Justice, Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion 2026 Conference

Sharing Our Stories: Learning to Facilitate Small Group Circles in Polarized and Uncertain Times

Presenters:

1. Ximena Zúñiga (She/Her/Ella), Professor, Department of Student Development
2. Dave Neely (He/Him/His), Director, Diversity Education and Training (SACL)
3. Musbah Shaheen (He/Him/His), Assistant Professor, Educational Policy, Research and Administration

Location: Amherst Room

In this panel presentation, program leaders and faculty/staff Dialogue Facilitation Fellows (a program within the Intergroup Dialogue Initiative) will share highlights of what they have learned over the course of this year-long program as they honed their skills to facilitate small-group circles and conversations across diverse perspectives. Panelists will also share examples of how they are applying what they learned in their classrooms, workplaces, and on campus more widely. Program leaders will share what we have learned across the past year from our program evaluation including challenges and opportunities moving forward. 

Special Opportunity: JEDI Conference participants are invited to join a small-group listening circle "How Are We Each Navigating Political Polarization in our Families, Classrooms, Workplaces, & Communities?" co-facilitated by Dialogue Facilitation Fellows during the JEDI Conference at 3:00 PM in Campus Cemnter 174 (pending availability).

Reset in Real Time: Understanding and Regulating Stress Through Science

Presenter: Mashaal Virk, College of Natural Sciences, Biology Undergraduate Student

Location: Campus Center 163

This interactive workshop reimagines how we approach mental health on college campuses by combining neuroscience, accessibility, and real-time stress regulation. Rather than a traditional lecture, Reset in Real Time is designed as a hands-on experience where participants actively engage with stress through guided activities and reflection.

Participants will explore how stress affects the brain and body, then move through a series of short “reset” experiences, including guided breathing, sensory grounding, and interactive reflection stations inspired by real campus interventions. The session will also feature a live “You’re Not Alone” board, allowing participants to anonymously share and read experiences, fostering connection across differences.

Applying Improvisational Theater Principles at Work and Beyond: Connection, Empowerment, and Fun!

Presenter: Katharine Daube (She/Her), Senior Academic Advisor, College of Natural Sciences

Location: Campus Center 162

Improv theater in the US originated in the world of social activism, with the goal of empowerment for groups that have been marginalized. The improv mindset emphasizes the value of listening, and the practical and emotional benefits of both giving and receiving support. In this workshop, we will do non-performance, easy, and playful group exercises to explore the improv lessons (useful inside and outside of the work world) of trust, creativity, and community. This approach has nothing to do with “performance,” nothing to do with cracking jokes, and nothing to do with being on stage. We will practice good listening, trust in ourselves, connection, and have some fun as well! 

What Do We Care About and How Does It Show?: Shaping Values-Informed Culture Through Collaboratively Crafted Norms and Agreements

Presenters: 

1. Pia Furkan (She/Her), PhD Candidate in Sociology, OEI Education and Development Graduate Assistant
2. Louis Waibel (He/Him), OEI Ambassador for Engagement, Education, and Development; Candidate for Master's in Public Health
3. Ian Kaplan (xe/xem, he/him, and they/them), Social Justice Education M.Ed.Candidate, OEI Education and Development Graduate Assistant

Location: Hadley Room

How do we develop and sustain communities of inclusion and care, whether in departments, units, teams, classes or clubs, where individuals feel included and believe that they are valued? How do we communicate our shared values, especially to newer community members? This workshop offers information, practical tools, and supportive resources to all UMass Amherst community members seeking to actively shape inclusive spaces on campus through values-informed Communication Norms & Community Agreements. This framework can aid in making shared values evident not only in our words and mission statements, but also in our actions, procedures, and folkways, helping us to be more intentional and accountable when embodying our core values. Workshop participants will practice identifying individual and collective guiding values, explore strategies that translate values into norms/agreements, and generate action items that may empower them to integrate these frameworks within their own spheres of influence at UMass and beyond.

Discourses of Disability: Advancing Disability Justice by Shifting the Conversation

Presenters: 

• Emily J. Matthews MSN RN (she/they) Doctoral Student, Elaine Marieb College of Nursing
• Md Aslam Parvage MSN, RN (he/him) Doctoral Student, Elaine Marieb College of Nursing
• Jaclyn Oppedisano, MS, MPH,RN, PhD (c) (she/all) Doctoral Student, Elaine Marieb College of Nursing
• Leonora Thomas MS,APRN (she/her) Undergraduate Clinical Placement Coordinator, Senior Lecturer, Elaine Marieb College of Nursing
• Celeste Rua Da Cruz Surreira, DNP, FNP-BC, FNP-C, CNL, CEN (she/her) Director of Undergraduate Programs, Clinical Associate Professor , Elaine Marieb College of Nursing 
• Jess Dillard-Wright, PhD, MA, RN, FAAN (she/they) Associate Professor and Associate Dean, Equity and Inclusion, Elaine Marieb College of Nursing 

Location: Zoom

While there is an increasing number of students, faculty, and staff who identify as disabled and neurodivergent (including us!), the majority of discourse in higher education about disability still focuses on deficits and limitations. In this session, we will critically examine how disability came to be framed this way in the public imagination and explore alternative paradigms that can help us change the way we talk about disability. 

