Inclusion, Diversity, & Equity Workshop
March 5, 2021
9:00 am – 3:00 pm CT
Sponsored by the IDEC Council of Fellows
Workshop Synopsis:
This day-long workshop will continue the conference dialogue, by focusing on Inclusion, Diversity and Equity in academia, and in curricula and coursework. Building on the knowledge and skills gained in Sessions 1 and 2 on Unconscious Bias, the final session of the day will bring participants together to collaboratively revise, rework, and adjust interior design course artifacts – like syllabi or project announcements, within the context of the prior presentations and discussions. This active learning session invites all participants to engage in a safe, brave critique of teaching materials to raise our collective awareness about how to evolve an inclusive, diverse and equitable interior design education.
The IDE Workshop is generously supported by the IDEC Fellows, and was proposed and developed by IDEC’s IDE Network, co-chaired by Taneshia West-Albert and Roberto Ventura.
Session 1: Uncovering Our Unconscious Bias led by Kate Thornton
Session 2: Addressing Unconscious Bias in Coursework led by Mayuko Nakamura
Session 3: Integrating Inclusion, Diversity, & Equity into Interior Design Coursework led by Taneshia West-Albert and Roberto Ventura
Objective: To collaboratively revise, rework, and adjust course materials to integrate inclusion, diversity, and equity
Session 1: Uncovering Our Unconscious Bias
Facilitator, Kate Thornton, Director of Global Education at Auburn University, offers an introduction of cultural intelligence (CQ) unconscious bias. Cultural intelligence, or CQ, is the foundation and strategic link to inclusion, diversity, and equity (IDE). This session will address managing bias with cultural intelligence, seeing unconscious bias, expanding your perspective of cultural values & unconscious bias, improving decision-making for strategies to disrupt Decision-Making Bias, disrupting biased systems and practices and creating your own action plan.</p>
Session 2: Addressing Unconscious Bias in Coursework
Workshop leader Mayuko Nakamura offers a presentation and interactive workshop on making syllabi and teaching materials more inclusive. Workshop participants will analyze examples to uncover unconscious bias, and are encouraged to bring their syllabi/teaching materials to actively rework them to improve inclusivity.
Session 3: Integrating Inclusion, Diversity, & Equity into Interior Design Coursework
Coordinated by the IDEC Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity (IDE) Network Co-chairs, Taneshia West-Albert and Roberto Ventura. Participants will use the knowledge and skills gained in Sessions 1 & 2 to collaboratively rework, revise, and adjust 2-3 interior design course artifacts to integrate Inclusion, Diversity, & Equity. Sample course work to be collected through a pre-conference call for projects/coursework from any Interior Design topic/course, to be used anonymously for the workshop.
IDEC Inclusion, Diversity, & Equity network channel #idenetwork on the SLACK platform
Workshop Facilitators
(Left to right: Mayuko Nakamura, Kate Thornton, Roberto Ventura, and Taneshia West-Albert)
Mayuko Nakamura, Coordinator, Faculty Development and Team Leader, Instructional Technology and Media in the Center for Teaching, Learning, and Technology, Illinois State University
Mayuko Nakamura joined CTLT as a coordinator in the fall of 2006. She earned her Master’s degree from Teachers College, Columbia University in 1997 and has been working in higher education for the past 20 years. Mayuko has a wide range of professional interests including critical pedagogy, equity pedagogy, intercultural learning, cognitive and developmental psychology, online and blended teaching and instructional technology.
Kate Thornton, Director of Global Education, Auburn University
Kate Thornton, Ph.D. serves as the Director of Hunger and Sustainability Initiatives at the Hunger Solutions Institute and the Director of Global Education in the College of Human Sciences at Auburn University. She has a varied background ranging from business to biochemistry and is interested in utilizing her diverse knowledge base to bring sustainable solutions to help solve the major global challenges facing the world today. Thornton is passionate about Cultural Intelligence and mitigating the effect of unconscious bias on our communities. Thornton earned her Ph.D., as well as an MBA and a MS from Auburn University.
Roberto Ventura, Associate Professor and Interim Chair of Interior Design, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Arts
Roberto Ventura is Associate Professor and Interim Chair of Interior Design in the School of the Arts at Virginia Commonwealth University. He is focused on addressing issues surrounding diversity, inclusion, and equity in interior design, and believes designers should be in the vanguard of change. Exploring the intersections of multiple disciplines in terms of form, type, process, and communication, Roberto’s academic and creative scholarship has ranged from the curation and design of exhibitions to the introduction of improv performance to design students. He values collaboration and interdisciplinarity, and his project partners have included graphic designers and poets. He holds a Master of Architecture from Miami University and maintains a solo practice, Roberto ventura design studio.
Taneshia West-Albert, MFA, IDEC, EDAC, NCIDQ, Assistant Professor – Interior Design at Auburn University
Professor Taneshia West Albert, is an enthusiastic educator and design practitioner. Her research and creative scholarship explores cultural identity, meaning and trauma; diversity and inclusion; and digital literacy. Her design career is focused in design for healthcare environments, corporate interiors, and higher education spaces with a unique background in medical equipment planning and facilities design and construction.