CERA-ECIG-IIG Preconference Workshop

Title: Envisioning Psychology Beyond the Historic University System: Decolonizing Knowledge Creation and Dissemination

Presenters: Geri Palmer, Sindia Colburn

A major concern with most educational diversity and social justice education initiatives is not so much a shortage of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) strategies. Rather, the root of ineffectiveness points to adopting simplistic strategies, including teaching and practicing through a colonized knowledge creation system. In turn, these ways of doing pose no threat to inequity. For example, we constantly hear that an “achievement gap” exists in education. However, this gap can be more aptly described as an “opportunity gap”. If we don’t see the “opportunity gap” we will never close the achievement gap (Gorski & Pothini, 2018, p. 10).

This hybrid two-hour Preconference workshop is a decolonized learning space that will help attendees develop an equity-centered foundation including empathy capacity building and learn to practice seeing through an equity lens. Equity-centering is a missing piece in most performative DEI initiatives, and these failures create further harm for psychologists. From this foundation, psychology professionals–whether independent researchers, practitioners, or academic scholars–will learn action steps to create decolonized knowledge beyond systemic barriers and disseminate that information for vast public consumption.

Further, this hybrid preconference workshop will include in-person and virtual breakouts where attendees can practice action steps. This workshop will also serve as a precursor for three subsequent related sessions facilitated by the Council on Cultural, Ethnic and Racial Affairs (CERA), the Early Career Interest Group (ECIG) and the Indigenous Interest Group (IIG) as follows: CERA’s Advancing Epistemic Justice: Decolonizing Knowledge Creation and Dissemination will discuss knowledge mobilization; ECIG’s From Degree to Community Practice, Unique Careers for Community Psychologists will address how to translate psychology degrees into community practice and independent action research; and Indigenous IG’s Community-centered Action Research and Service will offer new pathways to reach and serve Indigenous communities while honoring community narratives.

Title: From Degree to Community Practice, Unique Careers for Community Psychologists

Co-presenters/authors: Jordan Tackett Russell, Dr. Vernita Perkins, Audrianna Rodriguez

Utilizing an equity-centered foundation, this session will guide early career community psychologists (and related fields) towards community practice, independent research, and beyond-historic-university-system academic careers. Early Career Professionals (ECPs) often encounter a plethora of mixed messaging and signals around how to approach building a new career from recently completed degrees, along with how to incorporate the evolving learning outcomes obtained during these degrees into a meaningful career. Many ECPs want to do careers differently. These ECPs want to impact real change and dream new community futures. The question becomes how to integrate formal degrees, innovative learning outcomes, decolonized principles of community psychology, and being a self-developed, lifelong learning psychologist within a unique, future-oriented career. Preferably, a unique career path that aligns with equity-centered content, dismantles Anti-Blackness and systemic injustices, celebrates all social identities, upholds meaningful community engagement, and thrives on liberated creativity. This session, one of the three sessions extending from the collaborative CERA-ECIG-Indigenous IG Preconference session, will include early career PAR (participatory action research) with Photovoice and indigenous methodologies, a reflexive experiential component, a career defining and designing practice, and the opportunity to build professional community (aka networking) in this welcoming and socially supportive space.

Title: Transforming Communities – Community-centered Action Research and Service

Presenters: Steffi Kim, Steffi M. Kim and Donalee Unal and Michael Kral

Discussant: Serdar M. Değirmencioğlu

Indigenous communities remain underrepresented and lack data and resources in many aspects of psychology. A eurocentric psychology continues to marginalize Indigenous communities perpetuating existing challenges. In response to populations that have been chronically underserved and underrepresented within the social sciences, scholars have outlined the need for community-based engagement strategies and research methodologies to represent those communities’ voices to promote culturally informed, appropriate, and driven health initiatives. This symposium introduces and discusses new pathways to reach and serve Indigenous communities while honoring community narratives, needs, and guidance in decolonizing knowledge creation and knowledge mobilization efforts. This session is one of the three sessions extending from the collaborative CERA-ECIG-Indigenous IG Preconference session. It includes researchers sharing their experiences in collaborating with communities, including engagement strategies, methodologies, and community-guided dissemination of knowledge.

Presenter 1: Michael Kral has done community-based participatory action research on suicide prevention with Inuit youth in Arctic Canada. Inuit youth have one of the highest suicide rates in the world, and in this project, the youth formed a youth center that reduced suicides in the community by 68% in eight years.

Presenter 2: Steffi Kim has collaborated with Alaska Native communities to learn from Elders about successful aging. She will share her work and introduce various forms of community-based research methodologies and community-guided research and dissemination practices.

Presenter 3: Donalee Unal will present a population study with 12 Natives from various federally recognized tribal nations to learn what these individuals were doing to further their sovereignty and preserve their culture. Her work was grounded in an Indigenous methodology to bring to the forefront an affirmative narrative of Native culture and creativity. Her study explored a different narrative of the socioeconomic scenarios often portrayed for Native communities.

Discussant: Serdar M. Değirmencioğlu will be the discussant of this session.

Zoom Info

Web access:  https://zoom.us/j/375758797

Phone: 1-408-638-0968 (US Toll)

Meeting ID: 375 758 797

Passcode: 138590