Professor, Media & Cultural Studies
Dept. of Communication, Media & Performance
Allegheny College
Box 45. 520 North Main Street
Meadville, PA 16335
EMAIL: iroy@allegheny.edu
"On its own, demographic diversity is not enough to drive change within an organization. Employees must feel included as part of their local teams and as valued, respected members of the larger organization."
~~ Gallup Workplace: Three Requirements of a Diverse and Inclusive Culture — and Why They Matter for Your Organization
D.E.I. Professional Training & Work
This virtual poster session featured two case studies -- one being a STEM course and the other, a virtual community-engaged learning capstone project in an interdisciplinary global learning seminar. My co-presenter, Prof. Garcia (Chemistry), and I, addressed how the disruptions from the COVID-19 lockdown opened up experiential learning spaces in which alternate approaches to access learning, rethink pedagogical and assessment strategies, and complex systems thinking, fostered a more nuanced understanding of inclusive excellence.
Click here to see a larger version of the poster.
GLCA BIPOC Faculty Leadership Institute
(2021-22)
As part of the inaugural cohort of the BIPOC Faculty Leadership Council, organized by the Academic Leadership Institute at the Great Lakes Colleges Association (GLCA), I joined twenty-five faculty from eleven member institutions. During the fall 2021 semester we had virtual brainstorming meetings about how to make the invisible labor by BIPOC faculty count towards tenure/promotion on our campuses, and make DEI work more widely-shared as an institutional priority and mission. The focus of the spring 2022 virtual sessions was on “Supporting Diverse Students”. The resulting recommendations were shared with the leadership teams across participating campuses.
2021 Aspen Undergraduate Consortium on Business &
The Liberal Arts
In summer 2021, I was one of three faculty members on the Allegheny College team to participate in the "Racial & Economic Justice" pod, at the Aspen Institute's Business & Society virtual consortium on "Un-Distancing," which was co-hosted by Franklin & Marshall College; Freeman College of Management, Bucknell University; and The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Participants in this pod strategized how DEI can be integrated into the undergraduate liberal arts business curriculum to direct the thinking of young business and entrepreneurship scholars to consider how business can contribute to issues of social justice, citizenship, and ethical practices.
Liberal Arts Colleges Racial Equity Leadership Alliance (LACRELA)
LACRELA is a consortium that now boasts close to 70 liberal arts colleges. As an Allegheny College representative, I attended virtual sessions organized by the USC Race and Equity Center. Key topics range from confronting explicit acts of racism and racial violence on campus, strategically hiring faculty of color, supporting and retaining faculty of color, strategically diversifying staff at all levels, to creating equitable pathways to leadership roles for employees of color, among others.
Faculty Co-Director, Global Citizen Scholars Program (2020-2023)
The Global Citizen Scholars Program at Allegheny College was a competitive opportunity for incoming first-year students to be selected as part of a small cohort group that studied a particular global issue and participated in community-engaged learning projects based on the cohort theme. Students took four academic seminars over two years to research and learn more about the global theme in interdisciplinary ways. The program provided participants with scholarships for a study abroad experience. Teaching students, early on, to engage in exploring global systemic inequities and therefore, situate worldwide issues in their historical and cultural contexts, results in more complex thinking about global collaborations and solutions.
Provost's Diversity Liaison & Faculty Chair for the Sustained Dialogues & Civility Initiative @ Allegheny College (2017-18)
Collaborated with the Sustained Dialogue Institute to facilitate workshops and training sessions across campus. The SD approach in practicing active listening and inviting and honoring different perspectives informed programming on tough conversations regarding political divisiveness, systemic racism, and campus culture, bringing in participants from all campus constituencies.
Co-Principle Investigator, Andrew W. Mellon Grant for Internationalization (2015-17)
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Invited external consultants to advise on internationalizing the campus in holistic ways. Collaborated with the college's Mellon Grant Steering Committee in drawing up the college's strategic internationalization plan, based on the consultants' recommendations.
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Co-facilitated Teaching Circles for full-time educators on Intercultural and International Perspectives, inviting ideas on integrating global scholarship, experiential learning, and different worldviews into the academic curriculum in meaningful ways.
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Worked with senior administrators to allow staff participation in short-term educational study abroad seminars and build intercultural literacy on the campus through the ranks of participating employees.
In 2015, faculty, staff, and administrators traveled to Japan, met with representatives from our international partner Keio university, and learned about Japanese culture.