Conference Date:  April 5, 2024

Drury University is pleased to announce the first Diversity and Reconciliation Undergraduate Conference which will take place on Drury’s main campus in the Olin Library on Friday, April 5, 2024. This conference will be in honor of the 150^th anniversary of the university. It also will be tied to the Friday, April 5, 2024, 11 a.m. all-university convocation in Stone Chapel featuring Ms. Cheryl Brown Henderson, the daughter of the Reverend Oliver Leon Brown of the 1954 U.S. Supreme Court decision which struck down the “separate but equal” doctrine of racial segregation in public education. The Rev. Mr. Brown was the pastor of the Benton Avenue A.M.E. Church immediately across the street from Stone Chapel from 1959-1961. 2024 marks the 70^th anniversary of this historic decision.

The Conference Planning Committee seeks student applications to present at the gathering. Applicants may submit a proposal to present creative literature (poetry, fiction, or non), perform a dramatic piece (original or published script), or submit original work in the visual and plastic arts.  Individuals also may choose to give an autobiographical presentation where they reflect on the experience of being a person of minority identity.  The Committee encourages interdisciplinary and creative work around a wide range of topics that address diversity and reconciliation, including themes such as diversity in the workplace (business), the connection between honoring diversity and building design (architecture), literature or art as a site of reconciliation, the persistence of structural racism, diversity in STEM, environmental social justice, LGBTQIA2 identity, and religious diversity (interfaith dialogue).

Schedule

FRIDAY, APRIL 5, 2024

Ongoing: Serenity Sosa, “150 Years Forward, 60 Years Back” – Olin Library

Key to Room Locations

A – Olin Library, Room 002 also known as the “Olin Room” (on the lower level)

B – Olin Library, Room 006 (on the lower level)

C – Olin Library, Room 122 (on the first floor in the Technology Services area)

D – Lay Hall Auditorium (located immediately east of Olin Library on the first floor)

8:30 – Coffee and pastries, Olin Room

8:45 – Welcoming remarks—Dr. Rosalyn Thomas and Dr. Peter Browning, Olin Room

9:00-9:50A – Black Women and Civil Rights
Moderator: Dr. Michael Verney

• Claire Baker, “Tituba, Candy, and Mary Black: Unveiling Strategies against Racial Oppression amidst the Salem Witchcraft Trials”
• Spencer Wynne, “Willie May Kirk – One Woman Civil Rights Army” (Austin College)

9:00-9:50D – Healthcare in Underprivileged Communities
Moderator: Professor Greg Booker

• Tori Carter, “Black Maternal Mortality in the United States”
• Hailey Youngblood, “Mapping Health Inequities: Assessing Access to Healthcare Services in Springfield’s Marginalized Communities”

 9:00-9:50C – Feminine Power
Moderator: Dr. Ginney Norton  

• Arielle Winkelman – “Unsexing Joan of Arc: The Power of Autonomy”
• Anni McHenry – “The Symbolism of Nameless Women and Divine Feminine Energy”

10:00-10:50A – Reconciliation and Civil Rights
Moderator: Dr. Samee Siddiqui

• William Kershaw, “A Country Divided: Did the Centennial Exhibition of 1876 Facilitate Unification?”
• Noemi Nunez-Ruiz, “The Importance of Knowing Civil Rights Activist Juanita J. Craft” (Austin College)

10:00-10:50B    Neurodiversity
Moderator: Dr. Chris Panza

• Rachel Armstrong, “Finding Strength in Unlikely Places (When Given the Chance) – [The Story of a Person who Expresses Neurodiversity in Her Own Life]
• Chris Brown, “Destigmatizing Dissociative Disorder”
• Cole Earl, “Media Depictions of Disability”

10:00-10:50C   Equity and Diversity in Architecture
Moderator: Dr. Robert Weddle

• Mark Belk, “Social Equity in Design – The West Oakland Master Plan”
• Hailey Youngblood, “Gay Urban Enclaves: The Varied Social Emergence of Gender-Confirming and Gender-Diverse Communities”

11:00-11:45 – Cheryl Brown Henderson, “Brown v. Board of Education at 70,” Stone Chapel

12:00-12:50 – Lunch, FSC Ballroom (only for individuals who signed up in advance).
If you did not register for the luncheon with Ms. Henderson, you can go to the Commons for lunch in the Findlay Student Center or eat on the first floor of Springfield Hall.