We will explore the models of disability including moral, biomedical, social, disability justice, and more, exploring how each constructs the disabled person and impacts the power of the disabled community. We will imagine together how our classrooms and campuses could be transformed if we turned to disabled people as the experts in their own experience. This session will benefit all members of the UMass community to engage in reflection on how they define disability and gain tools for diving deeper into the conversation.

10 Minute Lightning Round Talks & Q&A

Location: Amherst Room

1. Everyday Sign Language: Bridging the Gap Between Hearing and Deaf Culture
   Samantha Carlson (She/Her), College of Natural Sciences, Biology Major 
   Creating a campus that fosters inclusivity and overcomes communication barriers transcends good intentions; it requires acknowledging a divide and committing to overcoming it. Despite available resources in an academic setting, many still experience barriers and isolation. This talk will aim to emphasize the need for active learning through practical knowledge of greetings and medical emergency signs. These signs can not only help make others of a different identity feel more included on campus, but they can also help save lives during times of emergency. This session will also highlight how these inequities present can contribute to shaping Deaf identity and how these small shifts in approach can help foster belonging. Presented from the viewpoint of an introductory ASL educator, participants should leave with a better understanding of how to approach members of the Deaf community and how to foster a more welcoming environment for those members. 
2. The Lights Were On at 3 AM: What Dining Services Taught Me About Belonging
   Joshua Kwaku Addai
   Belonging on campus is often discussed through policies and programs, but students frequently experience it through everyday institutional practices. In this lightning talk, an international graduate student and housing professional shares a personal narrative about discovering African food in the dining hall and hearing a student describe walking across campus at 3 a.m. during Ramadan to find the dining hall open for fasting students. 
   
   These moments reveal how small operational decisions such as menu choices and dining hours can communicate recognition and care for students. Through this story, attendees will reflect on how campus services play a crucial role in creating student-ready institutions where international and religiously diverse students feel seen, supported, and included. 
3. What Does It Mean To Be Trans In 2026 America?
   Brandi Beckett (She/Her), College of Humanities and Fine Arts, Theater Major
   Brandi’s session will start by telling the audience snippets of her life’s journey and how she discovered her gender identity when she was 42-years old. More over, her audience will get to experience Brandi’s story of self discovery and how American society treats those who are on the margins of American culture.  
    

Narrating Jewish Muslim Relations in the Aftermath of October 7, 2023, Using Graphics Stories: An Interactive Gallery

Presenters: 

1. Musbah Shaheen (He/Him), Assistant Professor, Educational Policy, Research and Administration
2. Sally Pirie (She/Her), Professor of Child and Family Studies 

Location: Campus Center 163

The events of October 7th, 2023, have had a palpable impact on the relationships between Jews and Muslims in the U.S. and around the world. On our campus, the tensions that have arisen have significantly impacted Jewish and Muslim students alike. In this session, we present a series of graphic/comic stories that represent perspectives gathered from a group of Muslim and Jewish students. Participants will have the opportunity to examine the comic panels and then participate in small group discussions.

As a result of participating in this session, participants will understand the complexity of Jewish-Muslim relationships, reflect on how world events impact student experiences on campus, and brainstorm ways to invite interfaith conversations and understanding in their spaces and programs.

Designing for Everyone: Practical Ways to Make Learning More Accessible

Talk with friends and colleagues, network with new people, and enjoy your lunch break!

Location: Campus Center Auditorium

10 Minute Lightning Round Talks

Location: Amherst Room

1. Learning to Lead: Creating Inclusion Through Student Engagement
   OEI Student Engagement Ambassadors: Samantha Bean, She/Her, Dance and Psychology; Elise Fornaro (She/They), Public Health; & Louis Waibel (He/Him), Masters in Public Health Candidate
   Engagement Ambassadors serve as peer leaders and representatives of the student body, helping bridge the gap between The Office of Equity and Inclusion and the broader campus community by offering students the opportunity to contribute their ideas, amplify their voices, and directly impact campus climate. In this brief presentation, Student Engagement Ambassadors will talk about what it means to be a leader in a student-centered community and how they have made an impact through their engagement initiatives. Attendees will leave with clear, actionable steps to become strong leaders and learn how to impact our campus community by being an advocate for students’ voices.
    
