The staff at Ohio AgrAbility recently wrote an article for Ohio's Country Journal on how to practice good body mechanics while working. As a farmer, gardener, and/or landscaper, practicing good body mechanics can decrease your risk of injury and muscle fatigue while also increasing your muscle stamina and productivity.

Ohio AgrAbility's Caregiver Support Network was also featured in two recent AgriNews articles. The first article covers eight ways that those in caregivers can look after themselves to help alleviate the stress that comes with this work. The second article discusses way that caregivers can find resources when faced with challenges when taking care of sick or elderly loved ones.

Host a DEI Webinar for Your Department/Unit! 

Did you know that in addition to offering monthly, open webinars, the CFAES Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion offers in-house delivery of programs to any CFAES unit or department by request for FREE? Available webinars address topics such as implicit bias, microaggressions, bystander intervention, power and privilege, inclusive hiring, and LGBTQ+ issues. If you are interested in hosting a program for members of your unit or department or would like more information please contact Dr. Leo Taylor, Program Manager for Faculty and Staff Affairs at taylor.3408@osu.edu. Visit the DEI website for descriptions of upcoming and past programs to get a better idea about currently available topics. Suggestions for new programs/topics are always welcome!

Recordings from our Queer 101 and Gender Demystified webinars are now available on our YouTube channel! To watch these webinars and more click here.

Throughout the summer months we will be celebrating our colleagues who are working to make CFAES and the community a welcoming place for all people. The DEI Student Spotlights will return to our monthly newsletters starting in August, 2021. Do you know someone who you think should be featured? To submit a nomination for the DEI Faculty and Staff Spotlight, please fill out this form.

This month's DEI Faculty and Staff Spotlight features Karima Samadi who is a Food and Agriculture Knowledge Integration Specialist at CFAES' Knowledge exchange where she delivers the broader impacts of research through integration and translation. Karima was previously a Research Coordinator for the research projects: HEAL MAPPS (Healthy Eating, Active Living –Mapping Attributes using Photographic Participatory Surveys), Voices for Food, and PROSPER (Promoting School-community-university Partnerships to Enhance Resilience)

For a full list of our Summer 2021 webinars, please visit our professional development webinars page.

LOCATION: Zoom

DATE AND TIME:

Wednesday, July 7th, 11:00AM-12:30PM ET

Wednesday, August 4th, 11:00AM-12:30PM ET

This 90-minute training provides an overview of best practices for recruiting a diverse candidate pool for faculty and staff positions. Participants will examine the role that various forms of implicit bias can play in screening applicants and identify ways that intersecting social identities create an unlevel competitive job market. Strategies for targeted recruitment of historically underrepresented minority applicants will be addressed. The College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences requires that all individuals serving on search committees complete this training every 2 years.

For more information, please contact the facilitator, Dr. Leo Taylor at taylor.3408@osu.edu.

LOCATION: Zoom

DATE AND TIME:

Thursday, July 15th, 11:00AM-12:30PM ET

Thursday, August 5th, 11:00AM-12:30PM ET

LOCATION: Zoom

DATE AND TIME: Tuesday, July 20th, 6:00-7:30PM ET

In this session you will learn how to get started canning and preserving the food you have successfully grown in your garden. We will cover basic equipment and techniques and address how people with physical limitations can make adaptations to make canning and preserving fun, not painful! 

Presenters: Laura Akgerman and Kathy Tutt

LOCATION: Zoom

DATES AND TIMES: Wednesday, July 21st, 2:00-3:30PM ET

What is it like to live in a society that views gender as a binary system and penalizes those who stray from established norms? How is this compounded by the fact that deviations from gender norms have historically been and continue to be pathologized? What is the impact, then, when a person who is transgender is also living with a nuerodisability such as depression or anxiety? This 90-minute webinar will address the history of the pathologization of transgender people, connecting it to White supremacist ideologies (e.g., eugenics) and propose a reconstructed vision of a society where everyone has body autonomy. The facilitator will challenge the paradigm of normal versus abnormal and argue that all human conditions, even those we consider "mental illnesses", are normal and should be celebrated as natural sources of diversity. Attendees do not need to be familiar with transgender issues or mental health conditions to participate.

LOCATION: Zoom

DATE AND TIME: Wednesday, July 28th, 3:00-4:00PM ET

Are you interested in using a Land Acknowledgement or have you been using one and want to learn more? The CFAES Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion will be hosting a webinar/discussion with Melissa Beard Jacob on Wednesday, July 28th, 3:00-4:00pm ET about the importance of acknowledging Native American and Indigenous lands and best practices for creating intentional and non-performative land acknowledgements. The first half of the session will involve a presentation followed by a facilitated discussion/Q&A with attendees. This webinar is open to any member of the Ohio State community.

About the Presenter: Melissa Beard Jacob (she/her/hers) is Ojibwe from Northern Michigan and an enrolled member of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians. Her traditional name in Anishinaabemowin (Ojibwe Language) is Awunkoquay, which translates into Woman in the Fog. She is eagle clan and embraces several roles and responsibilities as an Anishinaabekwe (Ojibwe woman), mother, wife, daughter, granddaughter, sister, cousin, educator, writer, and historian. She currently serves as the Intercultural Specialist for Native American and Indigenous Student Initiatives at The Ohio State University Student Life Multicultural Center.

