Welcome to JEDI Training Series

The Offices of Diversity and Inclusion (KSAS/WSE), in collaboration with the Teaching Academy, are excited to offer for this important J.E.D.I Training Series. Below you will find information for this training—including the workshop schedule with associated Zoom links, facilitator bios, and more! 

       

“The opposite of racist isn’t ‘not racist.’ It is ‘anti-racist.’ ... One either allows racial inequities to persevere, as a racist, or confronts racial inequities, as an anti-racist. There is no in-between safe space of ‘not racist’.”

                                                                                                                                       — Ibram X. Kendi 

 

To have an equitable teaching environment for all students, instructors must commit to being anti-racist educators and actively combat power and privilege (e.g., racism, sexism, classism, etc.) in their classrooms. This workshop series encourages JHU teaching assistants and instructors to examine their intersectional identities, biases, assumptions, values, and expectations of students and center students of color and other marginalized groups in course design, pedagogy, and course content. Participants will develop concrete strategies on how to develop an inclusive teaching environment and how to function as an accomplice in both subject matter and teaching methods.

Participants will also have the opportunity to develop and receive feedback on their personal Diversity Statement - a document that is now commonly requested as part of the job application.

All sessions are held on Zoom and can be accessed through this link:

Zoom Link - Join the Session!

The MS Teams J.E.D.I site supports discussion and sharing of materials and resources through this 4-day series and may be accessed by clicking the below button. 

JEDI MS Teams Site - Join the Discussion!

10:00-11:30 AM and 1:00-2:30 PM ET
"Discussing Identity, Power and Privilege"

This workshop explores how intersectional identities are linked to power and privilege at individual, interpersonal, and institutional levels. Participants will be introduced to the purpose and structure of the diversity statement.
 

Ashley E. Cureton, PhD, MSW

Assistant Professor, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor, School of Social Work and School of Education

10:00-11:30 AM and 1:00-2:30 PM ET
"Understanding the Impact of Oppression in the U.S."

This workshop unpacks the historical context and ways in which racism, White supremacy, and other forms of discrimination operate in the U.S. Participants will review and discuss sample diversity statements from recent JHU alumni/networks.
 

Megumi G. Hine, MS, Doctoral Candidate

Johns Hopkins University School of Education, Center for the Social Organization of Schools 

     

10:00-11:30 AM and 1:00-2:30 PM ET
"Creating an Inclusive Learning Environment"

This workshop brainstorms strategies and resources for fostering an inclusive classroom through both subject matter and teaching methods. Participants will develop concrete outlines for their own diversity statement.
 

Lester J. Kern, III, MSW, Doctoral Candidate & Lecturer

University of Chicago Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice 

     

10:00-11:30 AM and 1:00-2:30 PM ET
"Becoming a JEDI Accomplice"

This workshop identifies opportunities and strategies for instructors to act as an accomplice in classroom and individual contexts with students. Participants will have the opportunity to receive feedback on their drafted diversity statements.
 

Ashley E. Cureton, PhD, MSW

Assistant Professor, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor, School of Social Work and School of Education

     

Biographies

 

        

 

Dr. Ashley E. Cureton is an Assistant Professor in the School of Social Work and School of Education at the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor. Prior to transitioning into this role, Dr. Cureton was a Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellow and Lecturer in the School of Education and the Department of Sociology at Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Cureton explores the educational and mental health needs and outcomes of refugee and migrant children and youth and their families. Prior to attending graduate school, Dr. Cureton worked as a Research Associate at Northwestern University’s Institute for Policy Research. She also served as a Research Fellow for the U.S. Department of State in Istanbul, Turkey, working with Iraqi and Syrian refugee youth in school and community settings. Dr. Cureton received a Ph.D. and master’s degree from the Crown School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice at the University of Chicago.

Over the last 14 years, Dr. Cureton has taught dozens of courses to college and graduate students at the University of Chicago, Northwestern, Johns Hopkins, and University of Michigan, such as social justice, diversity, and inequality in the US; international development; an introduction to human rights; and refugee and immigration policy, to name a few. To enhance her pedagogical skills, she received teaching certificates through the Chicago Center for Teaching at UChicago and the Teaching Academy at Johns Hopkins. Dr. Cureton was selected as the 2022 Student Union Teacher of Year by the UM-SSW student body due to her demonstrated commitment to improving DEI and for her outstanding teaching. She was also awarded a Diversity Recognition Award from the Johns Hopkins Diversity Leadership Council for her demonstrable efforts to advance diversity and inclusion at JHU and an Excellence in Course Design Award from the Chicago Center for Teaching at UChicago.

     
 

Megumi Hine is a doctoral student at the Johns Hopkins School of Education studying school, family, and community engagement. She is interested in exploring relationships between partnership programs and equitable outcomes for schools, families, students, and communities. Having worked at the Center on School, Family, and Community Partnerships at Johns Hopkins prior to the program, Megumi has collaborated with schools, districts, organizations, and state departments of education across the country and internationally to implement partnership programs that promote student success. Megumi has led trainings for education leaders about partnership programs, facilitated sessions around equity and inclusion for university students, and has spent time in various classrooms from preschool to graduate school.

     
 

Lester J. Kern is a doctoral candidate at the University of Chicago Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice. His research interests include emergency psychiatric treatment, policing, and alternatives to arrest and incarceration. Lester's dissertation, Between two worlds: Psychiatric emergency care in Milwaukee, is a case study examining a closing county-run psychiatric emergency room in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, focusing on how healthcare personnel manage psychiatric crises and how inter- and intra-organizational relationships impact patient care. He has served as an Instructor and Teaching Assistant for courses at the University of Chicago, including Social Intervention: Policies and Programs I, Social Intervention: Research and Evaluation, and Global Development and Social Welfare. Lester has provided research support on violence prevention programs, workforce development programs, and jail diversion programs, as part of the Northwestern University Network and Neighborhood Initiative and the Center for Behavioral Health and Justice at Wayne State University. Prior to joining the University of Chicago, he received an MSW from Wayne State University and a BA from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.