2. College Transfer Success: Supporting Basic Psychological Need Fulfillment in Transfer Students
   Xunzi (Cindy) Hou (She/They), College of Natural Sciences, Psychological and Brain Sciences PhD Candidate
   The transition to higher education is a vulnerable period in which students leave their home support systems, take on new responsibilities, and adopt new roles in their academic and social lives. For transfer students, this transition can be even more difficult. In this talk, we will explore how these changes can undermine basic psychological needs that are vital to well-being, motivation, and persistence. We will discuss an ongoing longitudinal intervention aimed at supporting transfer student success during their first semester at UMass. Participants will have a better understanding of barriers that disproportionally impact transfer students, as well as intervention elements that can support their success and well-being. 
    
3. Why DEI Will Survive These Times
   Donald Tomaskovic-Devey, Professor of Sociology & Director of the Center for Employment Equity
   Tomaskovic-Devey studies workplace inequalities in multiple forms. His research utilizes large scale data on workplace employment diversity and discrimination charge processing from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. He has also worked as an expert witness in employment discrimination complaints, has testified before the U.S. Equal Employment Commission and the United States Commission on Civil Rights, and advised the Biden/Harris transition team on employment discrimination enforcement.
    
4. Teaching Between Languages: Digital Storytelling, Linguistic Justice, and Instructor Identity 
   Li Hou (She/Her), College of Education, Language, Literacy, & Culture, PhD Candidate
   This study explores how digital storytelling (DST) can function as an equity-centered pedagogical practice for rethinking multilingual instructor identity in higher education. Drawing on an autoethnographic dissertation project in undergraduate writing classrooms, the session examines how multilingual instructors navigate legitimacy, authority, and voice within institutional and linguistic boundaries. Rather than viewing identity as fixed, this workshop approaches identity as relational and continuously (re)constructed through teaching, multimodal composition, and interaction. Participants will engage in discussion to explore their own positionality and practices. 

Why Whimsy Matters: On Small Shifts that Disrupt Outsourcing Your Imagination

Presenter: Maria Rios (She/They), Humanities Research Services Librarian

Location: Campus Center 163

There is incredible value in being reminded that curiosity and imagination are crucial to scholarly and creative production. Our cultural moment increasingly encourages buzzwords: purchasing a workshop/course, paying a coach, or using tools like generative AI—all to maximize efficiency and scalability to better sustain high performance. This session encourages you to locate sites of play as praxis; and in doing so turn towards self as your best tool for a joyful life. Let's create together!

Climbing a Mountain with One Hand: Addressing the Challenge of Religious Accommodations and Inclusive Practices in a Large Public University

Presenter: Brad Seligman, Director of Religious & Spiritual Life

Location: Campus Center 162

Religious diversity is a subject often ignored or neglected within higher education, which can make seeking religious accommodations more challenging for students and leave faculty and staff feeling underprepared to handle requests. This session will explain key differences between how public and private universities address religious diversity, dispelling common misconceptions and assumptions. Building off the concept of religious literacy (general knowledge of religious beliefs, practices, and impact on society), the session will give participants a better understanding of the many ways religious observance or practice intersects with university life. Utilizing assessment tools like the INSPIRES Index, the session presents existing religious accommodations and inclusive practices and ways UMass continues to grow. Faculty and staff will leave with resources tailored to our campus context and actionable items to take back to work in their roles on campus.

A Picture’s Worth a Thousand Words: Using Campus Data to Support Equity Initiatives

Presenters: 

• Kate Farmer (She/They), Senior Survey and Evaluation Analyst in Assessment, Survey, and Effectiveness Research (ASER)
• Gabriel Rodríguez (he/him) – Senior Assessment Analyst in Assessment, Survey, and Effectiveness Research (ASER)

Location: Hadley Room

Success in Science Participatory Action Research Project

Presenter: Leo Hwang, Associate Dean of Inclusive Excellence for the College of Natural Sciences 

Location: Campus Center Hadley Room

Often times we enter into spaces where it may feel like the definitions of justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion are fixed, or we may enter into spaces where our own definitions of justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion are fixed. This increases the challenges for having authentic conversations that can bridge divides, or help one another learn and grow. In this workshop we will co-create a frame of reference for opening ourselves to possibility, and helping others open to possibility that we can increase our understanding by deconstructing dominant narratives, increasing our vulnerability and visibility, and sharing in the broader project of liberation through learning.

Leading from Within: How Black Supervision Shapes Staff Confidence, Support, and Belonging

Presenter: Joshua Kwaku Addai, Education MEd and Master in Public Policy & Administration MPPA Candidate

Location: Campus Center 162