Past Events

SmartTalks!

SmartTalks! provides student researchers an opportunity to translate their scholarly work for a public audience. Come learn about the exciting work that graduate and undergraduate students across TWU’s three campuses are doing!

Talks will represent a range of disciplines—English, Family Studies, Kinesiology, Multicultural Women’s & Gender Studies, Music Education, Nursing, Physical Therapy, Rhetoric, and Sociology—and take on a variety of forms, from TED-style talks to spoken word to Pecha Kucha.

We’ll begin with a reception in the ACT 2nd floor lobby before adjourning to ACT 301 at 6:30 for the talks. The event will include an intermission.

Date: Thursday, April 22, 2022
Location: ACT 301 and virtual via Zoom
Time: 6-9 PM
Zoom link: https://bit.ly/TWUsmarttalks2022

Quakertown Stories and The Women’s Thought Leadership Program invite you to join us for two events in support of the national Write to Vote initiative.

Write to Vote: Write In

Are you passionate about voting rights? Do you want to share your ideas with a wider audience and help effect change in your community? Join us for an op-ed writing workshop, in which we walk you through the process of writing a short opinion piece related to voting rights. The session will conclude with a brief discussion of tips and tricks on pitching your op-eds. Come with an idea, leave with an op-ed!

Date: Tuesday, April 12, 2022
Location: Old Main Building room 257 or virtual via Zoom
Time: 4-5:30 PM
Zoom link: https://twu-edu.zoom.us/j/92734937824

What you should bring: Your ideas. Your passion. And a device or system to write your op-ed: this could be a notepad and pen or laptop or other device that you can write on.

Sponsored by Quakertown Stories and The Women’s Thought Leadership Program. The Women’s Thought Leadership Program is funded by the Jane Nelson Institute For Women’s Leadership.

Write to Vote: Panel Discussion on Voting Rights

Join us for a panel discussion to learn about the history of voting rights in Texas and the US. Learn how recent and proposed changes in voting laws and districting affect access to the polls.

Date: Tuesday, March 29, 2022
Location: Old Main Building room 257 or virtual via Zoom
Time: 4-5 PM
Zoom link: https://twu-edu.zoom.us/j/92734937824

Sponsored by Quakertown Stories and The Women’s Thought Leadership Program. The Women’s Thought Leadership Program is funded by the Jane Nelson Institute For Women’s Leadership.

Gender and Justice: Communication Strategies for Policy Change

For those of us who are interested in making real change and not merely settling for shallow political wins, our political processes can be disheartening (to say the least). Join Eesha Pandit for an interactive workshop designed to help you:

1. develop communication strategies and skills necessary to create policy and systemic change in the face of political gridlock and
2. discuss the role of social movements and cultural work in our collective fight for social justice.

Date: Tuesday, March 8, 2022
Location: Virtual via Zoom
Time: 2:30-3:30 PM
Registration: https://bit.ly/genderandjustice

Sponsored by The Women’s Thought Leadership Program. The Women’s Thought Leadership Program is funded by the Jane Nelson Institute For Women’s Leadership.

Speaker

Eesha Pandit

Eesha Pandit is a writer and a co-founder of the Center for Advancing Innovative Policy (CAIP), where she brings over a decade of thought leadership and strategic communications around progressive policy. She has led policy, program, and communications work in movements for human rights, reproductive justice, and violence against women. Eesha believes deeply in the power of feminist collectivity and is a member of the Crunk Feminist Collective and co-founder of South Asian Youth in Houston Unite (SAYHU). She is a graduate of Mount Holyoke College and the University of Chicago.

Op-Eds across the Disciplines

This workshop will provide an opportunity (1) to discuss the value of public scholarship for students at all levels and (2) hands-on experience to help you develop op-ed assignments in your classroom.  

