Wellness and Cultural Wealth: Exploring Racism and Mental Health in Higher Education

June 7 and 8:  Two-day Virtual Event
June 8: Dinner/performance (limited attendance)

2023 CECW Institute will focus on the impact of institutional racism in higher education on the wellness and mental health of students, staff, faculty, and administrators who identify as Black, Latinx, Asian/Pacific Islander and Indigenous, including those with intersecting LGBTQIA+ identities. 

Featuring nationally recognized leaders, student-centered, and interactive sessions, the institute will explore ways that higher education institutions can respond effectively to the equity and mental health concerns of their community members of color. Spotlighted will be efforts, rooted in Community Cultural Wealth, that foster creative, protective, and activist spaces that strengthen resilience and wellness, and drive institutional change.

CECW 2023 Institute Agenda

June 7, 2023

9 a.m.
Welcome
Pam Eddinger, BHCC President
Lee Santos Silva, Professor, Director of CECW

9:15 a.m.
Land Acknowledgement & Opening Session: Laying the Groundwork for Decolonizing Higher Education
Larry Spotted Crow Mann
Deborah Spears Moorehead, MA
Pamela Ellis, Esq
Q&A Moderated by Emily Singer, CECW

10:30 a.m.
Addressing Structural Inequity through Healing-Centered Education
Angel Acosta, EdD
Q&A with Professor Lauren Stauble, Bunker Hill Community College           

Lunch

12:30 p.m.     
Welcome Back
Carlnita Green, PhD, Bunker Hill Community College
Musical Performance
Danny Rivera, Jr.
Post-Traumatic Slave Syndrome and Higher Education
Joy DeGruy, PhD
Q&A with Dr. Lloyd Sheldon Johnson, Bunker Hill Community College
Student reflection with Nuri Chandler Smith, Bunker Hill Community College

2:40 p.m. 
Concurrent Sessions     
Community College Advising from a Black Feminist Perspective
Reconstructing Syllabi and Pedagogy for Equity through Cultural Wealth
Culturally Responsive Mental Health Support for AAPI Students and other Students of Color
Using story Circles to Strengthen Community and Embrace Cultural Wealth

3:40 p.m. 
Closing Remarks
Paul Kasili, PhD, Professor, Bunker Hill Community College

June 8, 2023

9 a.m.  
Overview of Day 2
Lee Santos Silva, Professor & Director of CECW
BHCC’s One Book Program
Naoko Akai-Dennis, PhD Professor of English and ELL

9:15 a.m.
Radical Healing in Higher Education with the Radical Healing Collective
Helen Neville, PhD, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Hector Adames, PsyD, Chicago School of Professional Psychology
Jioni Lewis, PhD, University of Maryland, College Park
Della Mosely, PhD, WELLS Healing Center, Durham, NC
Q&A with Elie Brice, MSW, LCSW, HOPE Initiative
Musical Performance
Danny Rivera, Jr.

10:45 a.m.
BREAK

11:15 a.m.
Concurrent Sessions
Breaking the Cycle: The Intersection of Institutional Racism, Trauma, & College
Supporting Latiné and All Students to Belong: the Art of Situation Crafting
Together in Song (student focus)
A Sacred Practice: Reclaiming Our Humanity in Higher Education

11:45
LUNCH

12:45 p.m. 
Digital Storytelling on Mental Health and Healing: An ANNAPISI Student-Centered Perspective
Shirley Tang, PhD, University of Massachusetts, Boston
Maria Kathleen Puente, PhD, Bunker Hill Community College
Anthony Nguyen, UMass Boston Student
Giovanni Lampong, UMass Boston Student
Stephanie Alyza Gapongli Mastinggal, UMass Boston Student
Q&A and Session Reflection with BHCC students

2 p.m.    
2023 Institute Reflections, Carrying the Work Forward & Closing Remarks
Paul Kasili, PhD, Professor, Bunker Hill Community College
Lee Santos Silva, Professor & Director of CECW

Featured Speakers

Dr. Joy Angela DeGruy

Dr. Joy Angela DeGruy is a nationally and internationally renowned researcher and educator. For over two decades, she served as an Assistant Professor at Portland State University’s School of Social Work and now serves as President and Chief Executive Officer of Joy DeGruy Publications Inc. Dr. DeGruy’s research focuses on the intersection of racism, trauma, violence and American chattel slavery. She has over thirty years of practical experience as a professional in the field of social work. She conducts seminars, lectures, and trainings in the areas of Intergenerational/Historical trauma, mental health, social justice, improvement strategies and evidence based model development.

Dr. DeGruy has published numerous refereed journal articles and authored her seminal book entitled “Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome: America’s Legacy of Enduring Injury & Healing.” She has developed the “African American Male Adolescent Respect Scale” an assessment instrument designed to broaden our understanding of the challenges facing these youth in an effort to prevent their representation in the criminal justice system. 

Dr. Angel Acosta

Dr. Angel Acosta works to bridge the fields of leadership, social justice and mindfulness. As a member of the 400 Years of Inequality Project, he designed the Contemplating 400 Years of Inequality Experience to support with understanding structural inequality through a mindfulness-based and contemplative approach. Angel is a proud first-generation Dominican-American and graduate of SUNY Plattsburgh. He completed his Ed.D. in the Curriculum and Teaching Department at Teachers College, Columbia University. He is currently the Director of the Garrison Institute’s Fellowship Program. He serves as the Creative Director at the NYC Healing Collective, a community initiative curating work and insights at the intersection of healing, wellness, and societal transformation. To support with expanding his research he is currently building the Acosta Institute--a digital learning and research lab fostering innovation at the intersection of healing-centered education, contemplative social science, and slow work.