TWU hosts first Faculty of Color writing workshop

Clockwise from top left: 1) Panelists, workshop participants and two co-organizers (Gabrielle Smith and Danielle Phillips-Cunningham) at the "Navigating Identity at TWU" panel discussion. 2) Closing speaker presentation, "Negotiating Identity in a National Context," delivered by Kevin Cokley, Ph.D. 3) "Navigating Tenure and Promotion at TWU" panel discussion.

Associate professor of Multicultural Women's and Gender Studies Danielle Phillips-Cunningham, Ph.D., co-organized the TWU's first writing workshop for faculty of color with the Psychology and Philosophy Department's Gabrielle Smith, Ph.D., and Sally Stabb, Ph.D. The organizers' goal was to provide a critical source of professional support for assistant and associate level professors undergoing the tenure and promotion process. This inaugural workshop took place May 13-17 and was co-sponsored by the Center for Faculty Excellence and Deans of the Colleges of Arts and Sciences, Business, and Professional Education.

Phillips-Cunningham, Smith and Stabb organized the sessions so that they would reflect the large body of research about faculty diversity at colleges and universities. These issues and others were addressed through sessions led by UNT faculty on the topics of grant writing, stress and time management, and publication strategies. Representatives from the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs, the Center for Research Design and Analysis, and the Library also spoke with participants about research resources offered through TWU.

The workshop also included panel discussions with tenured TWU faculty of color who shared advice with participants on how to navigate the tenure and promotion process. Kevin Cokley, Ph.D., director of the Institute for Urban Policy Research and Analysis and Research at the University of Texas in Austin, was the closing speaker. He led a session about navigating particular challenges for faculty of color at the national level.

Panelists included professors Evelyn Curry, Lamar Muro, Claudia Sanchez, Pushkala Raman, Ron Palomares, Celia Lo, Abraham Hwang, Mahesh Raisinghani, Jyutika Mehta, Sneha Bharadwan and Kevin Cokley. Workshop participants were Sonya Spolsky, Emarely Rosa-Davila, Jason Lambert, Sara Ishii-Downing, David Pan, Shilu Neupane, Gustavo Salazar, Xiaofen Du and Kathy Brown.

The guest speakers were each thorough, impressive and informative! The structure, format, and content of the retreat were all exceptional! Beyond expectation and time well spent. I learned so much pertinent information in only five days. Outstanding!" -Workshop participant

Page last updated 3:05 PM, June 25, 2019