Nasiah is CEO of inquiry, inc. With decades of experience in educational leadership, she is nationally recognized as a leader for human dignity, having numerous publications and keynote addresses in this area. As a facilitator, she generously opens up space for people to get authentic and take meaningful action toward their commitments.
DEI: Giving Up Getting it Right in Service of Human Dignity
This nationally recognized speaker event is open to members of the community and the WMU campus.
November 3, 2023
2:30-3:30 p.m.
Room 1920, Sangren Hall
Presenters: Nasiah Cirincione Ulezi, Ed.D. & Scott Herbst, Ph.D.
In 2020 much of the United States disrupted around race and social injustice. Since 2020 there have been a wide spectrum of initiatives, particularly in the workplace that address diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). These initiatives have evoked a wide range of reactions from stakeholders from a variety of industries. For some, the topic of DEI is a welcomed conversation for others the mere mention of the word DEI elicits discomfort, resistance and disdain. This disparity in reactions highlights the ongoing complexity and sensitivity surrounding issues of race and social justice in the United States. It underscores the need for continued dialogue, education, and efforts to address what it truly means to be human (Griswold & Ariss, 2022).
In this presentation, we inquire into why that may be. Our broad assertion is that DEI efforts evoke resistance because, while intimately concerned with the well-being of human beings, efforts aren’t constituted inside a workable understanding of critical aspects of what it is to be a human being. Generally, these efforts are created from a view of how humans should be, how they ought to be, or how we want them to be. Starting there they neglect something fundamentally important: how human beings are.
While there are many valid models of human being, here, we consider the phenomena as constituted in behavior - including some that apply to all animals and others that are uniquely human such as speaking and listening (Hayes, 1996) . We will consider this in terms of some common messaging around DEI, looking at terms such as “safe spaces” and “microaggressions.” We will examine how the use (or misuse) of these terms may serve to quietly undermine DEI initiatives.
Finally, we turn our attention to practices designed from a behavioral view of human beings: specifically values and valuing, reflective/restorative practices, and what we term “compassionate communication.” We will introduce some brief practices for using these to move toward and fulfill on shared purpose.
