Dr. Della Mosley

Anti-Blackness and Anti-Racism in the Academy

This four-hour workshop will be available to faculty twice. It is tailored to faculty or staff, focusing on power, oppression, wellness, and liberation with an emphasis on anti-Black racism and resistance within the academy. The concepts of Whiteness, White supremacy, racism, racial trauma, critical consciousness, and activism are integrated with the psychopolitical wellness framework, narrowing the focus onto Black oppression and liberation mechanisms. Importantly, we apply the contemporary, ecological, and intersectional framework of Critical Consciousness of Anti-Black Racism (Mosley et al., 2020) to the training so the local campus and community racial histories and the current climate is meaningfully integrated. Participants can expect to engage in personal reflection, experiential exercises, and group discussion alongside their more traditional readings, media, and lectures.

Toward Wellness: Cultural Mindfulness for the Workplace

This four-hour workshop aims to improve wellness and workplace dynamics through psychoeducation on cultural mindfulness. Cultural mindfulness is a practice that encourages individuals to become aware and maintain an awareness of (1) their own cultural identities and how their access to wellness is facilitated or prevented as a result of it, (2) the cultural identities of others and how their access to wellness is similarly impacted, and (3) how power operates to shape their interactions (or lack of interaction) with culturally different people through the lens of intersectionality. Participants are provided practical frameworks (e.g., psychopolitical wellness, intersectionality, Black feminism) that help them to increase their cultural self-awareness, interpersonal efficacy in cross-cultural relationships, and understanding of the barriers and pathways to wellness for people with diverse cultural identities. By engaging in reflection, discussion, and skill-building exercises, participants will leave with knowledge, a memorable experience, and resources to facilitate their and others' wellness in the current sociopolitical climate.

Signup for Dr. Mosley's Workshops

Mandala Center for Change Workshops

The Mandala Center for Change provides workshops and development opportunities on anti-oppression so that organizations can better serve their communities and create a healthier and more inclusive environment in the workplace. Their approach is highly participatory and includes work on internal, interpersonal, institutional, and systemic oppression. They apply a trauma-informed framework and rely on a popular education model of learning which engages the wisdom of participants and shared learning guided by strong facilitation. They always bring an intersectional consciousness and consider race as it intersects with gender, class, religion, ability, etc.

1. Race-Based Affinity Groups

(Remote, 8 hours over two consecutive days, must attend both days)

Given the current climate around race in the US, the Center recommends starting with separate racial caucuses; one for White identifying individuals and another for individuals who identify as racially marginalized. They recognize that multi-heritage and bi-racial people will self-assess which caucus will best meet their needs. Doing deep work on race in mixed groups is challenging. What White individuals often need to work on is different than individuals who are racially marginalized. Thus, this work is most authentically and healthily done in separate spaces. Racially marginalized individuals face racism daily and most know how to talk about it and therefore usually don't need basic Anti-Racism 101 education while most White people do need fundamental concepts and practice to normalize talking about it. Overall, these groups are intended to provide a healthy container to share stories as well as for self-reflection, action practice, increased awareness, and application of tools for a more equitable, healthy, and joyous workplace for all.

2. Anti-Oppression Leadership Development

(In-Person, Racially Mixed Group, 1 day for 8 hours)

* Prerequisite: 8 hours of Race-Based Affinity Group work training
For faculty interested in long-term anti-oppression leadership at Colorado College, this highly participatory professional development session builds on antiracism practice including intersectionality of oppressions. Using both didactic as well as embodied methods, the content will be driven, in part, by the needs of the group. It may include but is not limited to:

• Power analysis of social group membership (intersectionality) with interactive exercises and applications.

• Discussion of strategies for navigating the complexities of race within the US context.

• Story sharing to encourage self-reflection and build solidarity.

• Action practice to explore strategies for a more just and equitable workplace for all.

• Self-care practices and frameworks to support social-emotional health and wellbeing.

3. Extended Ant-Oppression Leadership Development

(In-Person, Racially Mixed Group, 1 day for 8 hours)

• Prerequisites: 8 hours of Race-based Affinity Group Work & 8 hours of Anti-Oppression Leadership Development
  This session is for faculty who want to extend their professional development work in anti-oppression leadership. The content builds on the anti-oppression leadership development session described above.

Creating Safer Classrooms for LGBTQ+ Students 

This development workshop is an opportunity for faculty to learn about LGBTQ+ identities, gender, and sexuality, and examine our prejudice, assumptions, and privilege. There is pressure to already know how to be LGBTQ+ inclusive, but what that looks like in practice can be hard to know. And while many of us want to be inclusive, we don't necessarily feel comfortable with the language, with our own level of understanding, and may not know where to go to learn more. This workshop offers a space for faculty to learn together how we can best support our LGBTQ+ students. This workshop will be offered in Block 2 and Block 7 to accommodate faculty schedules: Thursday, October 14th, and Thursday, April 14th.

Signup for Creating Safer Classrooms for LGBTQ+ Students

Anti-Racism in Field Study Workshop Series