Idoko wins Creating a Just Community Award

The Creating a Just Community Award will be presented to Ron Idoko, who along with his founding director role at RECI serves as associate director of the Center on Race and Social Problems and research assistant professor in the School of Social Work; and the University Prize for Strategic, Inclusive and Diverse Excellence (UPSIDE) Award will be presented to peer educators from the Sexual Assault Facilitation and Education (SAFE) program. Read more.

Durham on panel at tomorrow's 2024 Diversity Forum

As part of the University of Pittsburgh's 2024 Diversity Forum, Director of Community Engagement Aliya Durham will be on the panel of "Building Bridges: Experiential Learning for Active Listening and Constructive Dialogue." This panel will include speakers from Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, School of Social Work, Institute of Politics, and Pitt Office of Engagement and Community Affairs who work with students to do community engaged work. Workshop is 11am-12pm. Register here.

Identity, Inclusion, and Information: The AANHPI Experience Conference

Assistant Professor Dr. Deborah Moon and doctoral student Christina Babusci will serve as panelists in the upcoming Identity, Inclusion, and Information: The AANHPI Experience Conference. The conference is hosted by the Asian Studies Center in celebration of AAPI month, which is observed by the University of Pittsburgh during the month of January to celebrate and acknowledge what it means to be a person of AANHPI heritage at Pitt. The conference will kick off with keynote speaker, Yun-Oh Whang, clinical assistant professor of business administration at Pitt, followed by a panel discussion on the importance of cultivating belonging for the AAPI community in higher education. In addition to Dr. Moon and Christina, the panel will include other AAPI students, staff, and faculty members of the Pitt community. The two-day event will feature a performance by Vietnamese activist and a musician, Mai Khoi, and a screening of the documentary, Out of State, which follows native Hawaiian inmates of a private, for-profit Arizona prison as they rediscover their roots. Please join us on January 30th from 4-8 pm at the WPU Assembly Room and January 31st from 6:30-8 pm at Posvar Hall 4130. For more information, visit 

• https://www.ucis.pitt.edu/asc/events/yun-oh-opening-keynote
• https://www.ucis.pitt.edu/asc/events/faculty-student-staff-panel-importance-cultivating-belonging-aapi-community-higher-education

We are still in need of more student volunteers. If you are interested in volunteering for the event, please reach out directly to Katelan Hudson at k.hudson@pitt.edu. 

Advancing the Science on Peer Support and Suicide Prevention 2-Day Workshop

Registration is now open for a free two day NIMH sponsored workshop on peer support and suicide prevention: Advancing the Science on Peer Support and Suicide Prevention 2-Day Workshop. Assistant Professor Nev Jones will be one of the workshop presenters. Register here.

Jones also has a new article published in the Behavior Therapist’s special issue on harms in Cognitive Behavioral therapies. Jones, along with Emily B. H. Treichler embark on a crucial exploration of the harms faced by people with psychosis in the realm of psychological interventions. Read more.

THIS THURSDAY: RECI Film Premier

Join us for the grand premiere of "Illuminating the Vaccine for Racism" this January 25, 2024! The film highlights the groundbreaking Racial Equity Consciousness Institute (RECI) here at the University of Pittsburgh, including reflections from the University community members who have participated in RECI!

Details: The evening will consist of a film screening, panel discussion with Ron Idoko and a variety of changemakers and a catered reception!

Date: January 25, 2024

Time: 5:45-8 pm EST

Location: Frick Fine Arts Building (650 Schenley Drive, Pittsburgh, PA 15260)

REGISTER HERE.

Healing Overflow with Dr. Toy - Stream Season 2 Episode 1

The FIRST episode of Season 2 is now available to stream/watch!

Click here to watch!

This week on Healing Overflow with Dr. Toy, I am talking to Coach Q about Imposter Syndrome. Coach Q identifies the characteristics, origin and shares tips on how to overcome imposter syndrome for good!

CMU study on CBT training (among social workers) and opportunities for collaboration

Assistant Professor Nev Jones is working with a group at CMU that she's been collaborating with for a while (Travis Labrum is also involved in this project). The project is led by a group within CMU's Human Computer Interaction Institute (HCII), including a postdoc whose work primarily focuses on building LLM AI adapative training programs for clinicians. She already has a prototype CBT training app, but is looking to further adapt to the actual challenges social workers face (e.g. including social and structural determinants).

At any rate, if anyone is teaching a relevant class and would mind sharing the attached flyer with SSW students, that would be much appreciated. If anyone is interested in collaborating on this, please just let Dr Jones know: nevjones@pitt.edu. The CMU team is very interested in submitting grant proposals to further expand this work in collaboration with the SSW.

Also adding that they are also currently looking for anyone who considers themselves proficient in CBT and would have time to work on individual case examples / material they're integrating. And this is not just faculty or students – if anyone knows an interested practicing clinician that would be fantastic too.

Going beyond instruction, community schools serve as ‘hubs in the community’

School districts such as Sto-Rox, Duquesne and Pittsburgh are hoping the community schools model will help students deal with trauma stemming from violence in their neighborhoods.

Duquesne has partnered with the University of Pittsburgh’s Just Discipline Project [JDP] to reduce exclusionary discipline practices in schools. Instead of resorting to suspensions, which have been linked to the school-to-prison pipeline, the project aims to offer more holistic solutions. Read more in Public Source.

All Angles discusses affirmative action, Supreme Court decision

Following the Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard Supreme Court decision, which ruled that race-based affirmative action programs in higher education admissions violated the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment, underrepresented racial and ethnic groups are feeling dissuaded from applying to universities, according to Kyaien Conner. 

“This decision has been the subject of much debate and controversy with this as a victory for equal protection under the law, and others have criticized this as a major setback for diversity and inclusion in higher education,” Conner, director of the Center on Race and Social Problems, said. “This decision is expected to have far-reaching consequences.”

All Angles — a speaker series hosted by the Institute of Politics — held a panel discussion on affirmative action Thursday afternoon in the lower lounge of the William Pitt Union. Panelists included Dana Thompson Dorsey and David Bernstein with Kyaien Conner as moderator. The panel discussed the history of affirmative action and its inability to uphold its promise and intention. Read more in the Pitt News.

Now hiring: Research Coordinator

The Research Coordinator will be responsible for managing and conducting multiple mental health services research projects focused on populations labelled with serious mental illness (SMI) on and supervising staff on these projects at the University of Pittsburgh School of Social Work. Current projects include both NIMH funded mental health services research grants (focused on early intervention in psychosis and community mental health services), and a New York State-funded evaluation of Assisted Outpatient Treatment (AOT), among others. Read more and apply!