Melissa received her PhD in Cultural Studies from George Mason University and her research interests include Native American boarding school histories, collective memory and cultural trauma, Indigenous methodologies, and performance theory. Her dissertation entitled “Reclaiming My Family’s Story: Cultural Trauma and Indigenous Ways of Knowing” is an Indigenous autoethnographic study of her own family’s story of survival through the Native American boarding school system. Melissa also holds a BA in Journalism from Michigan State University and a MA in Film and Media Studies from Wayne State University.

LOCATION: Zoom

DATE AND TIME: Tuesday, August 31st, 6:00-7:30PM ET

In this session we will look back over the growing season and sort out what worked, what didn’t work, and how to use what you learned this year to plan for the next growing season. We will address tips for making garden clean up easier and what needs to be done to prep for next year.

Presenters: Laura Akgerman and Pam Bennett

Neurominorities bring unusual skills and specialisms because of the way their brains function. The world needs them now more than ever.

The global response to COVID-19 has meant and increase in xenophobia, which is a fear, prejudice or hatred of people from other countries. Unfortunately, throughout history, fear of disease and racism have gone hand in hand. In the months since COVID-19 has been circulating, Asian-Americans and Asians around the world have experienced heightened levels of verbal and physical aggression.

This workshop discusses the impact COVID-19 is having on Asian/Asian American communities both here at Ohio State and nationwide. We'll begin by discussing the ways in which anti-Asian racism has manifested since the pandemic, and the impacts the rise in anti-Asian racism has had on Asian and APIDA communities. Our dialogue will then shift to highlighting the history Asian Americans have with this type of racial oppression. We'll then address how we can raise awareness of the ways others can strive for allyship with our APIDA students, friends, loved ones and colleagues.

Join us in community as we address this important facet of the COVID-19 pandemic and formulate ways that we can each play a role in interrupting bias and creating safe and inclusive communities.

Register here: https://osu.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJYqfu-prD0vHNQAwPS8xgZ7TK6Ks_FWhG_O

For decades, Asian and Asian Pacific Islander Desi American (APIDA) folks have been denied our racial reality. Socially constructed perceptions of either academic or professional success have made us a “model minority," effectively erasing our historical and present day experiences with systemic racism and oppression. When we unpack the numerous identities that exist within the APIDA community and the historical legacy of oppression APIDA folks contend with on a daily basis, we see that the label of “model minority” is nothing but a myth, and that this label serves a very different sociological function.

Join us in a discussion of the “Model Minority” myth’s historical roots in white supremacy, and discover ways to dismantle the myth, reduce its harmful impacts on our everyday lives, and reclaim an empowered Asian and APIDA identity.

Register here: https://osu.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJIrc-GppzgoE9wb4BhzlBJD_aH2sF7Rm9Fm

The Safe Zone Training aims to create a more welcoming and safe campus for individuals of all sexual orientations and gender identities. The workshop is recommended for faculty, staff, and students. Through this workshop, participants will (1) gain a greater understanding of LGBTQ identities and the systems of oppression that affect the community, (2) learn tools for incorporating LGBTQ-inclusive practices into your daily life, and (3) strengthen their skills in recognizing and interrupting anti-LGBTQ bias.

This session is open to all OSU students, faculty, and staff. The workshop lasts for 1 hours and 30 minutes.

Register here: https://osu.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJEpf--urjwqHNckJN45b1FVjE0gSfnc9LiO

Read more: https://epn.osu.edu/events/epn-meeting-july-13-2021-greening-engagement-parks-and-community-partnerships

Wednesday, July 14th, 3:00-4:30PM ET, Zoom

The Student Life Multicultural Center offers this training to facilitate faculty and staff in creating more inclusive spaces for LGBTQ students! This 1-hour and 30-minute workshop focuses on best practices for supporting LGBTQ students in the classroom as well as strategies for navigating challenging conversations and interrupting bias. It is recommended, but not required, for participants to attend a Safe Zone Training before attending this workshop.

Register here: https://go.osu.edu/inclusiveclassrooms

*If you require an accommodation such as live captioning or interpretation to participate in this event, please contact Sophia Antoun at antoun.5@osu.edu. Requests made two weeks in advance will generally allow us to provide seamless access, but the university will make every effort to meet requests made after this date.

This workshop explores best practices for engaging with and supporting transgender and gender non-conforming students and communities at The Ohio State University. The workshop is recommended for faculty, staff, and students. Through this 1- and 30-minute training, participants will gain a greater understanding of transgender identities and the systems of oppression that affect their community as well as strategies for creating gender inclusive spaces. It is recommended, but not required, for participants to attend a Safe Zone Training before attending this workshop.

Register here: https://go.osu.edu/trans101

Read more: https://nmaahc.si.edu/event/historically-speaking-where-you-are-not-who-you-are-evening-ursula-burns?trumbaEmbed=view%3Devent%26eventid%3D153274123

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