the following five relationship-building activities to spark equity discourse on campus:

  1. Create a cultural autobiography
  2. Watch and discuss movies
  3. Use “Agree and Disagree” statements during discussion sessions
  4. Writ vignettes
  5. Watch the “What Would You Do?” TV shows

For more information about Reimagine Southwest and the Courageous Conversations series, contact Michael Boyd, Chief Information Officer, at mdboyd@southwest.tn.edu