The Speakers
Dr. William Cortezia
William Cortezia is a Brazilian pedagogue. Heis a tenured faculty at the School of Education at Fitchburg State University and Director of the Crocker Center for Civic Engagement. Dr. Cortezia is a speaker in college access and success, community outreach, and pedagogy for educators working with underserved/underprepared students and students at risk of dropping out of school. He works with higher education institutions, K-12 schools, and non-profit organizations helping them further develop and evolve their work with students and communities. His teaching methods courses include a focus on social stratification, sociology of education and critical pedagogy\teaching. Dr. Cortezia's most recent research explores: Public School Education and the Pedagogy of a Culture of Excellence - Sapientia, Virtus, and Amicitia; The Plight of the Male Students of Color: Quantitative Indicators of Enrollment and Resentment; and The Significance of a Culturally Relevant Pedagogy: The Sociology of Critical Education and Middle School.
Dr. DeMisty Bellinger-Delfeld
DeMisty Bellinger-Delfeld teaches creative writing and women, gender, and sexuality studies in the English Department. She serves on the boards of Worcester Children's Chorus and of Association of Writers and Writing Programs, the premier organization for teachers and professors of creative writing. As a writer, DeMisty D. Bellinger is the author of the poetry collections Rubbing Elbows (Finishing Line Press, 2017) and Peculiar Heritage (Mason Jar Press, 2021), and the forthcoming novel New to Liberty (Unnamed Press, 2022). She is also the poetry editor with Porcupine Literary and Malarkey Books. You can learn more about her writing online at demistybellinger.com.
Mr. Asher Jackson
Asher leads the Technical Services team at Fitchburg State University. He plans, implements, maintains and enhances the wide range of library collections to ensure their availability to the university community. As the Library’s Archivist, he collects, organizes, and preserves the university’s records, digital collections, and other documents of interest. He also teaches library instruction classes.
Dr. Wafa Unus
Wafa Unus is an assistant professor of journalism at Fitchburg State University in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, where she also advises FSU’s student-run newspaper, The Point. Dr. Unus is the author of “A Newsman in the Nixon White House: The Enduring Conflict between Journalistic Truth and Presidential Image.” Her research interests include journalism history and the impact of pivotal figures in journalism that have contributed to contemporary practice, as well as local journalism, news deserts, and their impact on civic engagement. She is currently working on a book manuscript on Carr Van Anda, the first managing editor of the New York Times, and research on the role of university news publications in filling gaps within emerging and existing news deserts.
Dr. John Reiff
I have worked with civic engagement and service-learning in higher education for over 40 years—as a college teacher, then as director of service-learning/civic engagement offices at a small private college and a state university (UMass Amherst), then since 2015 as Director of Civic Learning and Engagement for the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education (DHE), where I work with the 29 public colleges and universities in the state to make civic learning an“expected outcome” for their undergraduates. I currently serve also as Project Director for the DHE-funded Higher Education Innovation Fund grant involving faculty at Fitchburg State and 3 other public universities who are working on anti-racist pedagogy in community-engaged teaching.
I have taught courses on leadership, public policy, organizing, and mentoring, and have written on education for democracy. For the past 25 years I have led professional development for faculty teaching community-engaged courses. Increasingly over time, this work has centered on the relationships between privilege, power, knowledge, democracy and social justice, and on shaping civic and community engagement so it moves toward justice. As a White man, I recognize that I am responsible to use my privilege to work against racism and the other intersecting forms of oppression in our society. Figuring out how to do that is a journey for the rest of my life.
I have a Ph.D. in American Culture from the University of Michigan.