Building Careers and Communities: A Panel Discussion on Mentoring Under-Represented Scholars

March 2, 2022

Universities need a variety of people and perspectives to keep their research, teaching and administration vital. But they can also be quite conservative institutions, where networks can make or break a career. All of us who are currently faculty play a role in this network – it's through the collection of each of our small, individual actions that those networks either stay closed, or can open up.

Our panelists will explore the practical things we need to keep in mind when thinking about mentoring at all stages of an academic career – from students through to administrators – focusing on under-represented scholars.

Speakers

Beronda L. Montgomery

Shulamit Kahn

Gus Hill

Roberta Iannacito-Provenzano

Also featuring Barrington Walker and Jonathan Newman.

Event Details

• Date: Tuesday, April 5, 2022
• Time: Noon – 1:30 p.m.
• Location: Virtual
• Registration: Zoom Link

This event is organized by Dr. Christine Neill and Dr. Sunny Wang and is sponsored by Laurier's EDI and Women's Faculty Colleagues (Dr. Sunny Wang, Dr. Nuha Dwaikat-Shaer and Dr. Cristina Stoica).

This event is open to anyone, including those from outside of Laurier. The content will be more relevant for those in faculty and administrative positions.

Auto-captions will be available. If you have an accessibility-related request or question, please contact accessibility@wlu.ca.

About the Panelists

Beronda L. Montgomery

Beronda L. Montgomery, Ph.D., is a writer, researcher, and scholar who pursues a common theme of understanding how individuals perceive, respond to, and are impacted by the environments in which they exist. Her primary laboratory-based research is focused on the responses of photosynthetic organisms to light cues. Additionally, Beronda pursues this theme in the context of effective mentoring and leadership of individuals, and the role of innovative leaders in supporting success. She is a the MSU Foundation Professor in the Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology at Michigan State University, and the author of Lessons from Plants. || Learn More

Shulamit Kahn

Shulamit Kahn is a PhD economist and Associate Professor at Boston University’s Questrom School of Business. She is an expert on Women in STEM, and has extensively published on this topic (in Science, the American Economic Review (P&P), Oxford Handbooks, Frontiers in Psychology, Psychological Science in the Public Interest, Academic Medicine, Journal of Economics Perspectives, Nature Biotech). She has spoken to many audiences on the topic, including the Princeton Institute of Advanced Science, The World Bank, the European Gender Summit and the Chinese Women Economics Network. || Learn More

Gus Hill

Gus Hill is the Lyle S. Hallman Chair in Child and Family Welfare at Wilfrid Laurier University. His research, including in his recent book “Indigenous Healing: Voices of Elders and Healers”, focuses on improving well-being for Indigenous Canadians, with research practice guided by wholism and the commitment of placing ownership, control, rights of access, and possession (OCAP) of Indigenous knowledge firmly in the hands of Indigenous communities, where the knowledge belongs. He has also published on building Indigenous communities within universities. Gus is Anishnaabe from Obadjiwaan (Batchawana) First Nation. || Learn More

Roberta Iannacito-Provenzano

Roberta Iannacito-Provenzano is Vice-Provost: Faculty Affairs and Professor in the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures at Ryerson University. Her research interests include southern Italian dialectology and Molisan dialect literature. More recently she has worked on Italian food, branding and language; Italian food representations on social media, and the notion of authenticity with regard to Italian food products, especially in the diasporic context. She has been the recipient of numerous academic and professional awards, including the CIBPA Award for Excellence for service to the community. In her role as Vice-Provost: Faculty Affairs, she develops and oversees programs for faculty development and mentoring at Ryerson University. || Learn More

Barrington Walker (Introductions)

Barrington Walker holds a doctoral degree in Canadian History from the University of Toronto and is the inaugural Associate Vice-President, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion and professor of History at Wilfrid Laurier University. His research and teaching interests are in histories of Black Canada, race, immigration, and the law. Before coming to Wilfrid Laurier, Dr. Walker was a professor of history for 18 years; during those years he taught both at the undergraduate and graduate levels and supervised and mentored over 40 graduate students in topics related to his research specialties. Dr. Walker has written many books and is often consulted for national television, print and radio media.

Jonathan Newman (Moderator)

Jonathan Newman is Laurier’s Vice-President: Research. Dr. Newman leads the Office of Research Services, providing vision, strategy and support for the university’s overall research endeavours. His leadership and expertise in the fields of grassland ecology, climate change biology and environmental ethics contribute toward Laurier’s strategic research growth. In addition to his role on the executive leadership team, Newman holds a faculty position in Laurier’s Department of Biology. Newman served as the dean of the College of Biological Science at the University of Guelph from 2015 to 2019, and held previous roles as a faculty member in the Zoology Department at the University of Oxford and a fellow of St. Peter’s College. He has received many awards and honours in his career, including being named a fellow of the Royal Society of Biology in London, UK. || Learn More