Spring Faculty Series

Arizona State University’s Multicultural Communities of Excellence (MCOE) invites you to an unforgettable evening of culture, connection, and celebration! Join us on Monday, February 26th, from 4:00 PM - 7:00 PM in Tempe MCOE Room 321 for Know History, Know Self—a night dedicated to honoring Black excellence, past and present. This special event will feature the brilliant Dr. Kenja Hassan, who will share her expertise and research on Black history, offering powerful insights into cultural identity, representation, and transformation. Get ready for a moving spoken word experience with the incredible Hussllou, delivering poetry that captures the Black experience through resilience, creativity, and storytelling.

This event isn’t just about listening—it’s about engaging, learning, and growing. Students will gain invaluable perspectives on history, identity, and community while celebrating the contributions of ASU’s Black African Coalition and its member organizations. Expect an evening filled with music, dancing, Black history trivia, and opportunities to connect with faculty, student leaders, and peers in an inspiring and inclusive space. Let’s do it for the culture! Don’t miss out—mark your calendars and be part of this powerful celebration!  #KnowHistoryKnowSelf #BlackHistoryMonth #ASUMCOE

The Downtown Phoenix Campus Women In Leadership Series is for diverse student leaders interested in female empowerment, topics that impact women in leadership personally, as well as professionally, in addition to hearing from women who hold leadership positions on a variety of topics. Join Angela Banks for the Spring Kick-off brunch event where she will share highlights of her journey as a professor of law, the importance of navigating wellness, as well as resisting the urge to internalize challenges. 

Angela M. Banks serves as the Vice Dean and Charles J. Merriam Distinguished Professor of Law. She is an immigration and citizenship expert whose research focuses on membership and belonging in democratic societies.  Her scholarship has appeared or is forthcoming in leading American law review journals such as the Emory Law Journal, the William & Mary Law Review, and Brooklyn Law Review.

She received a B.A. in sociology from Spelman College summa cum laude and a Master of Letters in sociology from Oxford, where she was a Marshall Scholar. Professor Banks is a 2000 graduate of Harvard Law School, where she served as an editor of the Harvard Law Review and the Harvard International Law Journal.
 

The Downtown Phoenix, in partnership with Watts College is offering an Inclusive Practice Circle on the Prentis Hemphill book What It Takes to Heal (https://prentishemphill.com/book). Join in with Watts College of Public Service and Community Solutions faculty including Professor Abigail Henson who will lead the pre-read topic discussion.  The first 20 attendees to register for free will receive a copy of What It Takes to Heal.  "The book is a tool to help those searching for a ‘healing home,’ a place where communal infrastructure can be rebuilt and or fortified to sustain us on our journey toward self-acceptance, accountability, joy, and freedom in all the ways we’ve yet to experience it." - Prentis Hemphill, author.  

The book talk with the author will be Thursday, Feb. 27 at a venue off-campus.

As we emerge from the past few years of collective upheaval, are we ready to face the complexities of our time with joy, authenticity, and connection? Now more than ever, we must learn to heal ourselves, connect with one another, and embody our values. In this revolutionary book, Prentis Hemphill shows us how. What It Takes to Heal asserts that the principles of embodiment—the recognition of our body’s sensations and habits, and the beliefs that inform them—are critical to lasting healing and change. Hemphill, an expert embodiment practitioner, therapist, and activist who has partnered with Brené Brown, Tarana Burke, and Esther Perel, among others, shows us that we don’t have to carry our emotional burdens alone. Hemphill demonstrates a future in which healing is done in community, weaving together stories from their own experience as a trauma survivor with clinical accounts and lessons learned from their time as a social movement architect. They ask, “What would it do to movements, to our society and culture, to have the principles of healing at the very center? And what does it do to have healing at the center of every structure and everything we create?”

In this life-affirming framework for the way forward, Hemphill shows us how to heal our bodies, minds, and souls—to develop the interpersonal skills necessary to break down the doors of disconnection and take the necessary risks to reshape our world toward justice.

Please join the MCoE Ambassadors and TRIO Devils in welcoming Dr. Maureen McCoy for this delicious demonstration. Dr. McCoy will provide an incredibly tasty "cooking demonstration on a budget." Attendees will leave with a copy of the demo recipe, a food bag and new knowledge on how to shop for and prepare the meal.

Maureen McCoy is a Teaching Professor in the College Of Health Solutions and has been teaching at ASU since 2014. McCoy is the Dietetic Internship Director as well as the faculty advisor for the Pitchfork Pantry (food pantry for ASU students). Her research interests include child and school nutrition, health policy and equity, and food insecurity.

Please join the DPC MCoE Ambassadors in welcoming Professor Downey and the talented team from ClipDart in this interactive event.  More than a Haircut is more than hair care...it is hair justice. In alignment with ASU’s Charter, this event advances access by directly supporting marginalized students. Our goal is to enhance student’s psychological well-being and foster a stronger sense of community through a service that is often overlooked but deeply personal. The event emphasizes the value of belonging and self-worth, which are important aspects of our student’s success and how they see themselves included in the campus community. This experience will not only provide haircare services but also initiate conversations around belonging and hair care as a mental health issue.

This event is in partnership with CISA, Barrett, the Honors College, MCoE (Multicultural Communities of Excellence at DPC) and ClipDart. CISA and Barrett faculty and staff will be on site at the ASU Downtown MCoE to talk to students as they reflect on how the haircut impacts their personal sense of identity and their experience as part of the ASU community. These reflective moments, coupled with the inclusive nature of the service, offer educational opportunities for both the participants and the broader ASU community, sparking important conversations about the intersection of self-care and inclusion. Additionally, the visibility of the event during Black History Month creates a platform for further dialogue on issues affecting Black and other underrepresented students.

A second event will take place with a faculty speaker from the School of Counseling and Counseling Psychology, who will discuss the importance of mental health as it relates to Black communities, providing additional opportunities for engagement and conversation. This event is rooted in our shared commitments to cultivating a greater sense of belonging among our underserved students and to provide an opportunity to reflect on important topics like hair justice that have a significant impact on the mental health of our communities. Collaborations between ASU entities and ClipDart have seen previous success at the Downtown Campus. Over the years, ClipDart has successfully provided over 20,000 free haircuts to underserved communities across twenty seven states. By partnering with ClipDart, CISA, Barrett, and the MCoE aims to create a welcoming space and conversation platforms that offer more than a haircut and a speaker event. We hope to sustain connections, community, and care.

Stephanie Downie is an associate professor of teaching for the College of Integrative Sciences and Arts' Languages and Cultures unit. Her studies have included art and architectural history, world religions and cultures, creative writing, and composition and rhetoric. Downie's current primary focus is teaching stand-alone ENG 102 PROMOD courses designed to create an opportunity for students to engage in community-based issues through small group project and sustained, focused inquiry.  She also teaches ENG 101, 105, 216, 217, 301, 378, 379 and 412.  Professor Downing earned a M.F.A. Poetry, Virginia Commonwealth University 2000; a B.F.A. Art History, Virginia Commonwealth University and an A.A Studio Arts, Tidewater Community College.

Upcoming event information coming soon.

 

Overview: This engaging presentation is designed to equip a diverse college student population with essential financial literacy skills. By addressing various cultural backgrounds, financial experiences, and future goals, the session aims to empower students to take control of their finances and make informed decisions.

Objectives:

• Introduce key financial concepts such as budgeting, saving, investing, and credit.
• Highlight the importance of financial literacy in achieving personal and professional goals.
• Provide practical tools and resources that cater to different financial backgrounds and lifestyles.
• Foster an inclusive environment that encourages questions and sharing of experiences.