Date: Friday, November 12
Location: Virtual (Zoom). Register today for the Zoom link and workshop resources. 
Time: 9:00AM-12:00PM

What you’ll gain

In this workshop, you will have the opportunity to discuss the value of public scholarship for students. We’ll provide examples of existing op-ed assignments for various disciplines before walking you through the process of creating your own assignment and rubric. You will leave the workshop with a drafted assignment and feedback from your workshop community. 

Why public scholarship? 

• Help students develop transferable skills

• Teach students to translate their academic expertise for non-academic audiences

• Enrich students’ understanding of and ability to explain the value of your discipline 

• Increase students’ capacity to be agents of change in their communities by providing opportunities to amplify their voices in public discourses

• Strengthen students’ marketable skills, especially their writing and communication skills 

Who should sign up?

We welcome faculty at all ranks, including contingent faculty and graduate students who are or will soon be instructors of record. We also welcome faculty from all disciplines.

Establishing a Public Profile

What is a public profile and why does it matter? How can a public profile help you use your academic passions to inspire and influence others in your community and beyond? The TWU Women’s Thought Leadership Program invites you to join us for a virtual panel discussion with three North Texas thought leaders who will talk about the steps they have taken to establish a public profile. Drawing from their own experiences, our panelists will share their stories and offer advice and concrete steps you can take to expand your public presence and amplify the power of your ideas. 

Date: Tuesday, October 26, 2021
Location: Virtual (Zoom)
Time: 2-3 p.m.
Registration: https://bit.ly/publicprofiletwu

Sponsored by The Women’s Thought Leadership Program. The Women’s Thought Leadership Program is funded by the Jane Nelson Institute For Women’s Leadership.

Panelists

Emily Farris

Associate Professor of Political Science at Texas Christian University

Emily Farris (M.A., Ph.D. Brown University; B.A. Furman University) is an associate professor of political science at Texas Christian University. Her research in American politics focuses on local politics and explores questions of representation and participation in regard to gender, racial, and ethnic identity. She received her MA and PhD from Brown University and BA from Furman University. Her published work has appeared in Political Analysis, Political Research Quarterly, Politics, Groups, and Identities, and other political and social science journals. She’s regularly involved in public scholarship and frequently interacts with the press, having been quoted or appeared in almost 40 outlets, including the New York Times, Vox, The Guardian, and The Atlantic, and is active on Twitter with more than 18,000 followers.

 

Gloria Gonzales-Dholakia

Executive Director of Jolt Initiative and Jolt Action

Gloria Gonzales-Dholakia is the Executive Director of Jolt Initiative and Jolt Action. Gloria is a first-generation to college Tejana committed to equity and underrepresented communities. Gloria was the first Latina elected to the Leander ISD Board of Trustees and continues to dovetail her passion for innovation, equity and inclusion, and education as a community organizer and volunteer. She believes in the power of people unified working for a greater good.

 

Kimberly O’Neil

Chief Executive Officer of Giving Blueprint

Kimberly O'Neil is an award-winning professor, executive leader, and social good expert who served as the youngest African-American female city manager in the United States. As a veteran senior government and nonprofit executive, she has led activities that have generated more than $20 million for community initiatives, negotiated major urban economic development projects, and used her voice to impact public policy decisions while lobbying in New York City and on Capitol Hill.

As an advocate for reducing inequities within communities of color, Kimberly now serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Giving Blueprint, a company focused on increasing community and business development opportunities through philanthropy, policy and advocacy, and education. Through Giving Blueprint, she leads Cause Studio, an education and professional development initiative for startup nonprofit organizations. She is a board member of Social Venture Partners Dallas, a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., and a founding member of HERitage Giving Fund - the first black-led giving circle in Texas.

• TEDxPlano Talk
• TEDxPlano Conversation
• Making the Workplace Work for Women
• Texas Responds at The Texas Tribune Festival 
• TRT World Op-Ed
• Race and Public Defense State Criminal Justice Conference Panel
• Funding Equity: Black Professionals in Philanthropy

Page last updated 9:14 AM, April 10, 2023