 1:00-1:50A – Histories of Race and Science in the United States
Moderator: Dr. Felix Harcourt

• Tiffany Pierce, “Egyptology: A History of Racial Controversy”
• Selina Brooks, “The Importance of Lawrence A. Nixon, An African American Physician” (Austin College)

1:00-1:50B – Diversifying Health Care Providers
Moderator: Dr. Mark Wood

• Mason Brewer, “Recruitment of Minority Physicians”
• Lydia Robbins, “Female Providers” [in Health Care}

1:00-1:50C – Transformational Literature
Moderator: Dr. Peter Meidlinger

• Evan Shriver, “Between the Lives” [Fiction about the Ties that Bind Us]
• Mar Smith – “Power of Poetry”

2:00-2:50A – BUIC Roundtable
Moderator: Dr. Rosalyn Thomas

• Black United Independent Collegiates (BUIC) Forum

2:00-2:50B – Personal Reflections on Queer and Transgender Identities
Moderator: Dr. Ginney Norton

• Maeve Duden – “There is a Monster at the Foot of my Bed, in my Closet” [On Transgender Identity]
• Chris Brown – ” Life Itself: A Study in Modern Queerness”

2:00-2:50C – Diversity and Reconciliation through Faith
Moderator: Dr. Peter Browning

• Theresa Palazzolo – “Why Mary? Understanding the Importance of the Virgin Mary and the Rosary”
• Emily Weins, “Social Class Diversity Within the Church”

3:00-3:50A – Allies Round Table
Moderator: Mar Smith, President of Allies

• Allies LGBTQ+A Forum

3:00-3:50B – Reflective Poetry
Moderator: Dr. Katie Gilbert

• Madori Bland, “Love and Beauty in the Fall of Hell: Poetry by Ocean Vuong” [LGBTQ+ Related]
• Jessalyn Gann, “The Possibilities of Reconciliation through the Ritual of Prayer in Poetry”
• Lauren Bloxom, “Search for Identity”

3:00-3:50C – Gender and Literature
Moderator: Dr. Richard Schur

• Sylvana McClure – “The Sexual Mythology of Black Shakespeare’s Othello”
• Zoey Mueller, “Tepid Girls in Rotting Houses: Poetry and Fiction about Mental Health

4:00-4:50A – Recruiting Diverse Professionals
Moderator: Dr. Laurie Edmondson

• Victoria Sheers, “Increasing Diversity within Neuroscience Research Participants”
• Emma Dole, “Mentoring and Math: How We Can Increase Gender Diversity in College Mathematics”

4:00-4:50B – Interpersonal Relations and Team-Building
Moderator: Vice President and Director of Athletics Nyla Milleson

• Aubrey Bennett, “How to Date: On Being Aromantic”
• Kaitlin Fasbender, “Together as a Team: Improving the Accessibility of U.S. Sports”
• Tyler Caine, “Breaking the Ice: An Exploration of Diversity and Inclusion in Ice Hockey”

4:00-4:50C – Ally Projects and Reflections
Moderator: Dr. Ginney Norton

• Student presenters from EDUC 205, “Diversity and Social Justice in Education”

5:00-5:50A – Conference Social

People seeking more information may write to Dr. Peter Browning, Drury University, Department of History, Philosophy, and Religion, 900 North Benton Avenue, Springfield, MO 65802 at pbrowning@drury.edu or call 417-873-7231.