Commitment to an integrated community

Integrated perspectives in education

Unfortunately, history has disfavored many voices in the classroom– from explicitly discriminatory attitudes to more casual yet nonetheless biased data collection practices. Evidenced by my research and teaching, I endorse an academic philosophy that hopes to combat this history by promoting integrative ways of thought. Not only does this include building bridges between seemingly disparate fields like arts and sciences, but it also asks of an inclusive academic environment that combines across diverse perspectives. 

As an in-betweener–someone who requires multiple-checked boxes on demographic forms and has countlessly faced the question “So, where are you from? But, like, where?”– I empathize with anxieties of belonging. If a survey can’t even offer me a space to put my correct, albeit convoluted, race, should I not be filling it out? For years, I have juggled these questions. Given my own experiences, and my drive to learn of others’, I have made dedicated efforts towards increasing an 'integrated classroom' across years of volunteer, pedagogy, and research work.

Successful initiatives

At Duke University, I enrolled in a doctoral program that was led by leaders in my field and offered avenues for service. I first joined the Graduate and Professional Student Government (GPSG) as the representative of my Cognitive Neuroscience cohort, attending biweekly meetings on policies of the Graduate School, often including equity initiatives. One successful legislation of note was the negotiation of an increased, equal stipend among graduate students across disciplines (oftentimes, non-STEM domains suffer in this regard). 

Outside of GPSG, I also joined the Neurobiology EDI Committee, and served as a member for four years. With this group, we accomplished several workshops over contentious topics (“Community Conversations”), outreach events to show and discuss inclusion in sciences, and book clubs examining marginalized communities in the South. I am proud to have served on this Committee that offers representation among all levels of education (e.g., graduate student, post-docs, faculty, lab techs) and consequently, diverse voices for those in the neurosciences. 

Within the psychological sciences, I am a proud leader of the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience's Anti-Racism Community (ARC), which has organized multiple outreach and internal EDI efforts. In one successful global initiative called “Inside Look,” URM students interested in Duke Graduate School were invited to attend a 2-hour information session hosted by student members of ARC, which led to a turnout of over 150 students across the world. In addition, ARC organized and successfully implemented “Virtual Office Hours,” an opportunity for applicants of PhD programs, from all backgrounds, to submit materials for volunteer editors (including myself) to provide free and timely feedback. I ultimately was able to hold meaningful and productive conversations with students of all corners of the world, from South Korea to Brazil. This work was akin to my past work with the Application Statement Feedback Program, a national agency with the same goal. On more local scales too, I have personally led efforts in a major syllabus review program that sought to evaluate Duke syllabi and their use of inclusive languages; this, in turn, produced a department-wide template that faculty could freely deposit into their syllabus regardless of discipline. 

Inclusivity in pedagogy and mentorship

I have taken pedagogy coursework to prepare me with the proper toolkits towards providing an inclusive environment as a mentor and instructor. Through Duke’s Certificate of College Teaching, I have enrolled in classes like “Diverse Learners and Contentious Topics” that have granted me both empirical knowledge and useful workshops that I leverage as an educator. For instance, as a teaching assistant for Cognitive Psychology, I have led two discussion sections (50 students) on foundational cognitive psychology coursework. In applying these pedagogical principles, I try to offer, for instance, diverse assignments to accommodate those with different educational strengths (e.g., group presentations, weekly discussion boards, small- group discussions). Additionally, I began the semester soliciting preferred pronouns (if students wished to share) to accurately identify individuals in my classroom: a simple but meaningful element in increasing belongingness. And, across discussion of psychological concepts and articles in this class, I acknowledge the majority culture that much of psychology research was founded on, and the need for diverse perspectives in the future. 

I attempt to offer an avenue for such diverse research by mentoring undergraduate students myself, using similar principles. My team of mentees is proudly diverse, consisting of students from different education concentrations (e.g., film, art, public policy majors), socioeconomic statuses, racial-ethnic backgrounds, and educational years. Together, we work on topics that aim to expand psychology research to the community. Specifically, through my research, I hope to explore the emotional benefits of creative thinking and adopt such work as interventions for well-being and anxiety disorders among communities in replacement of more inaccessible alternatives. Through true logistical pipelines including, for example, data recruitment among the local community (something I already prioritize), I hope to realize a clear path towards inclusive research applications.

Future

I aim to continue these integrative initiatives in academia in the near- and far-future. I will maintain leadership roles as we progress into a world where diversity will only increase. Specifically, as a faculty member, I will hold a reasonable balance of service roles with my other teaching and research responsibilities. In particular, as I expand applications and translations of my research, I hope to partner with both local groups (e.g., Durham Arts Council) and wide-reaching ones (e.g., the Convergence Initiative) in prioritizing arts-science connections for the betterment of general society. And, as a research mentor, I will strive to enroll diverse perspectives in my laboratory and emphasize the importance of minority roles in academia. I hope to particularly offer inspiration to other in-betweeners and first-generation Americans who have long struggled with issues of identity.

Through such efforts, both past and future, we acknowledge a complicated history that has at time ignored or stifled integrative ways of viewing the world. As such, it is crucial to maintain these initiatives as we tackle the future of academia.