DePaul UniversityDePaul UniversityNewslineNewsline
Chicagoland teens write about love
Anne Saw advocates for mental health
DePaul University ranks #11 among Peace Corps top universities
How to celebrate Chinese New Year like a pro
From the president: Celebrate DePaul's fifth Blue Demon Week
june-fourteenth
Diversity groups celebrate 2018 graduates
University to celebrate Special Olympics
DePaul honors the Rev John T Richardson
SNL annual awards celebrate excellence and achievement
Alumni found love on campus created childrens book
TEDxDePaulUniversity 2018 videos available
Faculty staff and students train for CQP
African and Black Diaspora Program elevated to a department
College of Law faculty and staff honored
DePaul among first to offer critical ethnic studies graduate program
Ending street homelessness around the world
University announces student speakers for 2018 commencement
Students play with reality in new virtual and augmented design lab
Chicago Connections
DeBuzz
DePaul in the News
Faculty and Staff: HR News
Hey Students! News You Need
Signed by the Author
That's My Job
About Newsline
Newsline Submissions
DePaul University Newsline > Sections > Campus and Community > Courageous Dialogue series explores intersectionality, anti-racism and mentorship
Courageous Dialogue series explores intersectionality, anti-racism and mentorship
By Lynn Safranek / October 6, 2021 / Posted in: CAMPUS AND COMMUNITY / Twitter / Facebook
A new video series from 2020-21 Presidential Fellow Chi-Jang Yin spotlights personal stories of 27 DePaul faculty, staff, students and alumni.
A new video series from a DePaul professor and documentarian explores the universal themes of intersectionality, anti-racism and diversity mentorship through the personal stories of 27 DePaul faculty, staff, students and alumni.
The Courageous Dialogue Series is the culminating project of 2020-21 Presidential Faculty Fellow Chi-Jang Yin, area head of photography and media art, and associate professor in The Art School at DePaul. Yin's series is available to view on the Office of Institutional Diversity and Equity website, YouTube and the Courageous Dialogue Series Facebook page. DePaul's BUILD Diversity Certificate program will feature videos from the series to illustrate themes of diversity, equity and inclusion.
"The videos are personal to each participant and the journeys that led them to this moment in time," Yin says. "At the same time, the insights they share are universal. Each contains a great deal of educational value."
The Presidential Faculty Fellows program is a year-long appointment for faculty to bring substantive understanding and intellectual rigor to discussions around strategic priorities—such as DEI—and perform research and supplemental activities under the auspices of the Office of the President.
During her fellowship, Yin, a trained diversity facilitator at the National SEED Project, selected the 27 participants from a group of 115 applicants after the open call and recorded their personal stories over the winter and spring. The videos cover a wide range of topics: disability rights in the workplace, the power of being mentored and paying it forward to others, and the immigrant experience, to name a few. Several participants described experiences they had because of their race that motivated them to choose career paths related to advocacy.
An award-winning documentarian, Yin found inspiration for the Courageous Dialogue series in TED Talks—the popular short, personal online videos that impart valuable lessons. She also sought to emulate 19th-century African American abolitionist Frederick Douglass, who sat for portraits to make his presence felt and became the most photographed American of the 19th century.
"Douglass recognized the value of the camera as a social leveler to challenge stereotypes. He intended to take control of being seen as a man through this new technology at that time," Yin says.
With Douglass in mind, Yin placed participants front and center. The videos were recorded over Zoom, a consequence of the pandemic that had the artistic effect of introducing visual elements of abstractness. Yin used plain backgrounds to remove a sense of place and time. In another nod to Douglass, she also photographed portraits of some participants by Chicago's lakefront—another timeless space—for what she hopes will someday be an extension of the video project.
Participants in the Courageous Dialogue Series are:
Bushra Amiwala, class of 2020 alumnus and, as a member of the Skokie School District 73.5 Board of Education, the youngest Muslim elected official in the United States
Cory Barnes, coordinator, Black Cultural Center in the Multicultural Student Success, Identity-specific Cultural and Resource Center
David Y. Chack, adjunct faculty, The Theatre School
Blair Davis, associate professor, College of Communication
Chris Solis Green, senior professional lecturer, College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences
Mónica Hayde Ramos, adjunct faculty and assistant director, Egan Office for Urban Education and Community Partnerships at the Irwin W. Steans Center
Dan K. Hibbler, associate professor, School of Continuing and Professional Studies
Jeremiah Howe, adjunct faculty, College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences
Jaclyn Jensen, associate professor and associate dean, Student Success, Driehaus College of Business
Li Jin, associate professor and program directors of Chinese Studies and Global Asian Studies, College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences
Seerat Kaler, class of 2021 alumnus
Donna Kiel, instructional assistant professor, College of Education
Laura Kina, professor, College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences
Chernoh Momodu Sesay, Jr., associate professor, College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences
Michele Morgan, senior professional lecturer, College of Science and Health
Elizabeth Ortiz, vice president for Institutional Diversity and Equity
Cindy Pickett, associate provost for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Provost Office
Kelly Richmond Pope, professor, Driehaus College of Business
James Rudyk, adjunct faculty, College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, executive director of the Northwest Side Housing Center
Ann Russo, professor and director of Women's Center, College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences
Traci Schlesinger, associate professor, College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences
Shailja Sharma, professor, College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences
Nilima Sil, student, College of Education
Bibiana Suárez, professor, College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences
Steve Stoute, vice president for Strategic Initiatives and chief of staff, Office of the President
Kelly Tzoumis, professor, College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences
Rafael Vizcaíno, assistant professor, College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences
Lynn Safranek is the assistant vice president of strategic communications in University Marketing and Communications.
newsline@depaul.edu